The Human Condition

The Human Condition Is A Response To The Growing Disenchantment In The Western World With Contemporary Life. John Kekes Provides Rationally Justified Answers To Questions About The Meaning Of Life, The Basis Of Morality, The Contingencies Of Human Lives, The Prevalence Of Evil, The Nature And Extent Of Human Responsibility, And The Sources Of Values We Prize. He Offers A Realistic View Of The Human Condition That Rejects Both Facile Optimism And Gloomy Pessimism; Acknowledges That We Are Vulnerable To Contingencies We Cannot Fully Control; Defends A Humanistic Understanding Of Our Condition; Recognizes That The Values Worth Pursuing Are Plural, Often Conflicting, And That There Are Many Reasonable Conceptions Of Well-being. Kekes Emphasizes The Importance Of Facing The Fact That Man's Inhumanity To Man Is Widespread. He Rejects As Simple-minded Both The View That Human Nature Is Basically Good And That It Is Basically Bad, And Argues That Our Well-being Depends On Coping With The Complex Truth That Human Nature Is Basically Complicated. Finally, Kekes Argues That The Scheme Of Things Is Indifferent To Our Fortunes And That We Can Rely Only On Our Own Resources To Make What We Can Of Our Lives. The Question -- Increasing Control -- Correcting Attitudes -- Aiming At Well-being -- Dimensions Of Value -- The Human Dimension And Evil -- Responsibility For Evil -- The Cultural Dimension And Disenchantment -- The Personal Dimension And Boredom -- Secular Hope. By John Kekes. Chapter I Was Published As The Human World In Ratio 22 (2009): I37-56. Chapter 5 Is A Substantial Revision Of Chapter 6 In Enjoyment: The Moral Significance Of Styles Of Life (oxford: Clarendon Press, 2008). Chapter 7 Includes Parts Of Chapter 13 In The Roots Of Evil (ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005)--acknowledgements. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction 14 1. The Question 20 1.1 The Question 20 1.2 Two Interpretations of Contingencies 25 1.3 The Possibility of Control 29 1.4 Practical Reason 32 1.5 Toward an Answer 36 2. Increasing Control 39 2.1 A Case in Point 40 2.2 The Question of Significance 41 2.3 The Variable Approach 46 2.4 Objections Considered 51 2.5 Loose Ends 59 3. Correcting Attitudes 60 3.1 Values 61 3.2 Limits 66 3.3 Commitments 69 3.4 Critical Reflection 76 3.5 Corrected Attitudes 77 4. Aiming at Well-Being 80 4.1 Mistakes about Well-Being 81 4.2 Coherence 85 4.3 Coherence is Not Enough 89 4.4 Realism 94 4.5 Obstacles to Well-Being 99 5. Dimensions of Value 101 5.1 The Human Dimension 102 5.2 The Cultural Dimension 104 5.3 The Personal Dimension 109 5.4 Conflicts 110 5.5 Right vs. Wrong Approaches to Conflict-Resolution 116 6. The Human Dimension and Evil 127 6.1 What is Evil? 127 6.2 The Secular Problem of Evil 132 6.3 Inadequate Explanations 135 6.4 Toward an Adequate Explanation 140 6.5 Evil and the Human Condition 148 7. Responsibility for Evil 151 7.1 The Reflexivity of Evil 152 7.2 Intention and Responsibility 159 7.3 The Standard 162 7.4 Excuses 166 7.5 Weakening the Reasons for Evil-doing 173 8. The Cultural Dimension and Disenchantment 175 8.1 Disenchantment 176 8.2 Modes of Evaluation 179 8.3 Exemplars 184 8.4 The Quest for an Overriding Mode of Evaluation 190 8.5 Modus Vivendi 195 9. The Personal Dimension and Boredom 198 9.1 Boredom 199 9.2 The Thrill of Evil 202 9.3 Unassuagable Boredom? 207 9.4 The Burden of Reflection 212 9.5 Overview 217 10. Secular Hope 220 10.1 Depth 220 10.2 Modest Hope 224 10.3 The Illusion of Autonomy 229 10.4 The Illusion of the Categorical Imperative 232 10.5 Secular Hope without Illusions 238 Conclusion 245 Notes 259 Works Cited 275 Index 284 A 284 B 284 C 284 D 284 E 284 F 284 G 284 H 284 I 285 J 285 K 285 L 285 M 285 N 285 O 285 R 285 S 285 T 285 U 285 V 285 W 285 John Kekes offers a response to the growing disenchantment in the Western world with contemporary life. He defends a realistic view of the human condition that rejects both facile optimism & gloomy pessimism. While acknowledging that the scheme of things is indifferent to our fortunes, he shows that we do have the resources to improve our lives