ipl-logo

Bernard Williams Categorical Desires Analysis

492 Words2 Pages

Throughout Bernard Williams essay, he focuses on the rhetorical significance of the Makropulos opera, and how the immortal protagonist killed themselves due to the issue of eternal boredom. Problematically death serves to end this suffering, which enables the concept of death to be depicted as a good in Williams argument. Williams essay focuses specifically on the concept of categorical desires. The categorical desires is a drive that causes enables someone to progress in to the future, because they possess certain desires/goals they wish to achieve. Additionally, the temptation of suicide originates from this unbearable boredom, which pushes the agent away from their categorical desires. The reason this problem can arise, is when the agent satisfies all their desired …show more content…

However, William doubts this concept of eternal boredom, because the individual will be moving freely, and not be situated in a single position for eternity. However, there is the problem that the immortal agent can travel to all places on earth and become intellectually satisfied with those environments. Nonetheless, there is also the factor of intellectual freedom, where the immortal person can entertain themselves through obtaining knowledge. In effect, Nevertheless, if the concept of categorical desires remains intact for the individual, they will continue to desire living a life of immortality. However, Williams closes his argument with the belief that an immortal life would be unlivable. This is because, the limitations timespan of a normal life motivates the agent to fulfill their personal goals. Significantly, the limitation of time gives the individual a purpose in their life. However, without that limited time-span, the individual can lose sight of their purpose and this can cause disruption to their categorical desires to

Show More
Related

Robert F Williams Thesis

222 Words | 1 Pages

Born in 1925 in Monroe, North Carolina, Robert F. Williams was the grandchild of former slaves who left home at an early age and ended up enlisted in the Marines. He returned home in 1955, founding and becoming President of Monroe’s chapter of the NAACP where he recruited the working class along with the unemployed to create an unprecedented chapter. “We ended up with a chapter that was unique in the whole NAACP because of working class composition and a leadership that was not middle class. Most important, we had a strong representation of returned veterans who were very militant and didn’t scare easy.” (In Memory of Robert F. Williams)

Read More

Robert Williams Thesis

448 Words | 2 Pages

The first African American man to show armed resistance to racial violence and oppression was Robert F Williams . Robert Franklin Williams Was born in Monroe, North Carolina to Emma Carter Williams and John Williams on February 26, 1925. Robert was the fourth of five children out of his other siblings. Growing up in the deep south there were lots of murders because of all the KKK members and racesits. When Robert was young he was presented with his first rifle that his grandfather had.

Read More

Essay Comparing Mccandless And Siddhartha

528 Words | 3 Pages

People often find the need to seek the meaning of life. They feel as though there has to be more to life or that they are blinded to something vital in the grand scheme of things. Different people use different means, some go on grand journeys hoping to find some sort of wisdom in their experience. This is where we find a parallel in the lives of Chris McCandless and Siddhartha, the main characters of Into the wild by Jon Krakauer and Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. In both stories the main character lives a well off life but becomes dissatisfied by societal conventions.

Read More

Ethan Frome And The Awakening: A Literary Analysis

606 Words | 3 Pages

Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, and Kate Chopin’s The Awakening are novels that represent the traps that society has set forth for them. In both novels, suicide is seen as the only way to escape from their constricted circumstances in which these people are expected to live in. The Frome’s and The Pontellier’s have very similar circumstances, such as blaming each other for their problems, and having marriage’s which they are not happy in. “Her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of Fate.”

Read More

Summary Of The Meaning Of Lives By Susan Wolf

346 Words | 2 Pages

In Susan Wolf’s article “The Meaning of Lives” she argues a meaningful life is engaged in positive projects to some degree of success. She also believes that the pursuits with meaning have an objective value that connects with the rest humanity. Susan Wolf’s did not write about her thoughts on the concept of plugging oneself into an experience machine like described by Christopher Grau in “Bad Dreams, Evil Demons, and the Experience Machine”, but her argument for what gives meaning to a life makes it clear that she would argue someone should choose to not plug in. The reason a person would choose to plug into an experience machine is because they could live out all of their fantasies and avoid all the discomfort experienced in real life. But

Read More

Lucretius On The Order Of Things Analysis

1440 Words | 6 Pages

Analysis of Lucretius: On the Order of Things Introduction: Lucretius, the author of, “On the Order of Things” argues for the concept and ideology of an inevitable death, in that individuals should accept their fate instead of providing resistance. Lucretius commences by claiming that Atomism is the core reason of the existence of the universe, thereby reasoning that everything that currently exists in the world today is a product of the collision of atoms. Since human beings are comprised of these, there is no possibility that any part of them can survive after death, and thus humans should not fear death. He also delves into the Epicurean belief that individuals crave a life devoid of pain, and abundant with pleasure.

