Words

……. ‘If you want to avoid prison, don’t steal’ is an example of Hypothetical Imperative Categorical Imperative would simply be ‘Don’t Steal!’ it is an order telling you what your duty is. Kant thought that morality was a system of categorical imperatives. Your moral duty is your moral duty whatever the consequences and whatever the circumstances. ~ Page 118

To see why, consider the human kind we call dyslexic. At the psychological and social level of analysis, dyslexics are the real human kind; they’re schoolchildren (and adults) who don’t perceive words as most people do. The condition was first described at the end of nineteenth century as a form of “word blindness.” Today’s view is that dyslexic is a consequence of the way brain interpret phonemes, the chunks of sound that are building blocks of words. Dyslexia, like almost all traits, must result from interactions among many different genes. Nonetheless, one need not know which genes in order to figure out how important heredity is to the condition. Research began in the 1950s, with comparisons of fraternal and identical twins and more recent statistical studies suggest that part of what makes dyslexia happens is a consequence of inheritance. ~ Page 292

What does the phrase ‘seek happiness’ mean? Today most people told to seek happiness would think of ways they could enjoy themselves. Perhaps happiness for you would involve exotic holidays, going to music festivals or parties, or spending time with friends. It might also mean curling up with your favourite book, or going to an art gallery. But although these might be ingredients in a good life for Aristotle, he certainly didn’t believe that the best way to live was to go out and seek pleasure in these ways. That on its own wouldn’t be a good life, in his view. The Greek word Aristotle used was ‘eudiamonia’ (pronounced ‘you-die-moania’, but meaning the opposite). This is sometimes translated as ‘flourishing’ or ‘success’ rather than ‘happiness’. It is more than the sort of pleasant sensations you can get from eating mango-flavoured ice cream or watching your favourite sports team win. Eudiamonia isn’t about fleeting moments of bliss or how you feel. It’s more objective than that. This is quite hard to grasp as we are so used to thinking that happiness is about how we feel and nothing more ~ Page 11

Aboutness is one of several concepts that may be grouped together, by a sort of family resemblanc, under the larger concept of teleology. Aboutness, functionality, representation, intentionality, value and meaningfulness are all teleological terms, That is they involve some telos (plural: tele), some end, goal, or purpose. ~ Page 10 "Nature is Enough" Author Loyal Rue