Page IV: Research in Law & Psychiatry

Research in Law
Research in Psychiatry
Alcoholics Anonymous Text
Philosophical Explanations, Robert Nozick

Updated:
6/20/2025   
Item XI. - Philosophical Explanations, Robert Nozick

I. Research in Law:

1. Happiness, sadness, anger, romantic feelings, etc., are our emotions. Emotions are normal for a human to have, and our emotions influence our behavior.
2. The dimensions of society and the dimensions of the individual contribute to our behavior. Additionally, many people face problems in their lives, including problems of the inner city and the ghetto. These problems include poverty, homelessness, and peer pressure.
3. Determine the reasons for committing the act instead of looking simply at the act itself.
4. The Bible reminds us that man is flawed, that is, that man has faults.
5. "Sometimes in life, you have to make mistakes in order to learn the right way."
6. In nature, sometimes animals fight, and human beings also fight sometimes in their lives.
7. I understand that someone died and a life was lost, but that doesn't make it right to take the life of this person in repayment or punishment.
8. “Sometimes we have to make mistakes as children, in order to learn the right way as adults.”
9. Many people were raised in military households.
10. "The further he got, the more each word seemed to give rise to another word, which at once gave rise to a third, a third to a fourth and so on, so that his mouth was full, and the words came out in the most picturesque order." --Fyodor Dostoevsky
11. Item XI. Philosophical Explanations, by Robert Nozick, also contains information about law.
12. Book Reviews XI: Biblical Literature (The Holy Bible, The Dead Sea Scrolls & The Talmud), also contains information about law.

II. 1. "Some laws contradict human nature."
2. Human nature can sometimes conflict with society's laws.
3. "Sometimes our emotions can control us more than our sense of reason."
4. If a person makes "empty threats," out of anger, which have no real basis, then he should not be prosecuted.
5. It is normal to have angry, evil feelings towards a person who has disrespected, insulted, or offended you.
6. "White-collar crimes are different than criminal crimes. White-collar crimes do not involve physical harm, for example.” -- Victor Hugo
7. Some laws are more abstract and imaginary, and some laws are more real and concrete.
8. If a person is fined by the state, and cannot pay the fine, and has in the past been mistreated by the state, and has contributed to the prosperity of the state, then he should not be prosecuted.
9. If a person has made an agreement, then that agreement should not be cancelled due to a mere technicality.
10. "House of the Dead", by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a novel about the horrors of prison life.
11. People who have been to jail have endured considerable suffering, and other people should show them compassion and sympathy for that.

III. 1. "This courtroom is being too formal, judge. Lighten up please."
2. Some court proceedings and legal documents are more abstract than concrete. In this instance, plain English explanations are helpful.
3. "The courtroom is your friend, attorney's should feel comfortable and at home in the courtroom, and an attorney should take his time when defending a client, especially when the case looks good for them." --Cicero
4. Determine the reasons why police officers do what they do.
5. Sometimes police officers have to make split second decisions, based on several factors.
6. "Objections to heroism as taking into account fear, the harms that can happen to a human being, and public safety." --Cicero
7. Police officers (and other workers) or their families should be compensated for injuries that they receive on the job, including death.
8. "Jails and prisons should be held accountable when inmates get injured or die in altercations while in their custody. This could involve financial compensation, prosecution of any guilty parties, and prison reform."
9. If a person dies then his family should be compensated according to how much he would earn over his lifetime. Compensation should be proportionate to one’s injuries instead of being too excessive.
10. Due to administrative red tape, the case was delayed for a long time.
11. The senators kept lines of communication open between them.

IV. 1. The death penalty should only be used in extreme cases of hatred or terror.
2. Determine if his crime was serious enough to impose the death penalty.
3. Generally speaking, it is unclear what subjects are protected by the freedom of speech and what subjects are not.
4. If a man has been put to death unjustly, then his family may be entitled to compensation.
5. "The Senator was tried by other Senators." --Herodotus
6. People shouldn't go to court over a small bump that causes little or no damage, in a car crash.
7. In court, people are entitled to an experienced, wise judge. They are also entitled to representation that considers their cultural and social background.
8. Human beings from different world cultures naturally travel, or migrate for trade or to find a better life, in spite of political boundaries.
9. "My kingdom is big enough to hold all peoples, I won't turn anyone away," the king said.
10. Sometimes, when people commit crimes, it is because they really need the money.

