In Response to Brandon (“Guilt”)
I read Brandon’s
pose after we had already discussed this idea in class; as such, it is easy for
me to give a response to his post on guilt. Nevertheless, I still find it to be
an important topic to acknowledge once again. First, Brendan obviously supports
a determinist view; accordingly, as DKJ, we cannot even hold a discussion on
guilt, and how it effects decisions if we choose to hold this view.
While off
topic, I still would want to point out the fact that never realized that determinism
was completely incompatible with ethics before Dave pointed it out. This may be
a simple notion, but I still find it fascinating. Considering the fact that it
is difficult for me to argue against a determinist view, I was surprised to
hear the word incompatible being used in conjunction with ethics. This discussion
becomes interesting because, normatively speaking, it almost seems preferable
to not support determinism because of the difficulties it holds when it comes
to ethics. If determinism throws ethical discussions right out the window, it
seems problematic to hold such a view because ethical considerations are so
important.
Other than
this interesting side note, I found that Brandon stated some important ideas.
For example, the fact that that feelings of guilt are something that we
generally have no control over, but instead, can only look back on. I use the
word generally because I think that it could be argued that we have the ability
to control many of our thoughts, which in turn cause many of our emotions.
Obviously, if you hold a determinist viewpoint, this is simply untrue. However,
I am not ready to completely abolish this idea. Either way, I find it important
that Brandon states that we should separate the simple feeling of guilt, with
the act of feeling guilty. This distinction is one that must be made on the
topic of guilt and decision-making.
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