On Thoughtlessness
Barbara CHYROWICZ
Chair of Ethics, Institute of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0919-3844
Abstract
The article aims to demonstrate that thoughtlessness, conceived as a lack of the principal skills which contribute to the cardinal virtue of prudence, precludes one from being the master of one’s life or actions. The human intellectual potential certainly comprises natural gifts, but it essentially consists in the capability of self-examination, which makes it possible for one to know oneself, to assess one’s possibilities realistically, and to choose reachable goals in life. Thus reflecting on one’s life and actions is not proper for intellectuals only; rather, it is a fundamental prerequisite for rationality, an essential mark of a human being. Relinquishing self-reflection has tragic consequences for the life of a person in question, who then becomes incapable of discovering her moral identity.
Translated by Dorota Chabrajska
Keywords:
thoughtlessness, shortsightedness, naivety, recklessnessChair of Ethics, Institute of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0919-3844
