Wisconsin College of the Air; Introduction to the human enterprise; 18; Right and wrong: problems

The Wisconsin College of the air presents philosophy and the human enterprise selected from lecturers recorded during the first semester in the classroom of Professor Max Otto. During the past several lectures the discussions have centered on the subject of truth as it relates to reality and personal conviction. And as it is developed in some philosophical thinking in today's like Joe Professor Otto turns to a related subject problems of the moral life knowledge recorded in the classroom. Here is Professor Otto. Now we want to get to the subject of the morning which is on right and wrong. As contrasted with what we were talking about last time namely true. But first as they say. Radio a word from our sponsor. And I sponsor his life. The world of experience. I want to read you a plastic that is supposed to be a voice of life at all events happening

this is what human beings have sought and see not an abstract happiness not happiness in general but as satisfying and flow of specific doings and undergoing. They were not taught this by religion or philosophy or by any device of education. It is the essential urgency of their nature. Which cannot be denied and leave them human in plain words they want to enjoy their life. And are wanting it seems to me its sufficient justification. And authority beyond which there is no appeal. It. It is the ultimate of ultimate. Those who propose a higher appeal however honest their intention may be show I think that they prefer their own concept of an enjoyable life. There's some different ones.

I do not pretend that this view is I'm hotter than I am a proposition of reason. Behind which thought is unable to go and from which all thinking must take its start or that it is a revealed truth to which reason in the sense of the like must ball. What I do mean to say that this universal drive for a life that is clown good to live. Is the animating element in every deed and thought and feeling never efface never transcend that all is present in every expression of human nature. And I do mean to say that it is the ultimate criteria of what is declared to be true or good or beautiful. From that then I want to go on how to live. As of the present itself to you.

Sicced happens now there's a man a very famous philosopher who thought about this many of them have. And that man was Spinoza lived a long time ago. He said this. And ever since I first read it I have not forgotten. The whole of man's happiness or on happiness is dependent on this alone. Oh I'd like to have a man thought that I'd like to give you the lowdown. I'll tell you what happened this is dependent upon thought he said. There's a long. Quote Now on the quality of the object to which we are bombed by love. Then he goes on to say there are three objects which men have sought. Riches fame pleasure.

He doesn't intend to signal that he really lived up to that too. He was offered a very excellent position one time in the University of Heidelberg nor understand how we can use I will both of you have seen Heidelberg It's as though it were made in heaven and just sent down all finished in that neck of the island. He refused it not only had they seen it I know but the opportunity to represent it refused one thing after another. Neither fame Norrish nor pleasure. What's wrong of them. Their parish an interesting parish. Therefore they cannot satisfy eternally. This is all the more impressive to me because during this Christmas vacation I met a young man. 20 years of age. Who hadn't studied Spinoza.

Those days in modern life. But who is who was such an intense and walking representation of what I'm talking about. That I couldn't shake it off for days. The only thing worth seeking solace young man told me and told me as though I were while seven or eight or nine years of age he was talking to me with the wisdom of seven do. Seventy five years the only violent words seeking the only thing worth speaking. Was. Is conceptualized unified system of ideas. Why because that's the only thing that eternally satisfied and if you had that nothing could harm you. I wish I could give you his argument as as we discussed it and as you came back again and again I ask him to give me an example.

Of the sort of experience that he thought could be made permanent in that way. Eternal in that way. Which in itself as it came to us directly was not was transitory was not eternal is to say what was very transitory and he said first death. Life doesn't last. Death comes and he sought for the eternal satisfaction of life in this conceptual system. Light was bad enough but the next one was more startling stale love. The only way in which you can make love to love a man and woman permanently so that it doesn't change and evolve the pieces is by conceptualizing add in this great eternal interrelated system.

