Kant vs. Castle

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Many popular philosophers, such as Kant and Castle, believe in variations of “self-orphaning” to live a meaningful life. Castle believes that “self-orphaning” is “the absolute precondition, now more than ever, for intellectual and moral freedom.” On the other hand, Kant takes a much less aggressive approach through “enlightenment.” Castle is adamant in her theory that humans in general are too reliant on their parents, and that there is absolutely no way to live a meaningful life without breaking out of this control through “symbolic self-orphaning.” Throughout the rest of this essay I will discuss the idea of “symbolic self-orphaning,” and why Castle believes that this allows us to a live a meaningful life. Furthermore, I will compare Kant’s “enlightenment” with Castle’s “symbolic self-orphaning,” while emphasizing their major similarities and differences. Although Kant and Castle’s ideas are similar, I will also discuss how Castle’s theory relates to Nicholas Carr’s arguments in “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” and Jamais Cascio’s arguments in “Get Smarter.” After discussing each theory and their connections, I will offer my own opinion on how they relate to one another. Kant makes many good arguments when discussing his theory of “enlightenment,” but Castle takes a much more aggressive approach at this theory. Castle’s approach, known as “symbolic self-orphaning,” is described as the “the cultivation of a willingness to defy, debunk or just plain old disappoint one’s parents.” This is an extreme idea that is worded very strongly, and many philosophers believe this theory to be too much. Castle, on the other hand, is adamant that this path is needed to live a meaningful life. Castle came about this theory while teaching a class at Stanford, and after a quick survey, Castle finds out most of her students talk to their parents daily. To Castle, this is a huge

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