[Kahla Uhrinek]

Diderot discusses on page sixteen of Rameau’s Nephew the concept of morality. Him tells Rameau’s nephew that his shame is justified and relieved when he sees others suffer. Compared to the entire piece this statement relates back to the debate and ‘back and forth’ of their opinions of morality. This is challenging. In society different people have different morals, but in reality all people put others down in everyday life either with internal expression or external expression. Is this human nature? And, if so, does that make all mankind selfish, only caring for our own wellbeing? Perhaps. However, it could easily be said that His selfishness is quite different. It seems as though He has no remorse for his selfish ambitions and justifications and people with this mentality do exist in society. Consider the following example; a murderer is unmoral and is so selfish they take someone’s life. Maybe this person gets a sense of simple joy or a power surge over them by killing someone. If so, how does the person who witnesses a parking ticket on their least favorite person’s car compare? They see the ticket and think ‘ha they deserve it’, but do they? How much similarity does the everyday person with selfish satisfaction have with a murderer? They didn’t kill anyone, but they needed that misfortune of another for personal satisfaction. Maybe Diderot’s character, Him, places these individuals on the same morality scale.

 

–Thoughts of Group 5 —

• This topic was modified 10 years, 11 months ago by Kahla Uhrinek.

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