Jeremy Johnson
Professor Oliver
PHIL 1030 Section 11
8 December 2023
LH Chapter 5 Injustice Final Report Blogpost
In chapter 5 of Life Is Hard by Kieran Setiya, he discusses the issue of injustice and how we can take steps to solving relevant injustices we face in our world today. The chapter begins with Kieran describing a night when he is scrolling on his phone in the year of 2020. On his phone, he is flooded rapidly with devastating news stories including topics such as police brutality, political gridlock, and natural disasters. These are all examples of real injustices that we faced in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Kieran describes this never-ending series of horrible news as "doomscrolling," and feels helpless to change the problems we face. I can relate to his feelings in a sense that it does seem improbable to make a significant difference by yourself on certain world-wide issues.
When we choose to take action against unjust principles, these actions may bring consequences in the future. An example of this would be the Black Lives Matter protests that arose in 2020 that resulted in the deaths of many innocent Americans. Kieran proposed a question asked by the famous philosopher, Plato, which was "Why concern oneself with justice when solidarity brings pain?" He answered this question by saying, "We care about justice, or pretend to care, only because we are afraid of being caught." I believe this quote can be interpreted best by asking yourself this question: If I don't stand up or participate in this injustice, will I be frowned upon by others? I think to most, the opinion of what others think and how they will respond goes into consideration far more than the unjust cause someone is choosing to fight for. This article dives in deeper on how social influence and the dynamics of our society play a role in how we construct opinions and hold values on controversial topics.
When it comes time to take action to injustices, we must find a starting point. Kieran believes in order to understand unjust issues we face; we must learn and find ways to bring about change to them. Since our world is not a replica of Plato's Utopia, we must accept the obstacles in our society for what they are instead of wishing things could be different. Another aspect of bringing change is remembering that change comes in a series of steps. We may not see that change in a year, ten years, or even our lifetime, but contributing little efforts at a time will eventually add up and make the world a better place for future generations. Setiya said himself, "There is value in a single step toward justice, and one step leads to another."
"He answered this question by saying, "We care about justice, or pretend to care, only because we are afraid of being caught."-- To be clear, the "he" in question is neither Plato nor Setiya. It's Plato's character Glaucon, who doesn't really care about justice at all. Those who really do care about justice are less concerned about "the opinion of what others think"...
ReplyDeleteGood point made by that cartoon, the first step in the right direction often is the steepest. We just have to keep moving in the right direction, once we've started to move.
MLK also said the arc of history is long, but bends towards justice. Well, it does if we bend it.