Sunday, September 7, 2008
Avarice
On page 39, Taylor states that the miserly Averace defeat their own purposes. I find this to be wrong as a person with averace does not act in such a way to be happy, to flourish, or to lead a full life. instead a person who hordes their money is trying to find security, which they do. A person, lets say Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol, protects their money and does so at their own cost. In scrooges case he lashes out to others and find nothing but contempt for them. He spends his time alone spending as little money as possible when he is not working. While Scrooge may be vicious he is not defeating his own purpose because his purpose in having all that money is to be safe and have power. Taylor describes the kind of power that money brings and says that it does bring security, so while scrooge does not have happiness in his life he has a lot of money and is secure, which is his goal. Taylor should say something to the effect of " a person who is viciously averace allows his fear of losing money to get in the way of happiness."
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What is it that you mean by security? Security of peace mind is lacking, as Scrooge continues to horde his wealth, he grows more and more suspicious of those around him. If you mean security in terms of a healthy life, Scrooge does not wish to spend any of his money for whatever reasons. He tries to discovery ways in which he can only purchase the cheapest most basic needs required for him to live. So here, it does not make any sense that he is after the security of well being. Surely, if he wished to live a healthy life he would eat well. Perhaps, he wishes to secure himself against probable emergencies in the future. However, in the previous cases, the agent does not wish to spend any money at all. So, it does not make any sense for him to spend money to prevent emergencies such as going to the doctor or other types of funds. So, in this evaluation, it seems reasonable to me that Scrooge is not trying to find security. Taylor states on 39 that the avaricious love the wrong object, themselves as the possessor of material goods, but material goods not viewed as such. So, what the agent is trying to do in hording their wealth is loving themselves as the owner of such wealth. Their purpose then is not security but loving one’s self, or gaining the love of another.
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