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  3. In Plato’s Republic we find a discussion about morality and selfishness. Pla

In Plato’s Republic we find a discussion about morality and selfishness. Pla

游客2025-04-06  4
问题     In Plato’s Republic we find a discussion about morality and selfishness. Plato’s brother Glaucon is trying to make Socrates give some good reasons for why it is better to be just than to be unjust. Glaucon insists that all people by nature look after themselves, and whenever we can get away with something, we will do it, regardless of how unjust it may be to others. Unfortunately, we may receive the same treatment from others, which is highly unpleasant, so for the sake of peace and security we agree to treat each other decently—not because we want to, but because we are playing it safe. Morality is just a result of our looking out for ourselves. If we can get away with something, it is our nature to make the most of it.
    What Glaucon is suggesting here about the origin of society is a first in Western thought. His theory is an example of what has become known as social contract theory, and this type of theory became particularly influential much later, in the eighteenth century. A social contract theory assumes that humans used to live in a pre-social setting(without rules, regulations, or cooperation)and then, for various reasons, got together and agreed on setting up a society. Generally, social contract theories assume that humans decide to build a society with rules for the sake of the common good or for the sake of self-protection. The theory is today known as psychological egoism.
    To Glaucon, decent persons will do "unjust" things just as quickly as scoundrels if they know they can get away with it since their human natures are identical. Here Glaucon is acting as the devil’s advocate in order to make Socrates defend justice as something that is good in itself. Surely we all can remember events in our lives that show that we don’t always act out of self-interest. We may remember that Mother Teresa and other unselfish souls have spent their lives helping others. The psychological egoist would contend that they may not have been aware of their true motives, but selfish it was, somehow. These people, probably, wanted to get to Heaven, to atone for past wrongdoing, or maybe they just wanted to feel warm inside.
    This theory, cynical as it may sound, has established itself firmly in the minds of many modern people. Somehow, this theory removes the halo from above the head of every hero and every unselfish person in the history of humankind. One reason, then, for this theory’s popularity is its presumed honesty. Closely related to the notion of honesty is our modern fascination with cynicism. Oftentimes, people are truly selfish and devious, and things are not what they seem. However, there is a difference between this kind of prudent skepticism and a universal cynicism that borders on paranoia. Such radical cynicism doesn’t allow for the possibility of the existence of goodness and kindness, and this is one of the errors psychological egoists are prone to. Psychological egoists never say that we can’t help being selfish to the bone—they just say that there is some hidden selfish motive for whatever we do that we may not be even aware of. [br] How would psychological egoists interpret the example of Mother Teresa?
选项 A、She helps others for the sake of herself.
B、Justice is good in itself to the devil’s advocate.
C、Descent persons will do unjust things as well.
D、She is a typical person with feelings of paranoia.
答案 A
解析 心理自我主义者会怎样解释修女特蕾莎的例子?为了自己，她帮助别人。第三段后三句说，我们也许记得修女特蕾莎和其他无私的人终生帮助别人。心理自我主义者会认为，这些人也许没有意识到他们真正的动机。从某种角度讲，其动机便是自私。这些人很可能想上天堂，赎回过去的罪行，或者说，他们也许只是想要内心感到温暖。
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