Midterm 2 Flashcards
What do the Inner Chapters text suggest about knowledge?
That it is difficult or impossible to attain knowledge
Why does Zhuangzi argue that genuine pretending is a better way to live than being authentic or sincere?
Zhuangzi argues that trying too hard to be completely authentic or sincere can instead result in inauthenticity, since we wind up self-monitoring too much and suppress our natural expression. Instead, genuine pretending involves trying to live with authenticity, but in the knowledge that reality is fluid and ambiguous, and so we must approach authenticity with a sense of playfulness, and not be overly strict about it.
What does the Darwin-influenced view of the nature of human well-being that we discussed in lecture suggest?
That human well-being is defined as succeeding at our evolutionary function, which is to survive and reproduce.
Which of the dimensions of happiness does Haybron think is the most significant?
Attunement, since it is the most fundamental to one’s self-fulfillment, and it is difficult to do well on the other dimensions if one is stressed, anxious, or “compressed”
What does Haybron say about the idea that happiness is immutable, and not determined by one’s experiences or environment?
The idea is false, but it may appear true because one’s levels of happiness are largely determined by basic features of one’s life and environment which are difficult to significantly change
What are the three dimensions of happiness?
Vitality and energy to boredom and disengagement spectrum. Tranquility to anxiety spectrum. Uncompressed to compressed spectrum.
What does Habryon have to say about communities?
Community A: At ease, untroubled, slow to anger, quick to laugh, fulfilled, curious, attentive, and fully at home in their body with a relaxed posture. Community B: Liable to be stressed, anxious, self-absorbed, distracted, uncomfortable, pinched, and compressed.
What does Habryon say about Psychic Affirmation and Cognitive Self?
Habryon believes these two things are separate and come apart.
How does Habryon define Psychic Affirmation?
The affirmation of your life by your psyche (emotional self). To respond emotionally to your life.
How does Habryon define Cognitive Self?
The part of yourself that believes, judges, reasons, and thinks
Which of the following is not one of the major barriers to improving quality of life that Buss discusses?
The fact that humans evolved to be deeply empathetic, so that any individual’s distress is likely to cause many other people to be distressed.
Which are the major barriers to improving quality of life that Buss discusses?
The fact that humans evolved to be competitive, entailing that there will be significant sources of conflict between humans. Significant discrepancies between contemporary and ancestral living environments and ways of life that provide contemporary humans psychological distress that our ancestors would not have experienced. The fact that many psychological mechanisms that cause distress are evolutionarily advantageous, and so ubiquitous among humans.
What does Buss suggest about improving human happiness?
That evolutionary considerations can show us effective ways of improving human happiness, like having close relationships with one’s extended family and having deep friendships.
Which of the following are somethings that Buss considers in his paper?
Evolutionary differences between men and women. The evolutionary significance of anger and jealousy. The psychological effects of the images we see in the media.
In lecture, Buss’s conclusions were called into question based on?
Research that suggests that hunter-gatherer societies are largely egalitarian, contrary to many of Buss’s claims about the significance of competition and status in early human humans.
