Download The Good Life: Structure of a Definition Essay

The Good Life:
Structure of a Definition Essay
Bertrand
Russell
Paragraph One
• Having a good life is an end, not a means,
so he can’t support his thesis, he states
here, with concrete evidence
Explanation of paragraph one:
• Russell identifies how his argument
proceeds
Example One:
• Which is the better way to prevent crime?
( We would argue, using concrete
evidence, which means better achieves
the end.)
Example Two
• Means
Ends
• Prison
preventing crime
• Education
(the end is a given; he
assumes we agree on an
ends but not necessarily a
means)
Example Two:
• Is punishment valuable?
• War is bad
• Fighting is noble
End
punishment is bad
punishment is good
• (We can’t argue the means with evidence
since the end is not a given since it is an
ethical question); this cannot be tested with
evidence
Russell’s Argument
• What makes a good life?
• Inspired by love and guided by knowledge
• (but we can’t scientifically prove this end since it
is an ethical question)
• His hope is that as many as possible will agree
Paragraph 2
• We need both love and knowledge
Love and Knowledge
• Historical examples:
• Holy men advise pestilence-filled town to
gather and pray
infection spread
(love without knowledge)
• The late war (WWI)
many deaths
(knowledge without love)
• The end is the same: death
Paragraph 3
• Love is more fundamental than knowledge
• Why? Because people will seek
knowledge to benefit those they love
• Example: a doctor is more useful to a
patient than a devoted friend
• Therefore, progress in medical knowledge
does more for a community than illinformed philanthropy
Paragraph 4
• Defines the poles of love as delight and
benevolence, and defines delight as
aesthetic delight
• For inanimate objects (like a landscape)
we can only feel delight
Paragraph 5
• Defines benevolence
(well-wishing)
• Desire for another
person’s welfare
• Opposite pole to delight
• Example: sacrificing lives
to help lepers (no
aesthetic delight is
involved)
Paragraph 6
• Love at its best contains
both poles plus
understanding (which he
defines as knowledge)
• Parental love for child
• Sexual love (when a
feeling of security exists)
Importance of knowledge:
• “the person whose affection is satisfactory
to us must not merely wish us well but
must know in what our happiness
consists” (29)
• Therefore, knowledge is vital because the
person who gives us affection must know
what makes us happy
Paragraph 7
• Delight has its limits
• We shouldn’t try to force delight because
we can’t feel delight in everything (eg.
Fleas, bugs, lice)
• Otherwise, we distort our view of beauty
Paragraph 8
• Benevolence also has its limits
• Human beings have animal instincts,
animal vitality, a sense of competition
• Eg. If two men are interested in the same
woman they aren’t going to have
completely benevolent feelings towards
one another
Paragraph 9
• Emphasizes delight as an ingredient in the
best love
• In a human world, we cannot feel delight
toward everyone
• Therefore, knowledge is important
Paragraph 10
• He defines knowledge as scientific
knowledge and knowledge of facts
• He emphasizes that he is not talking of
ethical knowledge: “I do not think there is,
strictly speaking, such a thing as ethical
knowledge” (29)
Why knowledge?
• We can only decide what sort of conduct is
right or wrong by looking at the
consequences
• Scientific knowledge (hypothesis,
experiment, conclusion) discovers the
means to achieve an end
• “All moral rules must be tested by
examining whether they tend to realize
ends that we desire” (30)
All behaviour springs from desire
• Not what we ought to desire
• (eg. Parents, teachers, policemen)
• Ethical notions influence desire (desire
for approval and fear of disapproval)
• Behaviour
consequences:
achieves social purposes we desire
(approval)
OR opposite behaviour (disapproval)
Do you agree that all behaviour
springs from desire?
• Agree or disagree: You are in class
because you desire to be here
• What are the higher desires that drive you
to come to class?
• Do you ever desire things that are not
good?
• What are the possible consequences?
Paragraph 11
• Human desire is the only moral standard
• You can’t make people do what they don’t
want to (you can alter their desires by
reward and punishment)
• Reward and punishment could be
arranged (by lawmakers) to derive the
maximum of what is desired
Paragraph 12
• What distinguishes ethics from science is
not special knowledge but desire
• Certain ends are desired
the right
conduct achieves it
• The end must be such as large sections of
humankind desire it (majority rules!)
Paragraph 13
• Argues that scientific knowledge helps us
to help those we love to reach the ends
they desire
• If we understand those we love we will
know what they desire
• If we have enough knowledge we will
know how to help them
• If we love them, we will want to help them
• If everyone does this, we will all lead good
lives