Well I should've talked about that a thought I had intended to talk about whereas I saw Spinoza it said to me at once why don't you talk about so-and-so when we have just seen why I talk about and those of whom you never saw. What should we do there when those I had a recipe find that object that never changes and that is the love of God as he called it. That is it is such an apprehension of nature. Such an apprehension of the whole of things. That in its completeness that the search for its completeness is never completed and thus can never fall away. I like to give you another quotation one of my favorite petitions to from Saturday I'm listen to that. Talking about Americans and how they run around from one day to

another. So many engagements are almost driven distracted. Can't they buy anything because they have so many places to go and so many things to do. All that is requisite of something is agree should lift our hearts to things that are pure or goods in themselves so that the ones to a phone them and love them whatever else may be tied they remain a happiness for ever that nothing can solace. Well I've thought about this eternal kind of happiness. Because I want to put another kind of happiness against it that you're not the kind of happiness I'm going to talk you about. I'm talking about a fleeting rancid story gone and it always seems to Miss Graeme.

I'll leave that sentence incomplete because that's going to take me off again and we've got plenty to do without going to the office Blue Book. Let's put it let's put this whole argument. Now I'm going to make for right and wrong. And for the search for happiness in a number of steps each of these steps is not cannot be new to you. You know a lot of wildlife you know even better than I do. But altogether when you get them all together maybe I'm a commune argument that you may not have made yourself first and a man isn't is an intrinsically active creature he's part of a cosmic star which is active. In that kept of the old block and the old block the old block is going places always has often seemed to be the very dramatic and reminded

yet when the child were born it would refuse to get back to you know. Time happens and everybody's terribly excited when it does happen they get busy right away and get them going in the morning getting But I think the boys who have just I'll have all of the child was born I think and you have the advantage. What happens I get busy doing something. Or Jimmy what's a minor you get isn't that what we're born right or wrong. That's the hardest thing where a piece of the cosmic stuff. Do you have a big truck which is active and always has been lacking in the human character. This ongoing activity takes a peculiar form becomes conscious of the fact that I don't know just exactly what that

means. I like to think of it I do think of it as what you call those little things a lot in the summer time. All of the sudden you see them you know on far far. Far far. Yeah that's right. All of a sudden blow this activity and those blows that way. We become conscious of our behavior come becomes conscious and thus we supply as it were a headlight to what we do. And as we move into action we throw all of the light of consciousness. I keep saying I don't know what that means and how many years I've tried to find out what that means. We used to talk about almost nothing else but consciousness. Where we have to understand one another as imperfectly as we began as perfectly as we can. It throws a light ahead and lights up Barbara going.

It follows then doesn't it from this that the consequences of our action can be deliberately sought after. Because they're agreeable. And can be deliberately avoided because they're disagreeable. That is desiring news. Arrive wanting things are wrong. That's not good terminology either but. If you don't like that terminology then they invent a better one. And let me have it. We have once. We have won things. I say it's not easy to find the right word. You have to have some words and I will do. There's not much dispute is there about this by. Every human being is a bundle of wants. That is strange to me how I don't know that's a silly thing

to say. It's strange to me. It is strange to me. I don't understand why it should be strange to me how insistent we are in following load wants no matter what happens to us. Poverty. Sickness incurable disease we still drive on. We won't give up my quest shows how deep in us it is. I remember. A young man named coach. His name was Earl cook and he had this terrible disease. My ass. I mean you might have done or my esteem. I looked it up in the dictionary. And there even is such word in the dictionary you know. Well he had it all you had to terrible to see it just the wasting away of all your muscles. And I watched this wasting for I should say eight or ten years in which the fog.