V. 1. ⁠The prisoner didn’t want to talk about the crime. The officer drew the words out of the prisoner’s mouth, for the confession, and then arrested him.
2. A gag order, issued by a judge means that within reason, try not to talk to someone — within reason.
3. ⁠Extradition, or a prisoner swap, is a process that involves continuing communication between two countries.
4. There should be a limit to how much time a person serves in jail — say, 5 years maximum.
5. How do judges determine the length of a person’s prison sentence?
6. In cases of capital punishment, the death penalty, there should be a minimum required number of years to be served, say 10 or 20, before final punishment, to ensure that no errors were made in the case.
7. Happiness, sadness, anger, romantic feelings, etc., are our emotions. Emotions are normal for a human to have.
8. A goal for the court was to ensure that every citizen received fair and equal treatment under the law.
9. "It is normal for people to oppose tyrannical governments.”
10. Businesses should not be dishonest, businesses should be honest.
11. It can be difficult for a good person to distance himself from a criminal group.
12. Accidental vs Intentional crimes - if a crime was committed by accident, then the person should not be punished, but if the crime was committed intentionally, then the person can be punished.



Research in Psychiatry:
VI. 1. Omitted.
2. A psychiatrist shouldn’t humiliate or make his patient feel uncomfortable.
3. There is a difference between speaking generally, and going into every detail about a situation.
4. Psychiatrists should give patients simple, plain English explanations, instead of complicated medical language.
5. Encourage the psychiatrists to explain themselves and talk more.
6. Ensure that your psychiatrist has fully assessed and evaluated you as a patient.
7. How do blood tests, blood pressure results, etc., factor in to our psychiatric care?
8. Overly repetitive testimony is not good for a courtroom.
9. Delays due to technicalities or technical language are not good for a courtroom.
10. I do not believe that most Americans have schizophrenia. I believe that most Americans have normal, organized, and logical thoughts.

11. Government shouldn't unnecessarily encumber its citizens.
12. A psychiatrist's statements should be based on evidence and existing research.
13. Verbal statements are as legally binding as written statements.
14. He was driven to commit suicide by another man.
15. A new, modern law should not outweigh a history of old, established laws. Additionally, it can be useful to learn more about new laws, in order to understand them.
16. One of the doctors looked more experienced and wise than the other doctor.
17. His family was willing to have him arrested in a second, for the smallest things.
18. Deception is wrong. Psychiatrists shouldn't use deceptive practices against patients.
19. Poverty is a legal defense. If a person grew up dirt poor, and he commits a crime, then he shouldn't be punished to the fullest extent of the law. --The Torah
20. If you grow up poor, then you're bound to get into trouble sooner or later. --Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt

21. The words were taken in their most literal and absolute sense.
22. Request written documentation about your diagnosis, treatment, etc. from your psychiatrist.
23. This information will have the psychiatrist's attacks on your behavior.
24. Defend yourself point by point against the psychiatrist's attacks on your behavior.

VII. 1. One job of psychiatrists is to interpret human emotion and behavior.
2. Many disciplines or fields are flawed.
3. Problems are normal for people to have. Maybe it's wrong for doctors to say that people are mentally ill (schizophrenic, bipolar), just because they have problems. This makes life more complicated, and humans like simplicity.
4. "How did this strange mental disorder come about?" --Voltaire. Here, he questions the origin of mental disorders in people.
5. "Sure, we can talk, I have nothing to hide." -Henrik Ibsen.
6. Charles Dickens and Gabriel Garcia Marquez suggest that many medications are like poison. Maybe psychiatric medications make people feel bad.
7. "Sometimes, medication makes people feel like they're going to faint." --Anton Chekhov
8. "Medication might help your mind, but it poisons your body." --Honore de Balzac
9. "Does it really matter if someone is on medication?" Here, Voltaire questions whether medication actually changes someone's behavior in any noticeable way. It's like, if you put enough sedative medication in anyone, it will change their behavior, but it will also incapacitate them."

