“Should” has become a kind of dirty word. Say it and you often get the retort, “Says who?” It’s a good question and the problem of answering it can be seen by considering two different kinds of “should”, as distinguished by Immanuel Kant.
ReadAmerican photographer Shellburne Thurber’s images of consulting rooms reveal the tensions of psychoanalysis. The “patient” lies on the couch, as though receiving medical treatment. At the same time, the walls are lined with books, paintings and objets d’art, telling us this is not a hospital but a site of intellectual endeavour. So is psychoanalysis a “talking cure” for the sick or a creative, humanistic exploration of the psyche? The ambiguous set-up of the therapeutic space suggests it is a little of both.
ReadIt is as though we have two different models of human freedom here which don’t fit neatly together. There is the spontaneous free spirit, flying where she feels like, and the composed free intellect, choosing what she decides is right.
ReadWhen we find ourselves feeling hostile towards others, we’re often advised to put ourselves in their position. The ubiquity of envy, however, suggests that this might be as likely to increase our enmity as weaken it…
ReadThe imperative not to treat people as objects is a minimal requirement of civility rather than the foundation of all ethics.
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