Until at last. There wasn't anything alive a bought him. I mean that's really alive. Except Is eyes. When he talked to you with his eyes. He would answer you humorously with his eyes. He would as you say likely with these eyes. I remembered two things he said to me with those on the low side. The last conversation. I was having with him one was. That's an awfully funny thing you've just said and how could you be so in the way. I want to write. Read you something just a little something. But he rolled. When he had gone about a year down this path. We are keeping time with the dance of the stars. Those same atoms rhythm likely coursing through my body arc are coursing

their same bead in the blood. When the spring comes and April runs then fly over the emerald hills. I feel the sap of life. Tingling on its way and I become more than life. I too in a way. And they cheer though she may strike me down. Has blessed me with a sense of wonder has made me a citizen not of today but of yesterday. He may curse me. Yet she shall hear me too. He may not care for me and not care for those I love but I shall bring from her a few Carls of beauty and joy I say that is right and pricing the reapers lips in spite of everything in following these desires. Desires are numerous on them. Some of them are simple like.

Goals. No I don't seem to be able to think of things I want to say those things wrapped up in. What are those called. These things you buy ten cents five cents milk jug. All right keep yourself the way. Others are complex like making a success of your life. Some are nerds and well like wishing we had I. Got a room in this new media. And others are far off. Like. Peace world. Some are called wants of the body and some are called once of the mind and some are a little self-effacing once you hardly know if there are on the others are. Ones that. Take charge and hurl everything else

all the way. You understand how a man. Can be in love with a woman and kill her and then kill himself. How that. Passion of his should take charge of him in that way. And on Tuesday will it not. Well Ford. Did you know we were number four the lawyers we are. Going to make any mistake about. That's number four. I'd like to talk about this for quite a while. For me I don't know enough to talk to you about for a long time. Why not. Oh I was trained in the wrong way. Well also in you and then in the university and in every connection train wrong. So I can't get over that last night. There I said to be one of the bottom and ones of the mind. And it dawns on them more and more. I mean it comes to me more and more

that that's a mistake. There are not. Once all the body and wants of the mind there are once a body mind our mind body will make convenient the glass to fly them one way or another. But the reson that is us and that whole problem needs to be cleared up. Perhaps you can do something to clear it up. Perhaps you can get over this idea of looking down in distain upon the body that is having your mind or spirit look down and stand upon the body. And recognizing. That the body is it as important as the mind. I have long been convinced. That the way in which the mind talks about the body is a slander. It's assumed by almost all of us that it's a great boon that the

body followed online. I think it's more and more questionable whether that was such a great boon. Possibly the mind will in the end do away with all human bodies. And anyway isn't it a boon for the mind to have a body. I'll leave it you wouldn't side whether you warm up to those creatures who are this AM body mind and Angel. Some people warm up to them. If I ever saw one I'd be good and fast. One of the things I think the people in physical education that people like Blake trolling in this place to enlarge our view of physical

education. Those of us who are not or when people like Martin Doul Bowen introduced philosophy into the dance. No one should dad made some of us tremble because we were afraid that he might degrade philosophy. I'm very Carnes who was able to get beyond cadavers and beyond all our physiology all our medical studies. Through the expansion of physical education into the realm of ideals. That's what I say. They've done better than most of us and yet I think even there it's always been thought what you want is a song mind in a song body. Song mind body song bottom line when we get that worked up will be a long distance on the river for.

Buying a house. In the great form as a matter of fact you didn't publish it insolvent on the promise to that friend and it's a question whether he would have published it themself. But I like it. Maybe because of the Madrid long. I often think of it you're not old enough to think about yet begun. Your body is so great a convenience to you there's so little or danger of it breaking down on you that you don't know what's around. You would be if the bride had left some of the time but I think of this as an illustration of an example of an indorsement as a founding of a thing I'm talking about. It's called I lay me down the song I lay me down to slumber. And every morning revive Islam my long breathing that keeps me man why.

When I was off and Greenland left my limbs for God stayed at home to mind and grieve when I did not. I waste my time in talking and he he no heed at all take heed my kind then foolish comrade that breathes all night for me. You wouldn't get very far without your body. And I wish you'd get over this. Talking about the long time for a bonbon and this one the period of our mind the two are inseparable. Why. When times are getting one a lot a lot of time well I was just frightened because I saw a member of the class sort of anxiously looking at the clock.