VIII. 1. "Mental illness refers to a disease in the brain that requires medication as a remedy." --Alexander Dumas
2. A. Voltaire, in Philosophical Dictionary, questions whether medication actually cures you.
B. Blaise Pascal suggests that medicines do no good unless they heal you at some point in time.
3. The decision to take medication, involves considerable moral conflict.
4. Due to a multitude of reasons, perhaps one should adopt a moral objection to medication.
5. The following information is contained on Trivial Pursuit cards:
A. Depression is known as "the common cold of mental illness." I guess some mental illnesses are more common than others.
B. Placebo is the P-word that is defined as an inert substance administered instead of a drug. If psychiatric drugs are ineffective placebos, then why distribute them at all?
C. Maybe psychiatric drugs are totally useless. The "miracle drug" Krebiozen, supposed to cure cancer, was ultimately found to be totally useless.
6. Maybe over 48 hours is too long to be detained in a psychiatric hospital.
7. "Often, doctors play the role of accountant and attorney. Doctors are also just doing a job, and time is money." --Ivanov, by Anton Chekhov
8. "Sometimes, doctors work under emergency settings, and patients are not supposed to be frightened of their health care worker." --The District Doctor, Ivan Turgenev
9. "Should you treat someone with medication and therapy, and ignore philosophy and religion?" --Anton Chekhov
10. "To help someone, instead of seeking professional treatment, just let time take its course." --Voltaire

IX. 1. “She spoke to me automatically, distant and impersonally. I had to remind her that I was a human being.”
2. "Some people can find fault with anyone, no matter how good, or normal they are." --Homer
3. Voltaire, praises the virtues of tolerance, and reminds us of our freedoms, and of liberty.
4. Mental health classes are flawed because after attending them for months, or even years, students are not cured. And Charles Dickens suggests that mental health classes should give students education on subjects such as English, Math, Art, and Music, etc., and go on field trips.
5. If you want a rewarding way to occupy the time, sometimes it's best to just stay home.
6. Overreliance on doctors causes us to lose our independence.
7. ”Really? There’s no cure for disorganized thoughts? Schizophrenia? Just change your way of thinking. That’s what we go to school for. Seems simple enough to change, simple enough to cure."
8. There is a difference between speaking generally and going into detail.
9. "We don't want to be worried to death." --Fyodor Dostoevsky
10. "If you can't see it or feel it, then it's not a serious illness." --James Joyce
11. “Take life lightly, you’re being too serious.”
12. "The argument was so flawed, it was hard not to laugh."
13. "I have the right not to answer your questions at all; I choose not to comment."
14. "Psychiatrists should follow established rules and procedures." --The Hippocratic Oath
15. If you have a joy of life, then seeking psychiatric help might contradict this.
16. Maybe some people don't need psychiatric help at all.
17. His medication had sedated him so much that it was unhealthy, the doctor said. -Victor Hugo, Les Miserables
18. Psychiatric medication can cause medical problems such as nausea, dizziness, lethargy and sluggishness.


X. Alcoholics Anonymous Text
1. Destructive drinking
2. Accepting weakness.
3. Admitting problem drinking vs doubters who do not acknowledge their addiction.
4. Building up self-confidence.
5. Losing your health, family and job to alcohol.
6. Young people who are potential alcoholics.
7. Hitting rock bottom.
8. Adopting attitudes and actions to improve.
9. Being honest and apologizing for harm caused.
10. Including a higher power, meditation and prayer.
11. The cycle of defeat and recovery.
12. Improving your physical appearance.
13. Jumping through hoops in order to be successful.
14. Finding strength in fellow members.
15. Friends in A.A. who help us see reality.
16. Self-righteousness as our own besetting evil.
17. Defiance as characteristics of many an alcoholic.
18. Lamenting over the problems in our lives.
19. Understanding the difference between sane drinking and alcoholism. Sanity is defined as soundness of mind.
20. The decision to turn our will and our lives over to God, and Alcoholics Anonymous.
21. Ask the polio sufferer who depends on an iron lung with complete trust upon a motor to keep the breath of life in him.
22. Creation gave us instincts for a purpose, although sometimes they cause him problems.
23. No adult man or woman should be in too much dependence upon a parent.
24. He has more problems than just alcohol.
25. Weak people who need security, and the power-mad, who devote themselves to attempting to rule their fellows.
26. An individual's desire for prestige.
27. Blaming other people.
28. The newcomer to A.A.
29. Growth and development of the newcomer.
30. One step in recovery from alcohol is improvement in education and religion.

