So the distinction in today's verbiage might be more meaningfully translated as "officially" and "personally"? Having once been an authority figure -- a high school teacher -- I found myself at times having to uphold (verbally at least) school rules that were observed only by the most timid and scrupulous students. Occasionally on lunch duty -- one detail of which was to patrol the school grounds -- a timid/scrupulous student or two would come and ask me if they could leave campus to go to the corner market (there was always a steady stream of students to the store that no teacher so far as I knew had ever tried to interdict). Of course I could not, as a school official, say "yes" without assuming possibly enormous legal consequences, and so I would, of course, say "no" even as the stream of students walked by shouting hello's. Now what I want to know is: How come some people just don't catch on? Are they inveterate Kantians?!!!!!!
Mike Geary Memphis----- Original Message ----- From: "Phil Enns" <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006 3:09 PM Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Euthyphro & Habermas
Walter Okshevsky wrote: "I haven't come across that essay by H., I don't think. Could you give us the reference?" "Religion in the Public Sphere", _European Journal of Philosophy_, 14:1 Walter: "When you say that the essay 'is essentially ....', do you mean that Hhimself states that that's what he's doing or is it your take on what he isdoing in that essay?" It is my take on the essay. Walter:"Btw, Kant's distinction between public and private reason has always seemedcounter-intuitive to me. What we normally understand by 'public', he takes to be 'private.' Do you have a short but accurate account of the difference?"It is a matter of freedom. Take, for example, the U.S. generals who have inthe last few years commented on the Iraq war. When they are still in theservice, they must consider their role within the military so that when theyspeak, they speak as representatives of the U.S. military. However, when they retire, these individuals speak as individuals and often say things they would not have said, were they still serving. According to Kant, thegeneral who addresses the troops is constrained by their role as general and therefore is not speaking from freedom, hence privately. The general is not speaking to anyone who might overhear what is said, but instead addresses a particular audience within a determined context. However, when that general retires and writes an op-ed piece expressing personal convictions regarding the war, the individual is speaking to anyone who might read the piece. Asa general, this person may be addressing tens of thousands of people, but what is said is addressed to that particular audience for a particular determined purpose, and therefore private. As an individual, the person's op-ed may only be read by a few hundred people, but what is said is addressed to anyone who bothers to read the piece, and therefore public. The issue is whether one has one's freedom constrained by acting within a determined role. It doesn't matter what the general says, what matters iswhether it is in the service of being a general, or an individual. So, thesame is true of preachers, bureaucrats, teachers, etc. Obviously Kant does not think that private reasoning is a bad thing. Rather, his argument is that for an enlightened society, there must be a sphere where people can speak freely, publicly. The general, preacher, mayor, professor, etc., must have the ability to speak apart from their roles as general, preacher, mayor, professor, etc.I take the relevance of the public/private reasoning distinction for Kant'saccount of morality to be obvious so I won't go on. Sincerely, Phil Enns Glen Haven, NS ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
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