I don't suppose he was anxious about me. I thought he was nice about something else. So we'll go on five. He wants to have another double car. And that's a double character of being the expression of the individual person and being the expression of the person in relation to whom the individual grew up. And it's practically impossible No it's impossible again to separate those out and say this is mine and this is there. I asked you this question are there in the eight wands and socially induced wands are there biologically inherited wands and socially inherited ones. I would have said. Last week certainly last semester. Yes to that question there are.

There are in the night while logical wants and there are socially inherited ones. I am saying no. No. Again you can classify them that way but there is no such thing. There come find their interrelated again in human beings. Still. Something happens to us because of the society we grow up. Our wants would not be the same if we didn't grow up in the society we did and that's the thing I would have emphasized before today I'm emphasizing this that you can't separate. Your wants are also all social wants and social wants are also yours. I go into this one which is more speculative and I like to talk about that to me. I like to reach Onstott bobbins but it's pure speculation and so. Just just in passing for a long time.

All right sisters your ancestors my ancestors for a very very long time for ages. Remember this is speculation and not science. Really a butterfly and some love so colorful called science but then let's call it speculation and then we won't have to be so responsible for it for a long long time many ages we were in our ancestors who belong to a generalized You know human and we were not apes and who were not primates were generalized structures. And I wonder when I'm speculating whether the memory of the earth. Is not deep in our unconscious being so that were drawn by to that generalize thought to which we once the law and I wonder how many of the things we do. How much of what we think we want we want and think we want

because there is that pool to take us by out of this differentiation into which we struggled to get. But we got. There and I must of taking terrific force Griffin drive to differentiate us off that way. And perhaps that's in us too. And perhaps a great deal of our trouble is due to the fact that these two great inherited drives a drive. To be where we used to be and the drive to get out get away from where we used to be perhaps a great deal of trouble is due to them. So in the seven sick. Sick sick the speculation that these don't change these numbers on what'll happen to us.

As a result of the come of the of the number and variety of our wants we have been ourselves not getting away from the speculation really talking science. We have conflicts of ones and I want to talk about mine and not about yours. You can decide whether you have these or do not have have these conflicts. I think you have them too of course or I wouldn't be talking to you about them. And to do something with them is. A nice problem. I have this one spending money and saving it would be alright if I just wanted to spend money. Yeah all right I just want to save money. But I want to spend and save. I suppose maybe you're Mordred Larry and some people are solid when you spend a dollar one euro dollar out at the bank.

Underwear operates on me when I spend a dollar. I am a dollar and a half short of the man. I don't like that. I have if I could fix the world up. And I mean this seriously if I could fix the world up I'd fix it up in this way that every time you spend a dollar. You would have a heart to have credit in the bank. Then you'd spend a dumb half past three dollars. Wow $3 6. I say I mean that seriously because of that expansion. That would mean something as it is no use when the darn darn I have Allah. Watch yourself randomly 75 cents next time you're on the dollar all. Restrictions you have to live by.

Yes maybe you live long enough. Already to discover this but I've not lived long enough to have seen this operate and people people who've said to themselves. I'm going to save. They've saved they've saved more than they intended to say they save money. Yeah they also say you in the expansiveness of their nature and they gradually became savers not only savers of money but savers of this impulse. To spend money in order to increase the happiness of men. August in the sun by saying if you see to it. That I have next year twice as much money as I have this year I will promise you a card out too that I'll be a much better man next year. And I was.

Spending money. In the neighborhoods to be better. Neighbors you'd be wise to enables you to be better. All right that's a first. There's another doesn't solve a soul so intense now as it used to be. But is the impulse to travel and the desire to travel I want to travel. The want to stay at home. I don't suppose it's the same with you but this is the way it turns out with me every time I go away. I'm not home. When I want to be at home. I want to be away too. There are still places where I want to go Athens for example never been there. I like to go on their crop was I like to wander around on my quad ideogram and know what you're wrong like to wallow in the sentiment of being worse.

