Philosophy
One of the pieces in The Grateful Dead and Philosophy that I really love is the one written by own playground playpal Hanno. It's called "Me and My Uncle...and Thomas Hobbes" and examines a question that arises out of the Dead's most performed song, "Me and My Uncle."
In the song, the narrator recalls coming into a town with his uncle, a poker game, an altercation, and the two of them leaving town in an expedited manner with a lot of gold that used to belong to a group of cowboys. At the end of the song, the narrator says,
I won't go into the details of Hanno's argument here, which is a lot of fun to read, but it does raise an interesting question that I do want to throw out there. We surely can say that the uncle's murder was ironic, so is the relationship between irony and justice? Indeed, we often hear such ironies referred to as "poetic justice." So is there a connection between poetic and moral justice? Further, when we see someone get their comeuppance, we are often delighted by their suffering, we experience Schadenfreude. How does that figure into the mix?
An old e-mail that went around compared the British definition of irony, "an aesthetic valuation by an audience, which relies on a sharp discordance between the real and the ideal" and the American definition of irony, "the property of being a lot like iron." When Ted Haggard gets outed for being gay after leading an explicitly homophobic congregation, there's irony. When Rush Limbaugh, after bashing so many connected with the Clinton administration for drug use and having said of the Kennedy's lawyer Roy Black that no one goes to this guy unless they are guilty, gets busted himself on drug charges and then hires Roy Black to defend him, there's irony. But is there necessarily justice along with it?
And then there's the feeling we get when we see ironic occurrences. When you see that jerk who passed you on the shoulder doing 85 get pulled over a few miles up the road, there's a guilty sort of pleasure and maybe even a saccharine wave as you pass. Schadenfreude is the pleasure we take in the suffering of others -- say, each time the Yankees lose. (I've tried to coin the phrase "Freudenschade" for the feeling of suffering for at the successes of others, although this should not be confused with "Freud und Schatze" which is an Austrian psychologist and his sweetie.) We had a student a few years back argue that Schadenfreude was a legitimate delight in justice coming to be. You see someone getting what he deserves and you think that the universe is now a better, more just place, a joy in seeing the cosmic balance restored. Kerry, on the other hand, argued that it was a negative emotion, a sense of antipathy that dehumanizes the other person. I found both arguments compelling, but at least one has to be wrong.
So, is there a relation between justice, irony, and Schadenfreude?
- Justice And Progress
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- Appeal To Irony
Bob Talisse and Scott Aikin have another critical thinking piece in Scientific American -- man, I love that they do this -- this time explaining the flaw in on tu quoque arguments, that is arguments where the arguer doesn't listen to his or her own...
- Does Size Matter When It Comes To Virtue Ethics?
With the New York Yankees on the verge of getting eliminated from the post-season and Jeff Maynes teaching an ethics class, we had a chance to think about Schadenfreude...sweet, sweet Schadenfreude. Surely, from a virtue ethics perspective there is something...
- Am I Being Petty, Immature, And Nasty Here?
Had my 20 year high school reunion last weekend. I was incredibly fortunate to grow up with wonderful, smart, spirited people. Catching up brought a flood of emotions. For the most part, people I had lost touch with, but thought about often, ended up...
- Plato: Book One
Is justice the will of the stronger? In my opinion, justice is absolutely the will of the stronger. If the stronger individual in an argument (stronger physically, mentally, financially etc) really wants to get his or her way then they without a doubt...
Philosophy
Me and My Uncle: Justice, Irony, and Schadenfreude
One of the pieces in The Grateful Dead and Philosophy that I really love is the one written by own playground playpal Hanno. It's called "Me and My Uncle...and Thomas Hobbes" and examines a question that arises out of the Dead's most performed song, "Me and My Uncle."
In the song, the narrator recalls coming into a town with his uncle, a poker game, an altercation, and the two of them leaving town in an expedited manner with a lot of gold that used to belong to a group of cowboys. At the end of the song, the narrator says,
I love those cowboys, I love their goldSo, the uncle taught the nephew how to be a murderous criminal and that lesson ends up leading to his own murder. The question Hanno explores is whether the uncle's death is his just desert, was justice served when the fruit arising from the seeds he planted with his lessons in evil turned out to be his own demise.
I love my uncle, God rest his soul
He taught me good, Lord, taught me all I know
taught me so well, I grabbed that gold
and left him lying there by the side of the road.
I won't go into the details of Hanno's argument here, which is a lot of fun to read, but it does raise an interesting question that I do want to throw out there. We surely can say that the uncle's murder was ironic, so is the relationship between irony and justice? Indeed, we often hear such ironies referred to as "poetic justice." So is there a connection between poetic and moral justice? Further, when we see someone get their comeuppance, we are often delighted by their suffering, we experience Schadenfreude. How does that figure into the mix?
An old e-mail that went around compared the British definition of irony, "an aesthetic valuation by an audience, which relies on a sharp discordance between the real and the ideal" and the American definition of irony, "the property of being a lot like iron." When Ted Haggard gets outed for being gay after leading an explicitly homophobic congregation, there's irony. When Rush Limbaugh, after bashing so many connected with the Clinton administration for drug use and having said of the Kennedy's lawyer Roy Black that no one goes to this guy unless they are guilty, gets busted himself on drug charges and then hires Roy Black to defend him, there's irony. But is there necessarily justice along with it?
And then there's the feeling we get when we see ironic occurrences. When you see that jerk who passed you on the shoulder doing 85 get pulled over a few miles up the road, there's a guilty sort of pleasure and maybe even a saccharine wave as you pass. Schadenfreude is the pleasure we take in the suffering of others -- say, each time the Yankees lose. (I've tried to coin the phrase "Freudenschade" for the feeling of suffering for at the successes of others, although this should not be confused with "Freud und Schatze" which is an Austrian psychologist and his sweetie.) We had a student a few years back argue that Schadenfreude was a legitimate delight in justice coming to be. You see someone getting what he deserves and you think that the universe is now a better, more just place, a joy in seeing the cosmic balance restored. Kerry, on the other hand, argued that it was a negative emotion, a sense of antipathy that dehumanizes the other person. I found both arguments compelling, but at least one has to be wrong.
So, is there a relation between justice, irony, and Schadenfreude?
- Justice And Progress
Today is Freedom Day in South Africa and seems like a fine day to raise a question philosophers have been kicking around for a while. The relaunching of the country came with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings where many of those who committed...
- Appeal To Irony
Bob Talisse and Scott Aikin have another critical thinking piece in Scientific American -- man, I love that they do this -- this time explaining the flaw in on tu quoque arguments, that is arguments where the arguer doesn't listen to his or her own...
- Does Size Matter When It Comes To Virtue Ethics?
With the New York Yankees on the verge of getting eliminated from the post-season and Jeff Maynes teaching an ethics class, we had a chance to think about Schadenfreude...sweet, sweet Schadenfreude. Surely, from a virtue ethics perspective there is something...
- Am I Being Petty, Immature, And Nasty Here?
Had my 20 year high school reunion last weekend. I was incredibly fortunate to grow up with wonderful, smart, spirited people. Catching up brought a flood of emotions. For the most part, people I had lost touch with, but thought about often, ended up...
- Plato: Book One
Is justice the will of the stronger? In my opinion, justice is absolutely the will of the stronger. If the stronger individual in an argument (stronger physically, mentally, financially etc) really wants to get his or her way then they without a doubt...