Noel B

@NoelBWrites

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Noel B @NoelBWrites3/31/2024, 3:12 AM

Men will write about the fundamental principles of the metaphysic of morals instead of going to therapy

Seriously my man Immanuel was depressed as fuck

You see, it's normal for men with enormous rational faculties such as myself to find no joy in anything and be constantly overthinking and fall short of being satisfied with anything even once, regardless of how hard we try, while we look at the dumb-dumbs have a blast, full of envy for their smooth brains. It's good even.

— Kant, explaining that we were not meant for happiness but not in like, a depressed way. Just the regular repressed Protestant way. The morally correct way.

#Kant #ethics #philosophy

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in reply to @NoelBWrites's post:

NekoRaita @NekoRaita3/31/2024, 3:30 AM

minecraft would fix him

@sapphire3/31/2024, 3:35 AM

this is the only good kant take. this right here

Noel B @NoelBWrites3/31/2024, 3:43 AM

Rip Kant you would have loved building a replica of the one street he walked down every day :eggbug-pensive:

stu @stu3/31/2024, 3:30 AM

"It is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison knows both sides." - John Stuart Mill

basically the same thing

Noel B @NoelBWrites3/31/2024, 3:36 AM

Hilarious because I feel like Kant and Mill would fistfight about their respective ethics

Kant is all about the intent and Mill all about the effect. At least they agree: you need to be feeling bad about it

Quidam @Quidam3/31/2024, 4:05 AM

Mill version of utilitarianism is built on top of his hedonism. He is a consequentialist, but for him more good = more pleasure being distributed. I'm simplifying a lot, but the point is that he doesn't think you need to feel bad about it, in fact the reason why you, an individual, should be virtuous is because it lead to more and better pleasure for yourself and for society. Also, he was aware of Kant's philosophy, he has respect for it but doesn't think it works, at least based on what he says about it in Utilitarianism.

Sorry if this sound mean, this is a domain that interest me a lot. I got a copy of Utilitarianism on my bedside table. That make it sound like I agree with him. I don't, but that's for another time.

Noel B @NoelBWrites3/31/2024, 4:41 AM

You don't sound mean! I made a quick comment responding more to the quote above than seriously considering his whole relationship with pleasure, so this is appreciated context

I'm only passingly familiar with Mill, I admit. (Although I've been reading more people influenced by/responding to Utilitarianism lately and maybe it's time for me to actually read it)

stu @stu3/31/2024, 12:37 PM

yeah a thing he struggled with is "if utilitarianism demands more happiness, and smart people are generally less happy / harder to please, shouldn't we just stop educating people?"

to which he responds "well actually there's a quality multiplier for happiness where smart people's happiness matters more, which means actually me being depressed is better than me being dumb and happy"

it's an argument i don't really buy but it is very funny how close it is to kant here

Noel B @NoelBWrites3/31/2024, 3:01 PM

Ohh, see I hadn't actually engaged with his stuff enough to read about how he's actually the specialest boy and his happiness matters more because it has Meaning.

Hilarious that both Kant and Mill are probably two of the largest influences in American culture when it comes to ethics. And they both are reasoning from the same place I did when I was an edgy depressed teenager feeling like an outcast in highschool.

"I'm not jealous of my peers having a good time, it's just a burden of being so smart, I'd rather be alone and depressed because it means I feel and think much more deeply. Happy people are stupid, actually"

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