31. Facing paradoxes, or difficult questions.
32. One's personal relationship with God as an element in recovery. One's understanding of religion.
33. "What are you here for?"
34. The doctors sought to find whatever personality traits, if any, this group of alcoholics had in common.
35. We have sometimes seen families broken apart by misunderstanding, tensions, etc., who are reunited by the A.A. way of life.
36. Give financial gifts, or other gifts, in order to apologize to someone and remain in good graces with them.
37. When our drinking spirals out of control.
38. Human beings are never quite alike.
39. Spending time with friends and spending time alone.
40. What about justifiable anger?

41. If someone cheats us, aren't we entitled to be mad?
42. Humans have daily ups and downs, especially when people or new events throw us off balance and tempt us to make mistakes.
43. In all these situations we need self-restraint, honest analysis of what is involved, a willingness to admit when the fault is ours...
44. We need not be discouraged when we fall into the error of our old ways, for these disciplines are not easy. We shall look for progress, not perfection.
45. A radical change in our outlook will take time, lots of time.
46. Were we trying to teach him a lesson, or punish him?
47. There is a direct linkage between self-examination, meditation, and prayer.
48. Ask for specific solutions to specific problems.
49. Considering each case individually.
50. From serious matters to correcting a minor personal fault.

51. He will learn new things every day.
52. This mighty urge is the root of great human accomplishments, a creative energy that deeply influences our lives.


XI. Philosophical Explanations
Robert Nozick


6/20/2025 - 11:00pm
1. There should be clear, expert evidence connecting the person to the crime that they're accused of. Based on this, and their moral character, should they be punished or forgiven?
2. A foreigner should get a fair court case in American courts, even though they speak a different language than the English spoken in American courts.
3. Some people have received photon or chemical brain surgery which alters their thoughts from their normal state before the surgery.
4. In court, a person’s punishment should be proportionate to the person’s crime.
5. A person’s punishment should not be excessive.
6. Courts should consider whether a person is a first offender or second or repeat offender.
7. Courts should consider if a person intended to cause the harm done, and if the harm done was more than the harm intended.
8. Mental health professionals, like police and law enforcement should have a dress code, code of conduct and code of behavior like police officers have.
9. Mental health professionals should obtain a search warrant from a judge before entering a person’s home.
10. Mental health professionals should gather more information before making an arrest or hospitalization. If they get complaints from witnesses, then question the witnesses to determine if the complaints are justified or unjustified, or lies or the truth.
11. A person’s court case should not be delayed by people making petty objections over trivialities, or the person needing water to drink, or a person who has a stutter and cannot explain himself.
12. Some people curse or use explicit words as a natural part of their language, but this does not mean that they are violent or will break any laws.
13. Some people are physically strong and athletic, but this does not mean that they are violent or will break any laws.
14. Some people do not like explaining themselves to anyone other than police or law enforcement.
15. A person’s court case should not be delayed by race when race isn’t an issue, or other excuses.
16. State laws are more clearly stated than mental health laws.
17. A person should not display an irrational fear of something that makes it difficult to communicate with them.
18. A person should not display an irrational attachment to common household items.
19. The criminal justice system and the court system are professional, structured, organized, hierarchical systems in American government.
20. The nature of punishment in the criminal justice system involves ways to show the offender what he did wrong and teach or reform him in order to prevent this behavior from being repeated.
21. A person has the right not to make statements to police or law enforcement if he chooses not to.
22. Unlike colleges or universities, teachers in mental health classes do not have training or licenses to teach.
23. Mental health classes should have approved methods and standards for treating the mentally disabled.
24. A psychiatrist should not keep asking his patient the same question over and over again.
25. Organizations that are involved in children’s lives should contact family members who that child trusts, because many families contain members who children don’t trust.
26. Alexander Pushkin suggests that because of the problems that humans have faced in history, (racism, wars,) humans are entitled to their anger or sadness.
27. Psychiatrist's paperwork should be logical, organized, and have statements that clearly link a person's behavior to his or her mental illness.
28. Many authors suggest that man is a normal creature who is entitled to freedom and independence under law, as long as man follows the laws of his country.
29. Omitted.
30. Witnesses should not tell absolutely outrageous and incredible lies about other people.
31. Prosecutors should not exaggerate a person’s crime into a bigger matter than it actually is.
32. Prosecutors should not use scary language to describe a person’s behavior.
33. Prosecutors shouldn’t charge someone for crimes that they committed years ago that they have already been punished for.

