Harry G. Frankfurt begins his inquiry by asking, "What is it about human
beings that makes it possible for us to take ourselves seriously?" Based
on The Tanner Lectures in Moral Philosophy, Taking Ourselves Seriously
and Getting It Right delves into this provocative and original
question.
The author maintains that taking ourselves seriously presupposes an
inward-directed, reflexive oversight that enables us to focus our
attention directly upon ourselves, and "[it] means that we are not
prepared to accept ourselves just as we come. We want our thoughts, our
feelings, our choices, and our behavior to make sense. We are not
satisfied to think that our ideas are formed haphazardly, or that our
actions are driven by transient and opaque impulses or by mindless
decisions. We need to direct ourselves--or at any rate to believe that
we are directing ourselves--in thoughtful conformity to stable and
appropriate norms. We want to get things right."
The essays delineate two features that have a critical role to play in
this: our rationality, and our ability to love. Frankfurt incisively
explores the roles of reason and of love in our active lives, and
considers the relation between these two motivating forces of our
actions. The argument is that the authority of practical reason is less
fundamental than the authority of love. Love, as the author defines it,
is a volitional matter, that is, it consists in what we are actually
committed to caring about. Frankfurt adds that "The object of love can
be almost anything--a life, a quality of experience, a person, a group,
a moral ideal, a nonmoral ideal, a tradition, whatever." However, these
objects and ideals are difficult to comprehend and often in conflict
with each other. Moral principles play an important supporting role in
this process as they help us develop and elucidate a vision that
inspires our love.
The first section of the book consists of the two lectures, which are
entitled "Taking Ourselves Seriously" and "Getting It Right." The second
section consists of comments in response by Christine M. Korsgaard,
Michael E. Bratman, and Meir Dan-Cohen. The book includes a preface by
Debra Satz.