106 CHAPTER 2 + HUMAN NATUR: QUESTIONS computer theory is te? 4. Contrast the Buddhist approach to hu nature with the rational Western religious, scienliGc, and existentialist views Does the view of no self have ay bat? — PHILOSOPHY AT TY MOVIES Watch Menento (209% parts of which use black and white Ggical order, while the other parts use fer the story of Leonard. Leonard is secking show a telephone con- x to show in reverse wife's murderer versation in chro) chronological G sell? Why or why not? Other movies with related themes: Total Recall (1900); The Bourne Identity ( “isernal Sunshine ofthe Spotless Mind (2004); 50 First Dates (2001) 25 Are We Independent and Self-Sufficient Individuals? Isn't it obvious that parents should help their children achieve independence and self-sufficiency? Isn't it obvious that one of the worst things parents can do is 10 raise their children to become and remain dependent on others all of their lives? To ensure that children become independent individuals, parents teach them, to value and cultivate self-reliance, Parents also try to teach their children how (o think on their own, how to make judgments om their own, how to choose and explore on their own, They try to teach children independence of thought and action, Or consider some things parents teach children to avoid. One is conformity Most parents don’t feel that itis good to teach a child to want to conform, They ad- vise children not to follow their fiends or peer groups blindly. They teach children that itis not good to always submit co the expectations of others, Parents advise chil- dren, instead, to think for themselves, to learn to judge and evaluate for themselves whether what others tell them is true. Parents also teach their childyen to try to be true to themselves. Parents teach their children the importance of being in touch with their real individual nature2.5 © ARE WE INDEPENDENT AND SELF-SUFFICIENT INDIVIDUALS? 107 ‘and inner feelings and needs. They should not «ry (o change themselves to please others, Finally, think about some things we value that support these parental ideas ‘Take privacy, for example, Don't we feel that we should allow people o live their own lives? Don’t we feel that something is wrong when society forces its values om private individuals? Or consider how we value creativity in people, or how we enjoy novelty, excitement, and challenge in life, Consider how much we prize freedom, being able to “do your own thing.” How we praise individual achievement and am- bition. How we cherish individual freedom, How we believe that choosing a path, that is her own is alLimportant for a person, rather than choosing one that others impore on her The Atomistic Self (QUICK REVIEW Many hold the view dae All these views about how ve should raise children, and assumptions about what | the velis and should be wwe should value, are past ofa pattern. They are based on a certain view of the sell: | independen of other the view that the self is and should be independent of o:hers and selfsufficient. | and saucer This view has deep roots in our culture and in our ways of thinking and feeling. Itis view that some philosophers eal the atomistic view of the self On this view, the self, like the atom, selécontained and independent of other atoms. The sell isan at tonomous individual with its own unique inner qualities. The things I go through, the people I meet, and the things I witness can touch me and move me. They can, injure and hurt me, Yet the real me, the core of my self, can always vise aboxe these ‘and remain independent and different frox all that it meets. The great American poet Walt Whitman perhaps expressed this idea best in his wellknown poem "Song of Myselt Tealebvate myself, and sing mys. ‘Trippers and asker suround me, People I met, the effect upon me of my cay lifer the ward and city live in, ‘the nation, The latest dates discoveries, ventions, soit, author old and we, My dime, des, associates, loos, compliments, dus, ‘The valor fancied indifference of some man ev woman I lve, The scknes of one of my folks oof myself, or ileding or los or lack f money, or depressions ov reliaons. ates, the horns of eancidal a the fever of doubtful nes, the fil events These come to me days and nights and go from me again, Bur they are no the Me myself. Apert fom the pulling and hauling stands what Ie, Slandi amused, complacent, compassionating dl, unilery Lonks down, is rc, or bonds an arm on an impalpable cian rs, “Looking with sidecued head curious what wil come next Botkin and out ofthe game and watching and sondering ati ‘To see how powerful this atomistic view of the selfs, think fora moment about, your “real self” How do you get at the “real” you? Not the “you” that tries to live Lup to the expectations of others, not the face that the world sees, but the real and, 55 Walt Whatman, “Song of Myself in The Amoicen Tradition n Literatur, Sed ed vol 2,48 8 Brady EC Beaty and E1L Long (New York: Gromet and Dunlap, 1997), 39,38los CHAPTER? ~ (QUICK REVIEW Descartes ld the self ‘exits and canbe known Independent of ot fers and tht only the self can jude che rah about what ie HUMAN NATURE genuine *you” Don’t you find this real you by withdrawing into yourself and con- templating the you that lies within? ‘This is what many philosophers have also thought. Consider the example of Descartes, He tells ws that one day he resolved to understand himself better, so he withdrew from the company of others to discover within himself the truth about himselt: Alier Thad employed several years studying the book of the world and tying to acquire some experience, | one day formed the resolution of also making myself fan object of study... Winter detained me in a place where [found no saciety to divert me and no cates or passions to wouble me. Tyemained there the whole day thet up alone in 4 stovecheated zoom, where [had complete leiare to occupy nye with my own chomghts Alone, apart from others, Descartes could search for his inner real self and could decide for himself what is true and what is false: I shall now close my eyes, Tshall stop my eas, shall eal away all may senses, I shall ‘fface even from my thonghts all dhe images of corporeal things, oF at Ieaet (for tat i hardly possible) I shall esteem them as vain and false; and thus holding converse only with myself and considering my ows nacuse, I shall ty lite by ile lo teach a better knowledge of and s more familiar acquaintancesbyp with myzell Tam a thing that thinks, that isto say, that doubts affirms, denies, that knows a few things, thats ignorant of mang, that loves, that hates, that wills, that desires, that also imagines and perceives In order to ty to extend my knowledge farther, I shall now look around more ‘carefully and see whether I cannot sil discover in myself some other things which Thave not hitherto perceived, Tam certain that Iam a dhing which thinks; but do not then likewise know what is requisite to render me certain ofa truth? Certainly sm thie rst knowledge there is nathing that assures me of is truth, excepting the leat and distinct perception ofthat which I state... And accordingly it seems to sme that alread I can establish asa general rule that all things which perceive very ‘clearly and very distinctly are ue.” Notice what Descartes is saying. First, he says that the yeal me exists within myself Second, he claims that this eal me and its qualities—ay desires, fears, hopes, loves, hhatreds—exist there inside me independently of others. Third, he claims that I, by myself, can discover this real me by withdrawing or separating from others, Fourth, he claims that only I ean be the judge of what the truth about myself In short, Descartes gives usa picture of the independent and self-sufficient in- dividual. Ido not need others (o be who I really am. Of couse, I may need others to help me live. For example, I depend on others for food, housing, and the many other material things I need. Still, I do not need others to have the qualities that, make me who Lam: My desires, fears, hopes, loves, and hatreds are all there inside ‘me, whether or not anyone is around to see them. These do not depend on others but come from within me: They are me. My real self is there, and itis independent of others. Moreover, a key aspect of the real me is my ability © decide for mysel— that is, the ability o judge the truth of things for myself without relying on others, Some philosophers have gone even fasther than Descartes in emphasizing the importance of this ability to judge things for oneself, For example, the German 1 Descartes, Dscoure om Mead 87 55 Descartes Meat, 157H158,