Analysis of Albert Camus' Quote
Albert Camus' quote reaches me in a meaningful way. I am going to analyze this quote by the sentence because each one carries significance in the way I interpret them. The first sentence, " Society proceeds sovereignly to eliminate the evil ones from her midst as if she were virtue itself." This seems to me like Camus is saying that our society is acting as if it were perfect. So perfect that it can exclude violent or evil beings as if she (society) were perfect her self. It seems to me that Camus, in his first sentence, really objects the idea of a perfect society. I also feel that when he uses the word sovereignly he portrays our society taking these actions with ruling pride. What I mean by this is that I think he feels that our society has no conscious about eliminating an individual from society. The next sentence reads, " Like an honorable man killing his wayward son and remarking: ' really I didn't know what to do with him.' I believe that Camus is saying here that our society may be honorable but resorts to killing or eliminating individuals because it's the easy way out. Taking the easy way out by killing your son seems to me to be a dishonorable action. I feel that Camus is essentially saying that our society becomes dishonorable when we resort to eliminating evil beings. He also may be pointing out that our society is actually honorable like a father and should take the responsibility of individuals, like a father would a son, instead of trying to eliminate them which a father should never do. The last sentence reads, " To assert in any case, that a person must be absolutely cut off from society because he or she is absolutely evil amounts to saying that society is absolutely good, and no one in their right mind would believe this today…"
Here Camus is saying that an absolutely evil person is cut from society and the society is portraying itself as absolutely good. Camus is also saying that society can not, in any ones right mind, pass for being absolutely good. I would have to agree with this point. It is only obvious that our society would not pass for being absolutely good because no matter what we choose to do as a society, there will always be some people that do and do not agree.
Amid the feverish horror of rampant sickness and death, The Plague is a parable of human remoteness and the struggle to share existence. In studying the relationships which Camus sets forth, the relationship between man and lover, mother and son, healer and diseased, it can be seen that the only relationship Camus describes is that between the exiled, and the kingdom for which he searches with tortured longing.
One could see the final walk-away as a complete failure to a then seemingly meaningless story. Yet, I do not see it this way. Although Euthyphro walked away without a resolution, there was still much to be learned. The seemingly arrogant man that we were introduced to in the beginning, was not the same man in the final pages of the book. We may not have received a complete answer, but we did find something better; the knowledge that we cannot believe that our insights are always correct. And this is what Socrates strove to do: to evoke thought. When put on trial, we see this questioning is not an isolated occurrence as he states, “I believe the god has placed me in the city. I never cease to rouse each and every one of you, to persuade and reproach you all day long and everywhere I find myself in your company” (Apology, 30e). Socrates believed it was his duty to live a life of service in order to make people open their minds. In order for people to grow in wisdom, they needed to realize their ignorance. We need to be challenged in order to grow and it is through experiences, like Euthyphro’s, in which we become more
After Socrates had finished arguing with Gorgias in The Gorgias, he moves in to the next in line: Polus. They discuss the concepts of committing injustice over suffering injustice and the importance of punishment of the felons. Socrates say to Polus, “but in my opinion, Polus, the unjust or doer of unjust actions is miserable in any case- more miserable, however, if he is not punished and does not meet with retribution, and less miserable if he be punished and meets with retribution at the hands of gods and men” (Plato 53-54). Here Socrates declares that to do is worse than to suffer evil and if a man has done evil it is in his best interest to be punished than to be left unpunished. This is because according to his viewpoint doing injustice
Albert Camus’ The Stranger offers one man’s incite into the justice of society. Monsieur Meursault, the main protagonist in the novel, believes that morals and the concept of right and wrong possess no importance. This idea influences him to act distinctively in situations that require emotion and just decision, including feeling sadness over his mother’s death, the abuse of a woman, and his killing of an innocent man. In these situations Meursault apathetically devoids himself of all emotion and abstains from dealing with the reality in front of him. When confronted by the court over his murder, he reiterates his habitual motto on life that nothing matters anyways, so why care? His uncaring response inflames the people working within the
There is an ethical theory that we covered this quarter that I strongly agree with which is the theory of justice. There is a specific thinker that surprised me at and made me think about moral issues in a new way. That thinker was Socrates who surprised me and made me think about moral issues in a new way. I feel that socrates is someone who challenged what you thought or believed about ethics before taking this class. Those dialog investigates two vital inquiries. Those 1st inquiry may be “what will be justice?” socrates addresses this address both As far as political groups and As far as those unique man alternately souk. He does this to address those second Furthermore driving inquiry of the dialogue: “is those simply persnickety happier
Often one wonders what it would be like to completely close off all connections to society and live in exile. What it would be like if your thoughts were the only thing to keep you company. For most; the idea of being all alone with just your thoughts is enough to drive one crazy. However not for Meursault. Meursault is already so detached from society that his experience of exile is less of a punishment, and more so enriching. His time in captivity cuts him off from his “home” or better yet, his comfort zone of being an introvert and gives him a chance to create a different appearance in front society, apart from a stranger.
