The First Formulation
"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction."
The Second Formulation
Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end. ”
Third Formulation
“Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends.”
You assignment is to find a quote from Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians that is relevant to one of these three formulations. Write the quote, provide the page number, and provide a brief explanation.
Page 106- " What ,after all, do I stand for besides an archaic code of gentlemanly behaviour towatds captured foes, and what do I stand against except the new science of degradation that kills people on knees , confused and disgraced in their own eyes? I compared this monologue to the second formulation treating the barbarians the same any other human being and providing them with justice.
ReplyDeleteMallory J. Moore
DeleteNice work, Mallory. This is a great quote to use since the "new science of degradation" definitely violates the Second Formulation.
Delete"I am far from complaining. After my weeks in the desert it is no hardship to stand idle." page 75. this quote falls under the first formulation since it's relevant to those concerned with maximizing the positive in their life.
ReplyDeleteMontzerrath Rodriguez
"Did no one tell him these are fishing people? It is a waste of time bringing them here! You are supposed to help him track down thieves, bandits, invaders of the Empire! Do these people look like a danger to the Empire?" (pg. 19)
ReplyDeleteI believe this falls under the second formulation because he is trying to tell the guards that these fisherman are not bandits or thieves, therefore they are not prisoners. This is also an act of treating anyone who is not in the Empire as unequal and disposable.
"I ought to go back to my cell. As a gesture it will have no effect, it will not even be noticed. Nevertheless, for my own sake, as a gesture to myself alone.."pg 120
ReplyDeleteI think this quote relates to the second formulation because he is doing things for his own benefit only.
-Martha Martinez
Page 98: "I realize how tiny I have allowed them to make my world, how I daily become more like a beast or a simple machine, or a child's spinning wheel, for example, with eight little figures presenting themselves on the rim: Father, lover, horseman, thieves..."
ReplyDeleteI think this quote relates to the second formulation, because he treats the world as a dictator towards himself, letting it dictate the way he sees himself and allowing it to overcome his emotions.
-Sergio Mendez
"I try to pay no attention to the new batch of prisoners in the yard. it is a pity that all the doors of the barracks block as well as the stairway leading up to my apartment open to the yard." p.21
ReplyDeleteThis quote shows a violation of the first formulation. He does not feel that it is correct for the Colonel to have all of those people as prisoners. However he is not willing to take a stand and convince the Colonel that he is wrong. Instead he is avoiding even looking at the prisoners in the yard. If he was in the prisoners position he would want someone to be taking a stand against the Colonel instead of avoiding to look at him.
-Julian Ibarra
"Have you had anything to eat? I ask the boy" (8)
ReplyDeleteI believe this falls under the second formulation because he tries to be fair with the boy in wanting the guards to give him a mean.
-Vanessa Mares
"One of the soldiers heaves at the rack where the gutted and salted fish hang to dry. it comes creaking down. "Don't do that!" I call, hurrying my steps. Some of these men I recognize from the long days of torment in the barracks yard. "Don't do it, it wasn't their fault!"" (Pg. 137)
ReplyDeleteI believe that this is a violation of the First Formulation because in a perfect world, the innocent is not punished; contradicting the definition of 'innocent'.
-Jayme Reyna
Nice work, Jayme, but don't think of Kant as describing a "perfect" world; instead, he is trying to achieve a "just" world (as in "justice").
DeleteQuote:
ReplyDelete"With no disrespect Colonel," I say, "you are not a professional solider...I earnestly advise you not to go." (page 12).
Formulation:
Second.
Explanation:
I believe it falls under the second formulation because he is trying to warn the Colonel and his soldiers to not walk out into the woods of the night and search for barbarians using an ill and frighten boy who may mislead them or even get them caught up for an attack. He is looking out for others besides himself and asking of a favor to protect others.
Audrena Harlan
"Listen to me, boy I am not going to harm you... Listen you must tell the officer the truth. That is all he wants from you-the truth. Once he is sure you are telling the truth he will not hurt you." (pg 8)
ReplyDeleteThis falls under the second formulation because he seems to be giving advice to the boy so he will no longer be harmed. From the advice he is giving the boy he seems to care what happens to him, he is acting in favor of humanity.
-Patricia Vargas
"I point my finger at him. 'You!' I shout. Let it all be said. Let him be the one on whom the anger breaks. "You are depraving these people!'" (p. 122-123).
ReplyDeleteI feel this opposes the first formulation because he should not be calling out Colonel Joll even if Colonel is a bad man and the reason for all the distress. It would not be a universal law for individuals to make it a point to have others tortured no matter their behavior.
-Brianna Bravo
Shouldn't there be a universal law to recognize and try to stop injustice?