1. Did the doctor commit malpractice, and if so, how?
2. Did the doctor use the right judgment when treating the patient?
3. Did the patient take the medication as prescribed by the doctor?
6/12/2025 - 9:00am - 10:00am
1. How were your thoughts and behaviors before the brain surgery compared to your thoughts and behaviors after the surgery, and how do you keep the same thoughts and behaviors that you had before the brain surgery after you've had the brain surgery.
2. Leads to the discussion of how we define ourselves, and the search for self identity.
3. Refers to the original persom, before the brain surgery, and the new person, after the surgery.
4. Brain surgery to assist long distance travel, and how changes in the body can also assist this. Brain altering surgery can ssist travel by air, land, and sea.
5. Psychological development in normal stages vs psychological development at too rapid a pace, and the discussion that follows.
6. Persons have conceptions about themselves, of what is important about their being themselves. Social groups can also influence this.
7. Examine a view of identity over time.
8. Brain surgery that alters the mind in unacceptable ways.
9. Generalizations used to describe a person's actions.
10. Some writers have speculated that when people sleep and dream, an astral body actually moves off from the sleeping body and in some realm performs the dreamed actions.
11. Healthy body as natural and involves self-regulation and self-maintenance.
12. If you can accept that mental illness did not originate at birth, then you prove that the person does not have a mental illness.
13. Omitted.
14. Omitted.
15. In the discussion, jumping from one reasonable level to the next, instead of jumping from one lelev to much higher level.
16. If a person gives a reasonable, convincing argument in court, in their own defense, then the court is supposed to rule in their favor.
17. Remind doctors that they should be honest, and not deceive people.
18. Logical connections vs confusion in a court of law.
19. In some instances, you're not in violation of a criminal law, but you're in violation of a less severe, more flexible mental health law.
20. Examine Hume's lesson, that there are no logical connections between events, and past events do not predict the outcome of future events.
21. Perhaps mental illness definitions were established independently, or on their own.
22. Keeping the possibility for additional actions in the future.
23. It is surprisingly difficult to calm oneself down after one has been physically active.
24. Experienceing speakers for sounds: low tones, high tones, and other tones.
25. The quieting meditative experience.
26. Differences between the mystic and nonmystic, and how do mystic principles affect our live today?
27. The job of an investigator is to gather information, and make connections.
28. Patients don't take a counter position, they take more of a questioning, intuitive, alter-position.
29. Shrines in the area - what are their purpose? Are the approved by the parks department? Where can we go to gather more information about them?
30. Examine the case where the parents turn o the son and express their wish to put him in prison. The parents refuse to compromise with others in their sons release.
31. Suppose a method is good for some types of statements but not others.
32. What method are psychiatrists using to treat their patients?
33. Many court cases today are difficult cases to decide. They are not simple cases, and they are difficult cases to judge.
34. Acting on witness statements without confirming their truth.
35. Using wisdom, experience and judgement to confirm or deny the truth of witness statements.
36. Isolating or prosectuing the minority in the group.
37. The object, or purpose of the court system is to give people the opportunity to gain their independence and freedom.
38. Omitted.
39. Consider the case of the student who goes to school and takes hallicinogenic drugs, and then writes about his experience, and also consider groups of people who use hallucinogenic drugs together.
40. Consider the cases of pathological liars.
41. Different external factors that delay progress.
42. Ask the judge, what do you want to hear from me? How can I get my client off?
43. Humans make mistakees in life as a means of social development.
44. We shouldn't quibble over petty details.
45. The failure to share relevant knowledge, or read relevant information is a problem.
46. Sometimes, arguments can sound believable, but they are really false and inaccurate in many ways.
47. Discusses a genetic engineering experiment to change the world.
48. A person shouldn't go around screaming, complaining or shouting.
49. Acting instantaneously vs acting based on deliberation and knowledge.
50. Some people believe that knowledge is a problem in the world, and refuse to learn new things.
51. When a person is moved out of their home area, then they lose some of the authority that they previously had.
52. Utilizing technology to help police officers take notes.
53. Creating an industrial mental hospital / prison complex in America.
54. Some acts are just random, instead of being connected to mental illnesses or disorders.
