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[by Charles Cameron — some remedial philosophy at age 71 ]
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I seem to be doing remedial political philosophy this week. As it happens, I read a Chinese comedian in my youth and was admonished against “sitting down while running round in circles” and have been aerating my brain with too much conscious breathing ever since — neither leaving me much time or interest for what in Oxford in my day was known, somewhat dismissively, PPE — Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Which brings me today, and to grabbing lectures in just that sort of thing from Harvard’s Michael Sandel, courtesy of YouTube:

The video shows Sandel’s lectures, “Justice: Putting a Price Tag on Life”, and “How to Measure Pleasure” — salted with some dark humor:

Back in ancient Rome, they threw Christians to the lions in the Coliseum for sport. If you think how the utilitarian calculus would go, yes, the Christian thrown to the lion suffers enormous, excruciating pain, but look at the collective ecstasy of the Romans. .. you have to admit that if there were enough Romans delirious with happiness, it would outweigh even the most excruciating pain of a handful of Christians thrown to the lion.

I enjoyed the two lectures immensely — maybe I should rewind fifty years, and try PPE at Harcard?.

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All of which caused me to wonder:

Sources:

Mark Dowie, Pinto Madness

W Michael Hoffman, Case Study: The Ford Pinto

See also:

ES Grush and CS Saunby, Fatalities Associated with Crash-Induced Fuel Leakage and Fires

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I mean, all of which made me wonder about Jeremy Bentham, I suppose.

We had Locke at Christ Church, staring disdainfully from his portrait during dinners in the Great Hall — but Bentham? I don’t think I saw any utility in utilitarianism.

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But then I also wondered:

I wondered: how close is the analogy between the trolly problem and the ticking bomb torture questionn? Do we start from numbers of likely victims in each case and decide from there, or should we instead start by contemplating torture — and recognize the abyss staring back at us?

Sources:

Wikipedia, Trolly problem

Michael Sandel, Justice: Putting a Price Tag on Life & How to Measure Pleasure

See also:

Kyle York, Lesser-Known Trolley Problem Variations

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What Shakespeare said, though — getting back to my title — was “The quality of mercy is not strain’d” — not the quantity, the quality — unquantifiable.

[ by Charles Cameron — believing great scripture and great poetry have much in common ]
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In what must be the most glorious mix-up of scriptures ever, this volume of Shakespeare‘s works:

was smuggled into the prison on Robben Island, S Africa, where Nelson Mandela and others were incarcerated, by Mandela’s fellow-prisoner Sonny Venkatrathnam, who invited other prisoners to sign it next to the passages that meant the most to them.

Mandela’s signature is next to the passage in Julius Caesar, Act II scene ii, beginning:

Cowards die many times before their deaths
The valiant never taste of death but once.

Featuring Krishna with his beguiling flute on its spine, the book has become known as the Robben Island Bible.

Consider: this book inspired the man who brought an end to apartheid. How important would you say literature can be in the development of leaders of moral stature?

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Image sources:

Jonathan Bate, Ten books that changed the world

Mark Brown, British Museum Shakespeare exhibition to include prized Robben Island copy

[ by Charles Cameron — these two tweets hopefully speak for themselves ]
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Merciless:

ISIS Jihadists Turn Churches Into Prisons in Formerly Christian City of Mosul: http://t.co/eRemDKRsFa pic.twitter.com/n0SyRj1Uev

— The Christian Post (@ChristianPost) December 3, 2014

and Merciful:

Kurdish mosque made of to church for Christian refugees who fled to #Kurdistan. #TwitterKurds #ISIS #ISIL #Daesh #USA pic.twitter.com/65QIbYzbUi

— Peshmerga forces (@salar_dd) December 4, 2014

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The world seems filled with these simultaneities of the gruesome and the glorious.

And what of man?

What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an Angel! in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! And yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me; no..