The ethics of Hercules : $b A study of man's body as the sole determinant of ethical valuesGivler, Robert Chenault
Philosophy
The ethics of Hercules : $b A study of man's body as the sole determinant of ethical values
Givler, Robert Chenault
Ethics; Psychophysiology
Indeed, we may safely postulate that a large portion of what we call
our individuality is a function of those chronic postures which
our habits have hitherto established in our motor mechanism,—which
postures ever thereafter determine what we shall do, say, and believe.
4. As deduced from Class D. Here the word “right” is used to signify
“the hand which is normally the stronger,” whence, by association,
it refers to a variety of related things, as hitherto indicated. We
have previously noted that the concept “right” is a term we often use
when the attainment of a purpose is under consideration, and here we
again see the same motif displayed. Everybody knows that the “right”
hand is important in the acquisition of skill of all sorts, and in
getting in touch with the things we call “good.” Evidences of the
paramount usefulness of the “right” hand to carry out overt actions
are ubiquitous. Moreover, levers, pliers, and a hundred other tools
are simply extensions of its functions and magnifications of its
powers. What, then, are the action-patterns suggested by this use
of our concept? The answer is extremely simple. The action-patterns
we seek are the innumerable activities of the _right_ hand itself.
For, as we have previously shown, even to think of the hand involves
neuro-muscular activity in it. What the right hand _does_, is what
the concept “right,” as applied to the hand, _means_. And if, for any
reason, the “right” hand is incapacitated or missing, some other part
of the body executes the appropriate gesture or manœuvre.
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