Friday, March 3, 2017
A Hierarchy of Needs
On Monday, we had a long class discussion about virtue in the Meno as it related to the discussion of justice in the Republic. At one point in the class the concept of the Ring of Gyges was mentioned and I believe that it was Mike who brought up the idea that depending on where someone was in their life would depend on what they would do if they had the ring. This made me think about Maslow's Hierarchy of needs and how it might relate to the idea about virtue. The idea that Mike brought up was that people of power or wealth do not need much so they might have an easier time resisting the temptation of the ring whereas people who needed things would struggle with the temptation no matter how virtuous. In a similar way, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a pyramid of different things people need in order to reach the top of the pyramid which is self-actualization. This related to Mikes idea because people who are lower down on the pyramid would have a harder time navigating virtue if presented with the Ring of Gyges than those who have reached self-actualization. In a way, the argument of the ring is flawed because it is difficult to even consider virtue if you are a person who is struggling to meet the bottom requirements of the pyramid. To me, virtue is something that relates to privilege. I believe that anyone can be virtuous but it would be harder to consider it when someone is struggling to make it to self-actualization.
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The thing which interests me most about the idea of the Ring of Gygyes having Sphinx-like age categories is Socrates' attitude toward youth in general. Cephalus and Thrasymachus do not attract Socrates' attention as honestly (we think) as the youth do. Maybe there is insight to be found in his choice of "pupils" based on how they would respond differently to the Ring (and moral problematics in general). There is always a slipperiness (and a reward) to chasing details of the Socratic method.
ReplyDeleteThat chart presents a very useful way of visualizing needs, and appears just as relevant to our own time as to Plato's. I imagine we would place Cephalus near the very top...probably we'd place most of Socrates' interlocutors somewhere in the range of "psychological needs."
ReplyDeleteBut where on earth would we place Diogenes the Cynic, who seems to have self-actualized while dispensing with most of his needs altogether??
I think we can explain Diogenes by saying that he realized how basic human needs actually. I don't know a ton about Diogenes, but it seems to me he saw that people's basic needs are simpler than they we think they are. Who needs a house when a barrel keeps you warm and dry?
DeleteThis is a really good connection and something that is still relevant today. I think it'd be pretty monstrous for us to condemn someone for fulfilling our most basic needs in an unethical way when that's the only way available. Someone shouldn't be stripped of virtue because he's trying his hardest but has no money for necessitates and resorts to stealing. However, I don't think the same out could be used for someone that had the means to buy food in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI was recently introduced to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in Business Management this semester. I appreciate the connection that you've made between one's ability to tackle concepts such as virtue based on this theory. I personally think that virtue can be possessed throughout all stages of the pyramid.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure I agree with your analysis that virtue is something only the privileged have time for. This has not at all been my experience. Moreover, whereas it may be somewhat easier to be virtuous if you don't have basic needs gnawing at you, doing the right thing under trying circumstances might be considerably MORE virtuous than for someone not faced with that challenge.
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