Philosophy is the childhood of the intellect, and a culture that tries to skip it will never grow up.
Thomas NagelRead
The external view [of agency] forces itself on us at the same time that we resist it. One way this occurs is through the gradual erosion of what we do by the subtraction of what happens.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the tension between our perception of agency and external influences that shape our actions, often diminishing our sense of control.
Thomas Nagel's quote reflects on the complex nature of human agency, suggesting that while we strive to assert our own identity and control over our actions, we are simultaneously shaped by external forces that can diminish our sense of autonomy. The 'external view' refers to societal or situational pressures that influence our decisions, leading to an erosion of true agency as we become increasingly reactive to what occurs around us, rather than acting solely on our own volition.
Themes
AgencyControlInfluenceIdentityFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal empowerment at a workshop.
More from Thomas Nagel
All quotes →To look for a single general theory of how to decide the right thing to do is like looking for a single theory of how to decide what to believe.
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It is prima facie highly implausible that life as we know it is the result of a sequence of physical accidents together with the mechanism of natural selection. We are supposed to abandon this naïve response, not in favor of a fully worked out physical/chemical explanation but in favor of an alternative that is really a schema for explanation, supported by some examples. What is lacking, to my knowledge, is a credible argument that the story has a nonnegligible probability of being true.
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There is a tendency to seek an objective account of everything before admitting its reality.
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Altruism itself depends on a recognition of the reality of other persons, and on the equivalent capacity to regard oneself as merely one individual among many.
Thomas NagelRead
Once we see an aspect of what we or someone else does as something that happens, we lose our grip on the idea that it has been done and that we can judge the doer and not just the happening.
Thomas NagelRead
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