In this article, I will critique the common sense notion that all our desires are one’s own and give us a sense of self. The second section will acknowledge how we can come to know an intelligible self and its desires through practical reason. The corollary establishes the foundations of pure desire that will tell…
Tag: practical reason
Understanding Autonomy vs Personal Choice
This blog post will help to develop understanding of the concept of autonomy and its importance to ethics. We will juxtapose it with the concept of personal choice. Respect for autonomy is a very important principle in dental bioethics but it is often conceived as respect for personal choice. While modern day ethics is colloquial…
Dentistry Matters – A Transcendental Defense
Why People Think Dentistry Matters It becomes all too obvious that you need to go to the dentist when you have tooth pain or have a broken front tooth. This, however, makes dentistry matter conditionally. This means that something only matters based on specific subjective conditions and situations. Something that matters conditionally does not necessarily…
Mindfulness
What is Mindfulness? Mindfulness is the idea of increasing one’s conscious awareness of perceptions and centering one’s thoughts to present activities. Not only does it relieve stress and reduce anxiety, it is meant to help us order our lives so we live better. Mindfulness is composed of sensual and rational mediative techniques rooted in mainly…
Why be a Good Dentist?
A Good Dentist What makes a good dentist? The first thing that comes to mind is how skilled and smart the dentist is. However, a dentist may do very good crown preparations but may lie to patients for financial gain (skill vs virtue). The blog is not concerned about technical dentistry but ethical dentistry. Dentists seem to…
The Highest Good: Respect for Humanity
Respect To respect a thing or a person is to hold that object in high regard. We feel disrespected when we are lied to or disregarded. In this article, we will explore the principle of respect for autonomy. I will explain why human dignity is the highest good and why autonomy is worthy of every…
A Healthy Smile is a Beautiful Smile
Dentistry is part medicine and part artistry. A good dentist needs both to bring patients teeth back to health and function. Cosmetics are opposed to health as some situations require sacrificing longterm health for cosmetics and some sacrificing cosmetics for health. This article offers a different philosophical perspective. A healthy simile is to be understood…