55. Examine the case where psychiatrists say one thing, but do not explain how that is connected to the person's mental disorder.
56. Ask the judge to explain why he decided the way he did, for future clarification, and have this reviewed by others.
57. Examine the Turing Machine which simulates man's behavior on a computer.
58. Psychiatrists, law enforcement, and the ethical dilemma they face in having to punish fellow human being, for making normal human mistakes.
59. Sometimes, we keep repeating the same subjects in this discussion.
60. Some decisions have more weight or importance than other decisions, and are performed with more or less frequency, if at all.
61. The psychology of a human being can be rather complex.
62. Some people are obsessed with irrational or illogical ideas.
63. The possibility that some animals have undergone brain surgery, or have had brain altering implants in their bodies.
64. Uncommon displays of skills in art, broadcasting, music, trivia, etc. that may be related to brain surgery, or brain transmitter implants.
65. Unlike courts in America, many forgeign countries lack the structure and organization, which can prevent their citizens from receiving a fair trial.
66. Bringing up abstract theories that are difficult to understand and rather irrelevant.
67. Going overboard in the advocacy of freedom and human rights.
68. When a person commits a criminal act for a price.
69. Brain altering surgery/ implants, that give people criminal thoughts.
70. Implants in the body that transmit vibrations might exist.
71. Where can we go to find more information about brain surgery/implants?
71-B. The history and science of brain altering surgery/implants.
72. Different cultural forms of brain surgery/implants.
73. A person's mental state should fit in with the society in which they live.
74. Adults' physical states should correspond with their age.
75. People who have mental states which display little or no function at all, and are connected to poor physical health.
76. Determine the qualities of the poor physical state they're in, as well as the poor mental state they're in.
77. Ethically behaving individuals will leave more great-grandchildren, or grandnephews or nieces similarly disposed.
78. This spreads in the population, and this spread is explained blindly.
79. The act of one group helping each other as a social construct.
80. Psychoanalytic therapy as a treatment for mental illness.
81. Many people, including celebrities, do not anticipate the consequences of their major actions in life.
82. It is in man's nature to be free, and to oppose slavery and oppression.
83. Instead of a human's life containing an infinite number of levels, our lives only contain a few levels.
84. Their mental state is deteriorating, and so is their physical state.
85. If a person is behaving fast, a psychiatrist might give them medication to slow them down, and if a person is behaving too slowly, then a psychiatrist might give them medication to speed them up.
86. A person commits a crime, and then says, "So, I'll just pay the victim off with several million dollars," even though the person suffered a great deal. In this case, the courts should step in to resolve the issue.
87. To question a person who may be lying, ask them questions based on their moral character and past background.
89. Psychiatrists and law enforcement are suposed to handle a person's case in and objective, impartial, professionak manner.
90. Police officers and law enforcement shouldn't scare citizens.
91. In judging how much time a person should spend in jail, weigh the crime committed, the degree to which they reformed, and the conditions and wrongs they experienced while in jail.
92. If a prisoner keeps getting into fights, is not receiving adequate treatment, or is physically unhealthy, then transfer him to a different jail.
93. Sometimes in the court system, the courts cannot exact an eye for an eye punishment.
94. In order to teach a person in a hospital or jail, you do so directly, not the indirect or subtle methods.
95. How do courts determine if a person is mentally unfit for trial?
96. "I know I put you through a lot, but I'm sorry, and now I want to be friends."
97. A person deliberately makes a person angry, in order to get the person to use his anger to get him arrested.
98. It is acceptable to change a person's behavior based on new knowledge from books or the environment he's in.
99. An act if performed and it's stated that it's a defeat of character, but it's really not a defeat of character.
100. Some actions start out harmful, but then resolve themselves and everything returns to normal after a while.
101. Determing the punishment of certain criminal behavior, based on past examples of similar criminal behavior.
102. Competition is acceptable, in an healthy fashion.
103. The admission that the current justice system is flawed.
104. Punishments for attempts should be less than punishments for successful crimes.
105. The difference between regular crimes and civil disobedience.
106. The influence of international law on today's crimes.
107. Hypnosis or psychosurgery which influences a person's behavior, and how a hypnotist's actions can change a person's behavior.

