Gordon Marino, a professor of philosophy, writes a piece expressing some scepticism about the formal teaching of virtue. But given that there are, and will continue to be, courses on ethics, he thinks they should accommodate material on self-interest and self-deception. He offers an example from his own recent experience:
Ethics education also ought to include training to make us better able to detect inner reflections that are solely in the service of the pleasure principle. Consider [this] example of a dubious inner dialogue. A few weeks ago I was on my way to a fancy restaurant when I was accosted by a disheveled man who put out his hand and pleaded, “I haven’t eaten all day – would you buy me a meal?” My first impulse was to say, “Of course.” My second thought was, I don’t want to stop, and besides, I have only 10- and 20-dollar bills on me, and I don’t feel like doling out that much money. Plus, I thought, if I give money to this person, I should also give it to all relevantly similar people. Because I am unwilling to make that kind of a sacrifice, it would be only fair to hold onto my money and keep on truckin’ to the four-star restaurant… To be sure, many believe that they do not have an obligation to try to personally feed strangers who claim to be hungry. After all, what if they use the money for drugs or booze? I think such reasoning is cynical and patronizing – unless, of course, I am in a rush and have only tens and twenties on me.
Tongue in cheek? But surely a professor of philosophy can come up with a higher class of self-deception than ‘if I give money to this person, I should also give it to all relevantly similar people’. If that was the thought I had, I’d know I was bull-shitting and turn back instantly. (Via Arts & Letters Daily.)