Socrates’ view on morality is that anyone can do wrong. It is said that injuring someone in return for injury to oneself is wrong. He follows this with the connection between morality and the city. You do badly without the cities authorization; you are doing wrong towards the city and the laws. He felt if you are behaving against peoples mind and in this way, behaving against the city. It is a way of destroying the cities laws and so you are hurting citizens by doing so. An example of this is the general understanding that you shouldn’t hurt your father. If you do so than you are disrespecting laws within your city. Of course you will get convicted for this, and it doesn’t change the idea that you acted against the city.
A wise man from greece named, Thrasymachus’ believed that justice did not benefit anyone in a positive way except for the ruler. He believed that justice was for those who were strong. He also believed that justice was an “instrumental” good for the ruler. He believed that every society had a government. There is always someone who makes the rules and laws no matter where you go. He knew that every society had a government and he also knew that they made laws to benefit their ruling type. For example, a King who is a tyrant wants laws that helps him keep in power, and prevents anyone else from getting enough power to raise a challenge. Living in a city ran by a tyrant is not beneficial to any of the citizens even if they obey all of the laws. If it isn’t beneficial for the citizens to live in that city there can not be social justice. Social justice is to help better someone and make them more just and you can’t really do that if you just have justice to benefit you and not others. As a citizen the laws should benefit everyone not just the ruler. However, Socrates argues that tyrants can make mistakes and that they can be wrong about which laws help keep them in power . Which is understandable because in life everyone does make mistakes even the people with high authority. Socrates does not agree that justice is only good for the ruler. Thrasymachus’ argues that a person knowledgeable in a
The former, a product of the human empathy and responsible for the preference of seeing no harm come to other living creatures so long at the latter is maintained. Together these maxims form the basis of the savage man’s natural state and, by extension, his tenancy of gentleness towards his fellow man (121). The civilised man, in contrast, comes to be as a result of “perfectibility”. Perfectibility, according to Rousseau is an innate human attribute to want to learn and better oneself, particularly to overcome obstacles in one’s environment. Rousseau’s description of perfectibility implies that the conditions of one’s environment have a direct influence over their character and that one can therefore deduce that regardless of man’s natural gentleness, he can develop the capacity to be cruel if so prompted by elements in his environment. Such a prompt comes as man looks to collaborate with others out of mutual self-interest. Rousseau notes that, “their connections become more intimate and extensive … there arose on one side vanity and contempt, on the other envy and shame … Men no sooner began to set a value upon each other, and know what esteem was, than each laid claim to it … It
Hamlet’s first soliloquy takes place in Act 1 scene 2. In his first soliloquy Hamlet lets out all of his inner feelings revealing his true self for the first time. Hamlet’s true self is full of distaste, anger, revenge, and is very much different from the artificial persona that he pretends to be anytime else. Overall, Hamlet’s first soliloquy serves to highlight and reveal Hamlet’s melancholy as well as his reasons for feeling such anguish. This revelation in Hamlet’s persona lays the groundwork for establishing the many themes in the play--suicide, revenge, incest, madness, corruption, and mortality.
Meursault and Daru are both “strangers” because they are not able to understand the other characters, which are each indirectly associated with an aspect of society. Camus uses the actions and words of seemingly unimportant characters to allude to the shortcomings of society. In both texts the protagonists view the other characters in the story from an outsider view, allowing for a new perspective in which society and its problems can be assessed. By making the protagonists detached from society, the underlying issues within society can be explored from an objective viewpoint.
...a that William Golding was working with in this book. People are the reason society doesn't always work. No matter how much we would like, society's faults cannot be blamed on any one individual. Golding's quote says that our defects are directly linked to the defects of society. Society is meant to hold the dark side of human nature in check, while offering an organized structure for the good to show itself thereby creating a safe place for people to live. The definition of society is continually morphing and being redefined. Society sets limits and human nature thrives on pushing limits. That which was considered unacceptable at one point may later be seen as normal. Therefore people cannot expect society to fix that which is wrong, but must rather strive to become individuals that are willing to foster desirable traits while learning to control the undesirable.
Societies hold value in the respect and virtuous abilities over others often times put justice on a pedestal and hold tight to it. In the eyes of Socrates is Plato’s Republic, Book VI he states that “In a suitable one [constitution], his [a philosopher's] own growth will be fuller and he will save the community as well as himself” (Plato “Republic”, p. 177, 497a). When you break it down this quote means when abiding by the laws held by the community each man must try to pursue the most virtuous version of themselves. However, being only a “suitable constitution” (Plato “Republic”, p. 177, 497a) there is no true way to become completely virtuous. However, it describes that all men have the ability to try. This notion carries on to describe that said acts will have great purpose among one’s peers. One mans’ betterment can affect not only himself but also the imperfect justice system of the community in great ways.
The trial and conviction of Meursault represents the main ideals of absurdism, that truth does not exist, and life is precious. The jury’s attempt to place a proper verdict on Meursault is compared to mankind’s futile attempt to find order in an irrational universe. Because there is no real truth in the trial, the verdict was unfair and illogical. Camus uses his beliefs of truth not existing and life being precious to point out the absurdity of the judicial system, and suggest the abolishment of the death penalty.
In this essay I will critically discuss Aristotle’s concept of virtue. I will illustrate how he was influenced by his predecessors and how he disagreed with them and developed his own philosophy. I will also describe how he defined the concept of virtue – what virtuous traits are and also how to be a virtuous person.