11:00am - 12:00pm
1. When different materials are used as evidence.
2. Misdiagnosis of persons labeled mentally ill.
3. Two men commit similar crimes, but the morality of one man is different than the morality of the other, so one is forgiven, and one is punished.
4. Two men each commit theft. One man steals because he is poor, and one man steals because he is rich. The poor man should be forgiven, while the rich man should be punished.
5. The choice of being moral, while everything else is bad, versus being immoral, while everything else is good.
6. Glaucon discusses the acceptability of being both moral and immoral, or a moral mix.
7. Determinig how one can lead the best possible life he can live.
8. Negotiating with your psychiatrist to use different cultural forms of treatment in your care plan.
9. Determine the structure and order of the American family.
10. How to determine an individual or group's measure of greatness.
11. Plato tries to accomplish something in his discussion of the differetn types of men: oligarchic, aristocratic, democratic, and so on.
12. Consistency vs inconsistency in court cases.
13. Examining the Mute Man's Paradox, or, the case where the man is asked to explain himself, but he cannot or will not talk in order to do so,
14. Pigeonhole paradoxes - segregate people off harmlessly, and then go about regular business.
15. The arguments that the immoral man will not stop behaving immorally, and will continue to do criminal behavior.
16. The immoral person thinks he's getting away with something; he thinks his immoral behavior costs him nothing.
17. The transition from death after life may be detectable, it will operate automatically, however.
18. But, if under some conditions, value is divorced from a person's understanding, that person may lack motivation to behave morally; what then can we do?
19. Weighing the value of parents' decisions in their childrens' lives.
20. When he was sitting in his chair, the man closed his eyes, and then fell asleep in his chair.
21. Creation of something out of nothing.
22. The fitting of behavior to its objects, of moral judgements to particular situations.
23. Epochal religious figures whose lives are infused with values, and who glow with a special radiance. To be in their presence is to be uplifted and pursue the best in oneself.
24. Omitted.
25. The dog was scared and threatened, so it bit someone.
26. Omitted.
27. A limited vs unlimited selection of choices in our lives.
28. The value of A depends on the closest appearance, or actualization of A.
29. People of the same, and people of different social groups.
30. Formulating conditions for particular outcomes.
31. The argument that though this universe contains some unity, it doesn't contain any value.
32. It adds that there are ineradicable conflicts, tensions, needs for tradeoffs, and so on.
33. In thus patterning value, the person may emulate a previous pattern exhibited by a value exemplar or described in some tradition or she may create a new complex unity, sculpting the value contours of her life in an original, unique way.
34. Defining oneself as a unique individual as an important theme of our lives.
35. Individuality is expressed in the interstices of the objective rankings of value.
36. The threat is reduced very little if the situation is controlled.
37. Creating new, different, and even radically different lives for ourselves.
38. The process of loving one's children exemplifies this spillover. The delight parents take in the particular beavior and accomplishments of their young children marks the transition to loving them in their particularity, no longer merely for being their child, but for being that child.
39. Over time, the love attaches to the child in its own individuality, nontransferably.
40. Human beings are not computer-like automotons. Human beings have creativity, individuality, etc.
41. The simple black and white theory vs Toren's Hypothesis, the latter being more morally good for all.
42. We as humans, sometimes engage in game-theoretical situations.
43. Consider how a voice is contoured to the thought it expresses; consider the different modulations and nuances, tempos, hesitations, and emotions that that voice expresses.
44. Consider when a person is calm inside, but their voice is loud because they were just active 5 minutes ago.
45. How simply survivng constituted a noble act, an act of normality and independence.
46. Differences in how we respond to different people. They shouldn't be drastic differences in the same situation. They shouldn't involve violating the rights of some over others, or saving some and not helping others.
47. There may be a combination of several facts that are used to make one main conclusion.
48. Also, consider useless moral principles.
49. That discussion is just one strand of the helix.
50. The use of physical force, without causing harm, for police and military, as an ethical practice.
51. Past and present events in world history show us that our individual lives do not matter.
52. Discuss your most valuable characteristics, as well as your additional valuable characteristics.
53. English is an easy language to write an official document to submit to a leader in business or government. This kind of document can be used to ask questions, state complaints, or gather additional information. Doing this in English is rather easy, compared to Spanish, Russian, or German, etc.
54. It can be helpful to learn how to type.

