The color of obligation
Matthew and Nathan at the end of history: Who is the fool?
Matthew and Nathan have a similar political and ethical diagnosis of the ills of the world. Both believe that the world is heading for disaster. Perhaps that is the disaster of climate change, perhaps it is some strange technological disaster- like AI eating everything. Or perhaps it is not even the kind of disaster which ends things- it is just an endless horizon of political cruelty in the current mold- after all, every death is the end of the world for someone.
Both agree that the probability of the disaster being stopped is tiny, and the probability of a single individuals contribution being the crucial positive turning point is so small it’s hard to even contemplate. Both agree that countless attempts have failed previously, and that today’s attempts to prevent the coming disaster are farcical compared to the mighty efforts of the past- all of which were pulped ruthlessly.
Matthew has stopped listening to the news. He tends a garden and would never encourage anyone to engage in politics. If anyone asks him about the political situation, he’ll tell them that there’s only despair to be found there. He regards Nathan as a fool.
Nathan is a flurry of activity. He writes, he rages, he attends rallies, he irritates all his co-workers by trying to get them to join a union, maybe he even writes letters to politicians. He even deliberately deceives himself a little- tries to amp up in his own mind his chances. He regards Matthew as a fool.
Is either a fool? Which? I don’t know, but my heart is definitely with Nathan, regardless.
Elise and Celine: Moral realism and moral subjectivism and the coloration of a life
Elise and Celine are fighting in the second world war in the French resistance. Neither believes in God. Celine, however, believes morality is objective, whereas Elise is something like a moral subjectivist, morality is simply a matter of will.
Elise and Celine both understand they are going to die and soon- the authorities are closing in. Anarchists, they despair at all sides in the war, although of course their preference is for the Allies, they do not trust the world they will create should they win. The world is a cold place. They are lonely, and tired, wracked with illness, crumbling They search inside themselves for a spark of energy to finish what they must do, to complete the remaining tasks they can complete, and then, presumably, be killed. Life is very long, and it drags out longer now.
Celine, a moral objectivist sees her action in conformance with a greater moral law. She serves goodness. Whatever that is, whatever it may be, she doesn’t know. She is not a philosopher, not that she would think philosophers would know either. But it gives her a measure of comfort, here at the end, to serve the good. She sees a crystal, distant light cast over her life, a light that refracts off her, but that so many other people have dulled themselves to. In my head, it’s a bit like moonlight, and that’s why I called her Celine.
Elise, a moral subjectivist sees the fire of her own will, a fire that, if only it had caught on, could have warmed a world that is, by her lights, cold. Even low as it is now, it propels her, for how could anything else propel? Faltering, failing now would not serve that fire, would not serve her ethical interests. There would be an irrationality around giving up, ceding a whole simply because you have lost a portion. How would disgrace, pain or even death change that?
As Celine and Elise struggle with their fading powers, Celine might experience them as a weak mental hand, unable to grasp onto the support always offered by the immutable good. Elise might experience something them as something more like weak mental legs, unable to hold her up on her own any more.
Who draws the deeper strength here? I do not know. One thing I do know is that even if Elise’s whole interest is in helping others, whereas the ethics of Celine’s are relatively egocentric, nonetheless there is a flavor of self-ness about Elise’s ethics that does not attend Celine’s. Both draw comfort from being on the side of good, but I imagine the coloration of that content might be very different for each. Silly as it is, I can even tell you what I see as the colors in a very literal sense, in my mind Celine’s view of things paints the world in magisterial blues and silvers, while Elise’s paints the world in the warm colors of a sunset, fiery reds, tasteful oranges…
I find myself hoping that things turned out alright for Matthew, Nathan, Celine and Elise, which is comical, because they do not exist. But I suppose, sadly, there have been lots of people like them.