Subject: Fw: [HAB:] Coping with ethical akrasia
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 13:35:40 +0100



----- Original Message -----
From: "Sue McPherson" <sue-AT-mcphersons.freeserve.co.uk>
To: <habermas-AT-lists.village.Virginia.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, August 21, 2004 10:57 AM
Subject: Re: [HAB:] Coping with ethical akrasia


> >
> > > coherings-AT-yahoo.com writes:
> > >
> > > So, do  we live in a world where others are largely
> > > untrustworthy (in which  trustworthy others also live);
> > > or do we live in a world where others are  largely
> > > trustworthy (in which untrustworthy others also  live)?
> > >
>  >
>  > FREDWELFARE-AT-aol.com wrote:
>  > Habermas was not the only theorist to emphasize the interaction-work
>  > distinction.  Marcuse also belabored the problem of the totally  administered world.
>  > There has been no real end to the complaints  surrounding the
>  > bureaucratization of the lifeworld.  I still feel that only  by fighting for my
civil,
>  > individual, and human rights am I able to forestall  the extensions of
>  > administrators into my private life.
>
> This claim you make here, of your reasons for "fighting for my
> civil, individual, and human rights," interests me. I find the same
> mentality among some individuals I know who are fighting for
> their "right" to be able to work as long as they like and who
> would like to see the end of the policy of mandatory retirement
> at age 60 or 65 - in Canada and the UK.
>
> I think what Fred says is in some way related to what Gary Davis
> was saying, about "ethics", versus, or alongside "the law".  I'm
> not sure that trustworthiness is what this is about; in fact, I think
> it probably isn't.  In relation to an ethical approach to life's
> dilemmas I think the problem is more to do with self-interest and
> how a particular action (or law) affects others, and probably
> particularly in the longterm.
>
> So weakness of will - how Gary describes akrasia - seems not to
> be the problem, but rather, how the will is exerted.
>
> This is just a minor point I suppose, but in a discussion on
> eugenics and cosmoploitan law, maybe it would help to have
> some of these minor details put out of the way.
>
> Sue McPherson
>
>
>
>
>      --- from list habermas-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---



     --- from list habermas-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---