Robert Nozick in, The Examined Life, meditates on two specific dimensions of our human reality, value and meaning. Nozick defines both of these dimensions in an attempt to frame an argument that is evaluative in regards to humans. Through the explication of Nozick's contentions with most of the focus on value, an argument that emotion has meaning will be made. Specifically, human activity is valuable and therefore meaningful. Thus, the argument will be framed in regards to Nozick's established parameters of value and meaning. Two Dimensions: Value and meaning- Nozick first considers value. Nozick argues that, “... to be more valuable is to be more real...” (Nozick 162). Yet, this metaphysical claim does not simply sum up Nozick's definition of value. Immediately, Nozick rightly notes the difference between intrinsic value and value as a means to something else, while accounting for the possibility of something being both kinds. While Nozick makes these two aspects of value distinct, he notes that the basic aspect of value is intrinsic value. Nozick argues that the reason why intrinsic value is the basic element to value is that intrinsic value exists on it's own, it needs no relation (Nozick 162-163). The focus of Nozicks definition of value is then tied specifically to intrinsic value. Nozick contends that, “[s]omething has intrinsic value... to the degree that it is organically unified (Nozick 164). Nozick states that a things organic unity is it's value (Nozick 164). Organic unity is simply defined, and used by Nozick, as 'unity in diversity.' Nozick argues organic unity directly applies to value. Nozick contends that organic unity is comprised of two parts, the degree of diversity and the degree of unity that said diversi... ... middle of paper ... ... the body into an observable emotion state. Yet, emotion is subjective. An agents' emotion is felt by that agent, it is their subjective experience, it entices a physiological response in the agent. In the application of Nozick's framework, emotion will be shown to be intrinsically valuable and therefore meaningful. Just as the application of the mind-body problem shows the intrinsic value of human consciousness, the application of human subjectivity, which is already intrinsically valuable, shows that subjective emotion is intrinsically valuable. Thus- The human experience is intrinsically valuable when applying Nozick's framework. Thus, an important component of the organically unified human, emotion, is intrinsically valuable. Human activity is valuable and therefore meaningful according to Nozick, thus the human activity of subjective emotion is meaningful.
As humans we are constantly in search of understanding the balance between what feels good and what is right. Humans try to take full advantage of experiencing pleasure to its fullest potential. Hedonism claims that pleasure is the highest and only source of essential significance. If the notion of hedonism is truthful, happiness is directly correlated with pleasure. Robert Nozick presented the philosophical world with his though experiment, “The Experience Machine” in order to dispute the existence and validity of hedonism. Nozick’s thought experiment poses the question of whether or not humans would plug into a machine which produces any desired experience. Nozick weakens the notion of hedonism through his thought experiment, claiming humans need more than just pleasure in their lives. Nozick discovers that humans would not hook up to this machine because they would not fully develop as a person and consider it a form of suicide.
Robert Nozick was a political philosopher who best reflects the political thinking of the United States, to the extent that his work is unthinkable without considering the history and the constitution of the nation. From this starting point Nozick show us that in the state of nature men are entitled on one hand to their lives and safety, and also to self-possession. Inspired by empiricist philosopher John Locke who proclaimed that natural rights exist and are claimable, Nozick claims that his concept of a minimal state is morally justifiable. “Only a minimal state, limited to enforcing contracts and protecting people against any force, theft, and fraud, is justified. Any more extensive state violates person’s rights not to be force to do certain
Nozick introduces his theory by calling a “minimal state” (Nozick 149) the only justifiable state that does not infringe on the rights of the people living in this state. Nozick as a libertarian, believes in the freedom of the individual over all else., Nozick says, “There is no one natural dimension or weighted sum or combination of a small number of natural dimensions that yields the distributions generated in accordance with the principle of entitlement”(Nozick 157). The patterns, upon which certain sections argue for the distribution of wealth, such as poverty etc., do not impress Nozick at all. Continuing the belief of individual freedom over all else, Nozick then presents his entitlement theory, which advocates that all of one’s possessions sho...
