Recollection of Knowledge - Assignment Example

1. Did Socrates know, according to the of knowledge at the end of MENO, that knowledge is recollection? If not, why not? If so, what does he possess that makes this knowledge?Owing to the fact that a human being possesses all knowledge, there is no need for searching for anything else. It also means that a human being cannot move from not knowing to know.2. Use the principle of utility to justify Rosenblatt's claim in the last sentence of ‘The man in the water’. In Roger Rosenblatt’s essay “The Man in the Water”, the focus is not on the disaster itself, but on a single individual’s actions in choosing to come to the rescue of fellow crash survivors in the midst of frozen chunks crash debris and ice in the Potomac.

The last statements of the essay state, “He could not freeze water or create ice storms…but, he could hand his life over to a complete stranger; and this too is a power of nature. The man in the water battled against an impersonal and implacable enemy and was successful in holding it to a standoff. He is the best that humanity can do” (Rosenblatt). In sacrificing his life for the benefit of others, the man in the water was the personalization of the views held by the utility theory.3. First, what does it mean to say that the principle of utility is an absolute moral principle?

Second, are there any absolute truths? Third, how do the Old Man Snodgrass and Maiden Aunt cases make it difficult to defend those claims about the principle? Fourth, how does Rawls defend utilitarianism from these difficulties in Two Concepts of Rules?The utility principle holds that human behaviors or even actions can be viewed as being right as long as they seek to promote pleasure for others or general happiness. Moral absolutism perceives all actions as being either immoral or moral. This rigid definition is somewhat similar to that of the utility principle.

There are no absolute truths. The ‘Old Man Snodgrass’ and ‘Maiden Aunt’ cases make it hard to accept the claims of the principle of utility. In regards to ‘Old Man Snodgrass’, the power of the village collective is aimed against the weakest and most defenseless member of the community in accusing him of having a part in the gruesome murders instead of being applied to improve his life. In regards to the ‘Maiden Aunt’, the power of the majority (35 friends) is also being used to pressure the individual to go against what would be the morally upright thing to do.

In the case of the ‘Maiden Aunt’, ignoring the morally right thing to do may not result in serious consequences for the abandoned maiden aunt, but is still a reprehensible thing. In Lou Rawls’ ‘Two Concepts of Rules’, there is a definite distinction between rationalizing a specific practice and justifying specific activities within a given practice. The distinction is of great significance because it portrays how utilitarians have the opportunity to disprove the criticism that they often sanction acts such as breaking promises or punishing innocent individuals if doing this will maximize the good.

The central principle is that utilitarianism provides a rationalization of practices, and that specific actions are not validated by concepts of utility but rather by obeying the acceptable regulations of the practice. This means that there is a utilitarian rationalization for endorsing a ‘punishment practice’ in which only the guilty are penalized.