Philosophical Blindness: A Hypothetical Understanding of Ethics
In Jose Saramago’s novel Blindness (1997), the readers are introduced to a
bizarre world where the entire population has been affected by a blindness
epidemic. Strange enough, a main character, the doctor’s wife, is presented into the
plot as the only immune person to the blindness. Every reader somehow absorbs
the struggles each characters exposes throughout the novel and ponders how life
would be in such circumstances. The struggles the characters depict as they bare
through the epidemic lead the readers towards philosophical questioning in order
to reason how such tragedy would be possible. Of course, the main difference
between the philosophy exposed through Blindness and the real-world philosophy
would be the ethical value and moral choices people might take while living in a
blind world, rather than choices taken in a world where every movement and action
is judged. Philosophy is moderately explained in Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein’s
book Plato and Platypus Walk into a Bar (2008), where the various foundations of
philosophy are exposed to the readers. By understanding this book, Blindness
becomes a hypothetical base for new questions regarding life. The philosophical
foundations of Ethics, as explained in Plato and Platypus Walk into a Bar, are used to
understand the moral boundaries that are set in Blindness.
Ultimately, the true meaning of what is considered “good” as to what is
considered “bad” becomes reflected through the golden rule: “Do unto others as you
would have others do unto you.” Yet this is all put into perspective through what is
assumed to be a world where everybody is able to see and judge others acco...
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defines Ethics and moral values, but yet the explanations, similar to most
philosophy, lacks proof. Be that so, even a hypothetical situation such a blindness
epidemic could lead people to cross the thin line between right and wrong.
Saramago used blindness as an excuse for people to behave immorally, yet again,
the doctor’s wife had vision throughout the entire storyline and still proved
unethical choices. The idea of taking morally wrong decisions because no one is
watching has been proven false, because every time, the last person to truly define
what actions are right or wrong, is the person who took the actions.
Works Cited
Cathcart, Thomas and Klein, Daniel. Plato and Platypus Walk into a Bar:
Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes. New York: Penguin Books, 2008.
Saramago, José. Blindness. Great Britain: The Harvill Press, 1997.
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...ht opinion to give. We are taught one idea of how to live but once we begin to live in that way we then are judged. Cast out for what we have acknowledged as a truth to our own individual self.
moral decisions, we will be analyzing why this scenario poses a dilemma, possible actions that
San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press. Doyle, Eileen. A. The Consequences of Imposing the Quality-of-Life Ethic. " Bernards pp. 463-466.
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Brown, Eric. "Plato's Ethics and Politics in The Republic." Stanford University. Stanford University, 01 Apr. 2003. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
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Thus for us to understand humankind we must acknowledge that each of us depends on another
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