According to Nozick, “Individuals have rights, and there are things no person or group may do to them (without violating their rights)(Nozick, xix).” Nozick conceptualises these rights as “selfownership.” Self ownership is defined as the ownership of an individual’s physical body, talents and labor (Nozick, 16971). Nozick creates a Lockean argument by stating that if we
Singer, Irving. The Creation of Value: Volume I of Meaning In Life. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.
Although, people should have a right to accumulate their own wealth and hold onto it, we can see that focusing on the process view can ultimately lead to an end result that is unjust for the society as a whole. Nozick maximizes individual liberties, but he excludes the restrictive liberties that Rawls’s second principle describes. Under Nozick’s theory, those who are least advantaged do not get a fair shot in society. Furthermore, Rawls proves that sacrificing certain individual liberties is morally justified if it creates an end-result that is just.
Different people have numerous elucidations of what is valuable to them. In the “Contingencies of Value” chapter by Barbara Herrnstein Smith she discusses the diverse ways in which various values are created, sustained and passed along. Part one of the article is the act of evaluation -- what it is we are doing when we evaluate an art work, a culture, a belief, a practice -- and her secondary topic is the meaning of value. She states that “value is “relative” in the sense of contingent (that is, a changing function of multiple variables) rather than subjective (that is, personally whimsical, locked into the consciousness of individual subjects and/or without interest or value for other people). Her text shows that we may not be able to bluntly
The emotions associated by an environment enable personal growth over a lifetime. Negative emotions like hopelessness, anger and sadness all influence and alter people deeply, leaving them
put to the equations to know the complexity of emotions, Humans only know through experience
An emotion begins with an individual’s assessment of the personal meaning of some antecedent event – what Lazarus
In our readings of Anarchy, State, and Utopia we learned of Nozick’s account of the minimal state. The minimal state is one whose only function is to protect its citizens from being hurt by force as well as protecting it from fraud and the breaking of any contracts it makes with other citizens in the state. Nozick believes that this is the only state that is justified. Any state that does more in its actions than the minimal state that Nozick describes invariably violates the rights of the people. In this paper I will first briefly explain how Nozick derives the minimal state from the original Lockean state of nature before I examine a few of the difficulties and problems that I believe arise from how Nozick forms his argument for the minimal state. These problems include non-clients to the dominant protection agency possibly having their natural rights infringed upon; non-clients abusing the system paying clients of the dominant protection agency into gaining more than just protection, and the dominant protection agency automatically having rights over other smaller agencies.
Nozick’s central claim is that any sort of patterned distribution will have a significant effect on liberty. First, Nozick’s idea of a “patterned distribution” needs to be separated from the notion of “unpatterned distribution”. Obviously, patterned distribution adheres to an unspecific pattern. Nozick’s own theory in itself is unpatterned, a theory that suggests that each person acquisition of goods have been acquired through legitimate means. Nozick’s conception of “legitimate means” is manifested through his Entitlement Theory. The Entitlement Theory ...
Before describing chosen theories, it is necessary to define the notion of “emotion”. Due to the definition that is made by a psychologist Hockenbury, emotion is “a complex psychological state that involves three distinct components: a subjective experience, a physiological response, and an expressive response” (Micallef-Trigona, 2014, n.p.).
The first point Nozick makes is that happiness is not all people think about, in fact it is only a part of it. He demonstrates this by considering two lives with the same amount of happiness in them. However one slopes continuously upward to increasing happiness as time goes on while the other life slopes continuously downward. The interesting aspect of this experiment is that all though both have the same amount of happiness, the way you reach your happiness will be the deciding factor. Despite the equal amount of happiness, the first option is obviously the more desirable life. Both lives have their perspective highpoints as well as their low points. For instance the ability to grow your happiness is an amazing theory however you wil...
Have you ever wondered why people have certain reactions? I chose chapter eight on emotions for my reflection paper because emotions are something that everyone has and feels, yet cannot always explain or react to in the way you would expect. Personally, I have never been great at responding to emotions in a way that I would not regret in the future. Thus, naturally being drawn to this chapter as a way to expand my knowledge on how to react to things more positively. I also wanted to learn why I feel a certain way after events that would not affect most people and be reassured about my feelings. Opposite to that, it is nice to see that, while not always productive, others have the same reaction habits. Overall, emotions are a complicated