Delete“My requests for clean clothes are ignored. I have nothing to wear but what I brought with me… I wash one item, a shirt or a pair of drawers, with ash and cold water…” (pg. 83)
ReplyDeleteEveryone who is aware, who sees, and who allows such a treatment of any person the way that the main character is being treated is violating the first formulation. I doubt that anyone of the guards, the village, or the Colonel would agree that the horrible treatment of a “prisoner” is a universal law. They are most likely only allowing it because they are not in the same demeaning position.
-Vanessa Caudelaro
"I went to return the girl to her family." " I want to say that no one deserves to die." pg. 137
ReplyDeleteThis quote falls in the first formulation because he is doing a good universal thing of returning the girl back to the barbarians. This quote reminds me of missing children who end up 10 years later in the arms of their families. It is the universal right thing to do.
- Houa Lee
“Where civilization entailed the corruption of barbarian virtues and the creation of dependent people, I decided, I was opposed to civilization.” pg. 41
ReplyDeleteThis is a violation of the third formulation because he cannot leave civilization without giving up being "a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends.”
Steven Carlson
“All that I want now is to live out my life in ease in a familiar world, to die in my own bed and be followed to the grave by old friends.”
ReplyDeleteThis quote relates to the Second Formulation because he is doing things for his own benefit.
-Eden Schmoll
"we ought to set down a record of settlement to be left for posterity...no one would seem to be better fitted than our last magistrate" (pg 154).
ReplyDeleteThis would fall under the second formulation because he is really writing this for his own benefit, He never really understood the messages left behind by the people of the ruins. He just wants people to know he was there and if they can read it what happened to him.
-Chynna Hook
“The Empire does not require that its servants love each other, merely that they perform their duty.”
ReplyDeletethis violates the second formulation as it involves using members of society as servants or slaves.
-kamen Sarratt
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"..I order that the prisoners be fed, that the doctor be called in to do what he can, that the barracks return to being the barracks, that arrangements be made to restore the prisoners to their former lives as soon as possible." (pp. 27)
ReplyDeleteThis falls under the first and second formulation because he is trying to correct the mistake they did by imprisoning these people even though they had done nothing wrong. He was also trying to keep them away from harm by sending them as far as possible form the colonel.
"I have urged my fellow-citizens to cultivate their kitchen gardens, to plant root vegetables that will withstand the winter frosts." pg.169. This falls under the first formulation because of how he helps the townspeople by taking charge when the army abandons them without a leader. This is a just action that is universal since anyone stuck in the same situation would do the same thing.
ReplyDelete-Gustavo Hernandez
"'Nevermind,' I tell her. I touch my hand to her cheek, sit down and watch her eat. It is futile to press the men to sleep in the tent with her. They sleep outside...In the morning, for their sake, I go through a brief purification ceremony with the girl( for I have made myself unclean by sleeping in her bed)"(Coetzee, pg. 79).
ReplyDeleteI believe this relates to the second formulation because the magistrate is caring for the girl who is more or less being oppressed because she is a woman. He sleeps I'm her bed and brings her food. He is not afraid of the "bad luck" she supposedly brings and wishes to make her feel better about her situation. He also goes through the purification ceremony for the men even if he does not believe it is something necessary, to make them feel better.
"And here I am patching up relationships between the men of the future and the men of the past, returning, with apologies, a body we have sucked dry-a-go-between, a jackal of Empire in sheep's clothing!" pg. 82. I think this falls under the second formulation because he wants to make things right so that there won't be any trouble for those who will live after him.
ReplyDelete"I behave in some ways like a lover—I undress her, I bathe her, I stroke her, I sleep beside her—but I might equally well tie her to a chair and beat her, it would be no less intimate."
ReplyDeleteI believe this goes against the First Formulation because under certain or any circumstance to "tie [someone] to a chair... and beat [them]" would not be acceptable.
Ariene Edith Gregorio
pg 46
DeleteAriene Edith Gregorio
I lift one on to my lap and begin to chafe it. Tears well from behind her eyelids and run down her cheeks. "It is sore!" she wails in a tiny voice. "Ssh," I say, "I will keep you warm."
ReplyDelete2nd Formulation. She's hurt and he helps him. I think that if anyone's hurt they would want to be helped.
Jose Espinoza
He talks abut seeing prisoners being captive. He struggles to witness that and feels that is wrong the way they are being treated. It is an example of the second formulation " It is a pity that all the doors of the barracks block as well as the stairway leading up to my apartment open to the yard." pg 21, because the way humans are being treated and he feels an antireflection within.
ReplyDelete"I point to the four prisoners who lie docilely on the earth, their lips to the pole, their hands clasped to their faces like monkeys' paws, oblivious of the hammer, ignorant of what is going on behind them, relieved that the offending mark has bean beaten from their backs..."
ReplyDeleteI believe this quote is against the first formulation
-Dalia Pardo