Charles Taylor. "Sources of the Self: the making of modern identity" "In general, one might try to single out three axes of what can be called, in the most general sense, moral thinking. As well as the two just mentioned - our sense of respect for and obligations to others, and our understandings of what makes a full life - there is also the range of notions concerned with dignity. By this I mean the characteristics by which we think ourselves as commanding (or failing to command) the respect of those around us" (p. 15)
Steven Lukes. "Individualism" "The first unit-idea of individualism has become to pervade modern ethical and social though in the West, as Tocqueville predicted when he maintained that the norms of democracy were irresistible in the modern world (...)" (p.52)
The idea of human dignity or respect for persons lies at the heart of the idea of equality, while autonomy, privacy and self-development represents the three faces of liberty or freedom" (p. 105).
Alfred North Whitehead. "Adventures of Ideas" "The great classical civilization is remarkable for two facts. First, it constituted the culmination of slavery, especially at the height of the Roman Empire (...). We know come to the second fact for which the classical period was remarkable. It was the first period which introduced moral principles forming an effective criticism of the whole system" (p. 14)
Michel Foucault. "The Hermeneutics of the Subject: Lectures at the College de France 1981-1982" " "The gnôthi seauton" (know yourself) appears quite clearly and again in a number of significant texts, within the general framework of the "epimeleia heautou" (care of oneself) as one of the forms, one of the consequences, as a sort of concrete, precise and particular application of a general rule: You must attend to yourself, you must not forget yourself, you must take of yourself". (pages 4 & 5)
Today I had a talk with a colleague of mine about the exam she put in political philosophy. One of the question was (more or less, she will forgive me...) if the current political system may generate violence, in reference, for instance, to the shooting of Gabriel Gifford. I ask her if she could develop a little bit more this idea, and she told me that this violence might come from the way political parties behave: they have transformed politics into a market, voting is a now a product, and citizens are reduced to consumers. At first glance, I did not understand really the link between this mercantilization of politics and those unfortunate peaks of violence against politicians. Indeed, already in the past and in Rome in particular, those kind of assassinations were common. Also, the United States represent a very particular system and it can not be transposed to other countries. Nevertheless, I suddenly remembered one character: Patrick Bateman of American Psycho, the great book (not the movie...) of Bret Easton Ellis. Now, I wish I would have been able to be a student again and respond to this great question...
Les limites que les êtres humains s'imposent proviennent pour la plupart de l'idée qu'ils se font des stéréotypes que les autres pourraient leur prêter. Le simple fait que l'humanité n'ait progressé que très lentement-et dans tous les domaines-vient en particulier de cette perte tragique de destins fabuleux qui auraient pu accélérer ce progrès. Cette frustration est masquée par l'omniprésence d'un progrès apparent dans certains secteurs spécifiques, tels que les sciences "dures" et autres technologies. La situation actuelle est ironique: le progrès dans ces domaines n'est que relatif, mais les autres domaines de connaissance (droit, économie, etc.) les considèrent comme des modèles de rigueur scientifique. Il y a là une recherche naïve, illusoire et dangereuse de légitimé. Ce processus engendre même une image erronée des sciences en général et des mathématiques en particulier (voyez l' usage que nous faisons aujourd'hui des statistiques dans des domaines aussi variés que le marketing, le droit, l'économie et même les relations amoureuses...). La discipline qui souffre le plus de cette recherche de légitimité scientifique, mais elle ne saurait l'admettre, est la philosophie. Le lecteur averti sait que cette dernière a pu se libérer du joug de la morale religieuse, et il est vrai que cette libération lui a été insufflée par l'autonomisation de la raison scientifique à partir du XVI et XVIIème siècles. Cependant, la philosophie elle même, et grâce notamment aux penseurs réalistes, avait déjà entamé ce processus, mais il a été caché par l'influence de la philosophie idéaliste et moralisante. Une philosophie qui n'est pas capable de rire d'elle même, n'est pas une philosophie, mais une théologie déguisée.