6/15/2025
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Winner of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award of Phi Beta Kappa.
1. The argument that one's behavior is acceptable based on the culture that they're from, however, in that culture, the behavior is in fact unacceptable.
2. Their behavior is clearly unacceptable based on religious law and state law.
3. Omitted.
4. If the person slows down or sacrifices his development and exercise of his own most valuable capacities, slowing down his own harmonious hierarchical development, this will leave him in a lesser position to aid others by example or cooperation, and so will lessen what they can receive from him.
5. Omitted.
6. When people use loopholes to try to escape punishment.
7. Actual legislation may be unecessary in some cases.
9. Being the best of the best, or competition.
10. Competition is acceptable in a positive manner.
11. Pretending to be embarrassed to change the subject of discussion.
12. Punishment in proportion to the nature of the wrong, to its magnitude and character, so that punishment not only is responsive to correct values but also is responsive to the wrong qua wrong.
13. An act is performed and its viewed as a defect of character, but in reality it did not actually represent a defect of character.
14. Instead of dealing with a difficult person head on, at a rapid speed, deal with them more slowly, based on strategy and manipulation.
15. Instead of dealing with a conflict head on, use bargaining or negotiating, terms which provide the person with items or services in exchange for items or services from you or your party.
16. Deliberately making a person angry, in order to use their anger as an excuse to punish them.
17. "The most hardened and resistant criminal."
18. Retribution is official and governed by the laws of the country, while revenge is personal and often more heinous.
19. The role of sci-fi/ fantasy and how they influence people today, as well as how this influences people's physical state in society.
20. Discussions in an evolutionary context.
21. An evolutionary explanation of social or ethical behavior.
22. Some people are very skilled at expressing random ideas, and how these random ideas are related to their physical state.
23. Some people think that the ultimate insult is to be called abnormal.
24. Instances where the chooser knows what would be the consequences of his actions.
25. Many people, including celebrities, do not anticipate the consequences of the actions in their lives.
26. Adults' physical states and mental states should correspond to their age.
27. People who have mental states which display little or no function at all, and are invariably related to their physical states.
28. These people who have little or no mental or physical states are quite different from the normal human being, and the discussion that follows.
29. Determine the qualities of the poor physical state they're in, as well as the qualities of the poor mental state they're in.
30. After performing certain steps for evolutionary adaptation, one group survives on the earth.
31. The history and science of brain surgery/implants.
32. Different cultural forms of brain surgery/implants.
33. A person's mental state and physical state should fit in with the society they live in.
34. The belief that all of our actions are physically determined.
35. The connection of menacing to frightening people.
36. Originative value, or the value of something newly introduced to an area, and the discussion that follows.
37. Setting up traps that are intended to cause patients to get into trouble.
38. In some instances, the laws can be interpreted differently.
39. Finding meaning and value in your relationships.
40. Philosopher Glaucon and his argument that sometime man has to act bad. That as a result of the realities of the world, man cannot be good all the time, and sometimes has to make bad decisions.
41. Sometimes, human beings' lives can be confusing, and making the right decisions in their lives can be difficult.
42. The view that sees your Aristotelian function as the exercise of your most valuable characteristic. Yet why should the focus be upon that one characteristic? Surely if you have other characteristics, these too should be exercised, provided this is not at the cost of the most valuable one. Thereby, one might be led to a view of flourishing as harmonious hierarchical development, where the rank ordering of characteristics is based upon an independent notion of value, not upon facts about specialness.
43. Let me make on further remark on specialness. If value is degree of organic unity, then specialness may have a role in producing the greatest overall organic unity.
44. During the physical examination, the doctor paid attention to if the patient was underweight or overwieght, and recommend changes in diet to solve this.
45. The theory of the moral pull and the moral push come together in this way. Someone else's basic moral characteristic, being a value-seeking I, exerts a pull on me, a moral claim. I am to treat him as a value-seeking I, cueing and shaping my behavior to his being one, thereby responding to him qua value-seeking. Lower capacities just cannot do an adequate subtle and nuanced job of response.
46. Consider the situation of the religious person before God, a being of immeasurable higher capacities. The best the person can do is awe, worship, obedience: this is some response, but not one so closely contoured to God's most valuable traits. Yet he wants to respond appropriately to God's most valuable traits, he wants to treat God as having the value God has. What he needs to specify his behavior are detailed instructions from God, such as the mitvot, the commandments and religious duties.
47. Refers to The Mitzvot, a set of Jewish commandments.
48. We can fail to respond to our own value, our basic moral characteristic, by not exercising the characteristic...by nonrespectful suicide (which nonetheless, one may have a right to choose to do,) and also, I think, by being willing to do anything to save ourselves, viewing nothing as beneath us.
50. From each according to its value, to each according to its value.


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