Got My Degree…Finally

As Kanye once asked: you know what college does to you? It makes you really smart man. Now when a lady walks up to me and says, “Hey, you know what’s sexy?” I say, “No I don’t know what’s sexy, but I bet I can add up all the change in your purse really fast.”

Woot! Do you see that son? I have rights AND privileges now: the right to be a pedantic, elitist, out-of-touch, pink commie Islamo-facist, and the privilege to work at entry-level political jobs that contribute to the coarsening of the political process.

This will do wonders for my sex life. I guarantee you.

But seriously, let me stop being flippany for a moment (but only for a moment), and let me be quite somber and say this: it took a lot of people to sacrifice a lot of things so that I could hold this piece of paper in my hands. In fact, someone had to die (may my mother, God bless her soul, rest in peace) for me to get here, and despite whatever “irony” I employ as a self-defense mechanism, I cannot take away the sacrifices that people have made on my behalf.

And sometimes, despite my being a very lapsed, non-practicing Catholic, the Catholic guilt inside me threatens to overwhelm, as it is likely to do now. I can never be sure if I ever lived up to the sacrifices that people have made, and I can never be sure that whatever I do, now or later, can ever redeem their suffering and their time.

The moment is passed, so let us return to our scheduled programming: my money is that I will receive a text message at 3AM tonight from Barack Obama, announcing his VP pick.

What is Wrong with Incest?

Let’s up the ante a little bit from yesterday’s post on polygamy (this is Nussbaum’s blog post on the very subject back in May) by asking what I think is an even more controversial question: what is wrong with incest?

Incest is just one of those things which you are not supposed to touch or talk about, but since it is a Friday afternoon, and I have some time to kill at work, I decided to touch it and talk about it. We’ll see where this goes, and keep in mind that good manners is definitely not a consideration here.

Scenario: A man and a woman, brother and sister of the same parents, decide that they love each other, and decide to do it. Is this wrong?

Some arguments that might be made against this scenario are: 1) that such an union will produce an offspring that is more likely to have genetic defects that will put its life in jeopardy, and 2) that such an union will lead to a more general moral decline.

Let us then examine each argument. The first argument can easily be refuted if both the brother and sister used contraceptions; or, to completely eradicate the possibility that a child will be produced: suppose that either or both of them are infertile and thus cannot conceive. Would this fact change our moral intuition?

As for the second argument: what if this union were kept in secret, and that no one else will ever know about it, thus eradicating the possibility that it will encourage other kind of similar behavior? Would this fact change our moral intuition?

I think, all things considered, that there isn’t anything inherently wrong with the hypothetical scenario, provided that all the subsequent facts which I’ve listed are fulfilled. Of course there are genetic arguments to be made against having offsprings in an incestous relationship, but if that possibility is removed, I am having a hard time seeing why two consenting adults should not be able to engage in such a relatioship.

And of course this argument does not AT ALL take into account the emotive aspect of such a possibility: namely, that everyone would be physically revolted by such a prospect. Therefore, I think we don’t need to worry about the policy aspect of the incest question, since it is very unlikely that criminalizing incest will violate any rights which a reasonable number of people would claim.

I know, you are grossed out, but part of the fun in doing philosophy is the intuition pumping and crazy thought experiments. And I think it is possible to talk about taboo subjects without being hysterical about it.

Maybe next time I’ll do one on cannibalism.

My One and Only Love

This is only, like, I don’t know, one of the best ballads that Coltrane ever did: in fact, I consider this version of “My One and Only Love” the definitive recording of the song. Just listen to Coltrane as he comes into the song; that shit gives me the fucking chills. And of course, how can I not mention Johnny Hartman’s voice, that rich, baritone voice. It is just inimitable. This is not even mentioning McCoy Tyner on piano; I mean, I can go on and on about this line up, but the best thing would be to simply listen.

Check out NPR’s 2002 story on this classic collaboration.

I think Coltrane’s ballad playing is often overlooked relative to his more spiritual and free-jazz works. But as Coltrane shows, again and again, that when he wants to, he is a ballad-player of the very first rate. And this album just shows that capability at its best. Is this “smooth jazz?” You damn right it is! But there’s Coltrane’s being smooth, and Kenny G’s being smooth: the difference is that Coltrane is God, while Kenny G sucks donkey balls. It really is that simple.

So here it is, from me to you, for your late-night listening pleasures.