RELG 271 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Intellectual, Reinhard Gehlen, Erinn Smart
23 Jun 2018
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Human fragility and sex
-Fragility/vulnerability: susceptibility to harm, being opened to wounding
-Human vulnerability: the potential to experience harm and danger (thought of in negative
terms)
-Contemporary approaches:
—> Curse (Goodin, MacIntyre, Turner) recognize the negative component of vulnerability. The
vulnerable need protecting
—> Choice (Brown) when we choose vulnerability, we choose courage. Vulnerability as a choice
(whole hearted living leads to courage)
—> Change (Gehlen, Culp) vulnerability as unfinished. Coming to the world as unfinished and
completing ourselves - potential for change. Culp see’s change in two ways: 1) we are
susceptible for transformation, glorification or 2) for destruction
—> Condition (Nussbaum, Fineman, Gilson)
-To be vulnerable is to be human (we can recognize our vulnerability)
-Bryan Turner:
-Obvious corporeality of existence (physical or embodiment)
-Open to the “dangers of our environment” and “conscious of our precarious circumstances”
-Body is susceptible to sickness, weakness..
-Erinn Gilson:
-“Pervasive, fundamental, shared and something we cannot ever entirely avoid”
-“Openness to being affected and affecting in ways that one cannot control” (lack of control = at
risk of pain and suffering which is largely negative, we live in a world where we don't always
know how to deal with what comes at us)
-Implications of vulnerability:
-Biological - dependency due to disease, epidemics, resistant viruses, other biological
catastrophes
-Environmental - natural disasters beyond our control (e.g. errant weather systems) producing
flood, drought, famine, fire, etc.
-Institutional - harms from illness or injury that may disrupt our existing web of economic and
institutional relationships of dependence or support
-Individual - vulnerabilities range in magnitude and potential at individual level (vulnerability is
both universal and particular)
-Vulnerability very particular to our history
-Vulnerability means risk but being human we have choices and we can act/strive to shape our
lives the way we want too. So even if we are vulnerable and there’s certain room for harm we
can make our lives better
-What makes vulnerability beautiful? we can choose and act despite vulnerability (Nussbaum)
-We are not human unless we strive for choice or action (even if we face risk or uncertainty its
the strive that makes you truly human and makes life truly beautiful)
-“If it is true that a lot about it is messy, needy, uncontrolled, rooted in the dirt and standing
helplessly in the rain, it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely
active”
-Luctantius: “human beings god created named and vulnerable that he might teach them
wisdom instead; and give them, beside all else, this deep sense of obligation to protect, love,
and cherish one another, to proffer and accept assistance against every danger”. He compares
humans to the animal world
-To be vulnerable it includes a need to belong before we can choose to belong and before we
know that we need to belong (Nussbaum)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Fragility/vulnerability: susceptibility to harm, being opened to wounding. Human vulnerability: the potential to experience harm and danger (thought of in negative terms) > curse (goodin, macintyre, turner) recognize the negative component of vulnerability. > choice (brown) when we choose vulnerability, we choose courage. Vulnerability as a choice (whole hearted living leads to courage) Coming to the world as un nished and completing ourselves - potential for change. Culp see"s change in two ways: 1) we are susceptible for transformation, glori cation or 2) for destruction. To be vulnerable is to be human (we can recognize our vulnerability) Open to the dangers of our environment and conscious of our precarious circumstances . Pervasive, fundamental, shared and something we cannot ever entirely avoid . Biological - dependency due to disease, epidemics, resistant viruses, other biological catastrophes. Environmental - natural disasters beyond our control (e. g. errant weather systems) producing.
