Morality

Philosophically, the term commonsense morality is used most often to refer to the philosophy of commonsense, sometimes known as the Scottish philosophy after its primary exponents, Thomas Reid and his successors. It should be noted, however, that not all Scottish philosophers followed the philosophy of commonsense, and not all commonsense philosophers were Scottish. Also, other philosophers have used, in their normative ethical theories, notions of commonsense morality; in doing so, they typically are referring to our shared ideas of morality and moral judgment.

"Botchan" is named for the main character of the book, a school teacher who accepts a job in a country side town teaching a bunch of teenagers. Botchan's encounters with the people around him produce some interesting escapades and results, all very amusing and humorous.

A lot of the humour is carried in the names that Botchan assigns the different people around him. Those with little knowledge of Japanese meanings for names will still be ok, as the Introduction provides an adequate explanation for us. The vice principal is called "Badger" by Botchan, and the name fits the character like a glove. Other names are equally suitable, as is even Botchan's. Botchan's very direct and openly honest approach is certainly out of step with those around him The translation has been executed exceptionally well, and hangs together as if the book had been written by a native-speaker of English. There are only a couple of points at which I noticed something unusual about the language. Overall, the English is contemporary and very well written.

"Botchan" is simply just good fun to read, though it also serves as an indictment on the attitudes and world in which Soseki lived. Some of those criticisms that Botchan levels at people would still apply equally well today. Reid's realism in such questions carried over to his thoughts on ethics. Morality has principles, Reid argued, and the first principles of morality were as self-evident to people with moral education as were the principles mentioned above. These principles were of several types. One type, referred to as general, deals with matters such as whether a person can be blamed for an action over which the person had no control. The second type, referred to as particular, contains the more recognizable normative moral principles concerning duties to self, others, and God. For example, Reid gives a version of the Golden Rule as one of the self-evident duties to others; the other duty is that people should act to benefit the society of which they are a part. The latter sounds consequentialist, but Reid is typically considered a deontologist, and commonsense morality, in general, can be considered deontological in that moral rules are fundamental to ethics.

In the second part, this troubled man engages in telling us his difficulties to relate to other people. Here the author brings some characters into the scene, whose principal role is to show the main character's incapability to interact in society. The scene in which he delivers a wordy speech ...