Socrates used to be and where Plato used to walk I have a perfect regard just time. When I can't get there without. Leaving home. When there's another life that I do. Why I want to be Baghdad. I saw a plane once. I've spoken about before and which Baghdad was not on the stage at all was offstage and that great actress I was talking about Baghdad all the training made me so hungry to go to Baghdad at least twenty five years ago that I've always wanted to go to Baghdad and I met a man once and he said what you want to go to Baghdad for. It's almost. Kind of long duration of God awful smell if you're ever smelled in your life and I mean smell us. And I said use it. For a moment. Really depressed and I said I have to myself I want to go back.

But I know students I've known students who travel. I know all three of them not think of them that they made up their minds they would cry they would not stay at home. The crowd around the world they were capable girls and boys all they were capable want to nor differs quick witted. They made their way all the time and they had none of the qualities now. One is 50 and one is 47 movies 45 have none of the qualities not that you get when you stand on another tar is they've lost all of that. Let's fix it up so you can thrive and thrive on travel times they have it's a problem we have to solve. And then there's there's this one. To work. Being busy and not to work at all.

I meant to bring down the book. You never heard about I'm sure call the road mender. How could you have heard about and how could you how could you possibly understand what that means. But in the country where I was young. They used to have people sitting on the roadside with little piles of rocks and a hammer and they would hammer these rocks into smaller and smaller pieces and then those rocks that the smallest pieces would be used to mend the roads and. That's much too slow. Well I'd throw them and you're sitting there. Nothing on his mind except the thoughts of come enjoy. There's a picture to me of retirement from the activities of love of life from business. You know that's life. That's a life there all of them and you know but the other thing appeals to to be in affairs and that's another thing you have to solve.

And then here is one. How many friends should one. Should one have a few friends. Friends going 5 30 40 years and develop those friendships more and more deeply. Or should one seek new friends. And how about how many times are you to be married. Once and make a great adventure of that. Or the number of times as many times as you can possibly manage it. Yeah well and then there's this one and I must have then I must stop this but I want to read you good vision and leave you alone with talk that you like. There's this thing of getting things clear. Remember I'm talking from myself

but from someplace I've gotten this urge that I want things clear and I want the most stablished I don't want the dimness the dimming out of ideas. You take it but there's something in getting things immediately not logically. Getting the right off of by a bit of experience itself and savoring them that way. And there's something in proving our case to be using our mind sharpening your mind. And there's a great dichotomy here. I want to read you this quotation from a student. Who was a student in logic. And he was one of these men who'll read this drive to get the real juices of life. Real juices of life. The colors the textures

no Rustem took this course in logic and. Logic is a great subject. I thank you for introducing me to it. I've talked with people who were afraid of logic advised me to leave it alone. I said to them why be afraid of logic. Logic can't hurt you. Perhaps they were right. Rob's a right after all. Logic can't hurt you of course. It's not a force or a thing. Logic can't hurt you. But those who use it again. You can shut yourself away from the world and never take another drink and never touch another woman. Stretch yourself on a bed of spikes with logic.

Or you can use it to put over a shady business deal or a seduction or to defile the image of Christ. And it can be a great help. I tell you it can be a great help if you want to undermine society. I discovered another good use for logic. Not all the time enlisted in the socially respectable part of killing a man called war. Logic helps me to justify the killing and thus kills myself. Man is ingenious as inventor of instruments of destruction. And next to war which is the most spectacular and the most affective of those instruments. I have decided here teacher to place the subject. You have taught me LOGIC. Good life. You heard another in a selected number of lectures from the course philosophy on the human

enterprise recorded during the first semester in the classroom of Professor Max Otto Professor Otto will continue this discussion of problems of the more alive in the next lecture in the series.