Comments on Alexander Pruss's Blog: Spock

Spock is positively ashamed when he is moved by em...

2008-08-26T16:46:00.000-05:00

Spock is positively ashamed when he is moved by emotion. But I think he would probably think it not ideal if he even has the emotion.

I would revise the "anything irrational" to "anything non-rational".

Technically speaking, Vulcans are capable of being...

2008-08-26T16:11:00.000-05:00

Technically speaking, Vulcans are capable of being moved by feelings. They suppress emotions by meditation, because their emotions are much more intense than humans'. My suspicion is that the meditation prevents the feelings from affecting their behavior, including the way they describe their inner life. I'm not convinced that they don't feel them but may just not care that they feel them, something like medication that doesn't remove pain but just makes you not care that it hurts.

Spock is really a Stoic, though. What he calls emo...

2008-08-26T16:08:00.000-05:00

Spock is really a Stoic, though. What he calls emotions are pretty much the same things they (wrongly) restrict themselves to when calling emotions bad. Emotions are just anything irrational that motivates you, but he's fine with feelings like mild fascination, since they're consistent with reason but enough of an emotion to cause the raising of an eyebrow. This key foundation of Stoic ethics is extremely important for him.

I tend to think of his utilitarianism and his deontology (Vulcans don't lie) as both limited. He'll state utilitarian principles, but he doesn't see them as absolute when logic says otherwise, and he will lie when he thinks logic dictates it. What is this logic, then? I suspect it's just a manifestation of a Stoic version of virtue ethics, one that because it avoids emotions can often coincide with utilitarianism and deontological constraints against things like lying.

He does seem a decent enough chap. Where is his s...

2008-08-20T13:27:00.000-05:00

He does seem a decent enough chap.

Where is his soul, heart, mind? I don't know. :-)

Hi Dr. Pruss,This entry is both humorous, philsoph...

2008-08-20T01:51:00.000-05:00

Hi Dr. Pruss,

This entry is both humorous, philsophical, and, I find, interesting. Spock may not have been able to fully communicate with "human" like beings. But so what? Why would or should he care about that? He seems like a decent chap to me. But, to get philosopical with you, where is his soul, heart, mind (Neh. 2.12)?

In short, nice post, and feel free to comment on my blog whenever time permits!

LGM