Read More

Figurative Language In Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven

920 Words | 4 Pages

Through the words reflecting melancholy and sorrow, we can sense the narrator's self destruction due to the death of the woman he loved. As one examines the figurative language of the poem, one finds that its form and

Read More

Death Scene In Brave New World

821 Words | 4 Pages

2004, Form B The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death or deaths take place. Choose a novel or play and write a well-organized essay in which you show how a specific death scene helps to illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary. The Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, is a dystopian novel he presents a utopian society called the World State which is filled with promiscuous sex, drug-soaked pleasure and a rigid social structure based on subjective characteristics.

Read More

Summary Of Bernard Williams A Critique Of Utilitarianism

1565 Words | 7 Pages

Williams has an issue with the need to look at actions’ consequences to find any value in them. He believes that some actions have innate value regardless of their consequences. He compares the consequentialist’s position to that of a traveler who focuses only on the destination he is seeking to arrive at. Williams states that travelers don’t travel to arrive somewhere, they travel because they find value in the journey itself. There is something in this idea that can be applied to morality.

Read More

Man's Search For Meaning

1527 Words | 7 Pages

What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment” (Frankl, p. 108). The meaning of life, when used as a general term, has a broad definition because of its ever-changing nature. However, the true definition of the meaning of life is supposed to be established on an individual basis. It’s the events going on in your personal life at that moment in time that defines what meaning is. “To put the question in general terms would be comparable to the question posed to a chess champion: ‘Tell me, Master, what is the best move in the world?’”

Read More

Hamlet Death Theme Essay

873 Words | 4 Pages

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the main protagonist, Prince Hamlet, is tangled with the theme of death. During the play, he presents how his life is surrounded with death after his father, King Hamlet, dies. Death theme is the most occurring theme Shakespeare writes about in his plays, which most of his plays have a very dramatic death ending and involve the death of the main protagonist. Throughout the play, Shakespeare presents the idea of life, which is the never ending cycle of revenge and death. Shakespeare starts the death theme with the death of King Hamlet, which stimulates Hamlet to seek for revenge with his various soliloquies considering death from various points of view and certainly leads to a dramatic ending.

Read More

Thomas Jefferson's 'Determine Never To Be Idle'

947 Words | 4 Pages

Hence, a person should live day by day because any day might be their last. When a person is older, they want to look back on what they accomplished and not on what they could have accomplished. People do not want to look back to the past and regret that they did not take the time to pursue an opportunity. They want to look back on the things they did and be proud to tell about the things they achieved. One should spend their day living, at all times.

Read More

The Audience In Othello

931 Words | 4 Pages

The interest of an audience is held by themes that are fundamental to the human condition, as these reflect our world and examine human nature. For example, Othello explores themes of jealousy which is still relevant to this day. Therefore most themes in this play have a broad appeal to all people. The lives of a twenty first century audience are substantially different to those of a Shakespearean time but the themes of love, hate and death are timeless.

Read More

Death Of A Salesman Aristotle Analysis

1065 Words | 5 Pages

He is overbearing on his children, and as expected they grow up confused. His struggles begin when he looses his job, at the end we expect him to kill himself, which he does. According to Aristotle, tragic hero should be able to arise the feelings of pity and fear in the minds of audience. Willy’s failure to accept his own inadequacy is what causes catharsis that characterizes a tragedy. Catharsis refers to purification or cleansing and purgation of emotions, especially pity and fear.

Read More

Death Theme In Hamlet

847 Words | 4 Pages

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is tangled with the theme of death. During the play, he presents how his life is surrounded with death after the death of his father. Death theme is the most occuring theme Shakespeare writes about in his plays, which most plays have a very dramatic death theme and most of time involve the death of the main protagonist. Throughout the play, Shakespeare presents the idea of life, which is the never ending cycle of death and revenge. Shakespeare starts the theme of death with the death of King Hamlet, which stimulates Hamlet to seek for revenge with his various soliloquies considering death from various points of view and certainly leads to a dramatic ending.

Read More

More about Bernard Williams Categorical Desires Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document