The Logic of Regret

Sunday, June 17, 2018
First Aired:
Sunday, October 18, 2015

What Is It

A teenager decides, on a whim, to conceive a child. Even though we might say that this decision was irrational, she cannot regret it later, because raising the child eventually becomes the most important part of her life. Cases like this show how complicated regret is: that an action was irrational or wrong doesn’t necessarily imply that we should regret it. When, then, should we regret? For that matter, why should we regret anything at all? Doesn’t the feeling of regret just add more pain to circumstances that are already unfortunate? How can it possibly be rational to affirm actions that one knows were wrong? John and Ken don't regret talking to Jay Wallace from UC Berkeley, author of这里的观点:关于肯定、依恋和遗憾的限度。

Listening Notes

后悔:对已经发生或已经做过的事情感到悲伤、懊悔或失望,尤指失去或错过的机会。在这个定义的引导下,Ken开始思考怀念过去是否合理:我们无法改变它,所以为什么要浪费时间为它感到悲伤和失望呢?约翰建议,我们可以承担过去的后果,并为此做些什么。因此,虽然我们不能改变我们所做的,肯确认,如果你可以,我们会改变:这涉及到一个条件意图。但这里出现了一个悖论:如果你的姑姑病得很重,你没有去看她,她死了,你会后悔没有去看她,如果可以的话改变过去吗?约翰肯定。肯继续说:你会后悔生下你的儿子吗?如果可以,你会改变过去吗?约翰对此予以否认。肯告诉我世界杯赛程2022赛程表欧洲区们,如果可以的话,我们都愿意也不愿意改变过去。约翰否认了肯原则的明确性:如果我们后悔或肯定了某件事,这是否意味着我们后悔或肯定了这件事的所有后果? Ken says yes and remains puzzled by the phenomenon of regret.

John and Ken welcome guest Jay Wallace, Judy Chandler Webb Distinguished Chair for Innovative Teaching and Research at the Department of Philosophy, UC Berkeley and author ofThe View From Here: On Affirmation, Attachment, and the Limits of Regret. Jay first explains that he has noticed that there is a diversity of attitudes toward regret. Some people are not tormented by things that they’ve done in the past and others are constantly second guessing their histories. Neither of these attitudes seems appropriate; they are both problematic. One attitude is superficial, the other is of someone who never progresses in life. This raises a philosophical question of what regret might be and whether there are times when it is appropriate to feel it. So, John asks, why should we feel regret over something that is done? Self-correction is a way to justify regret, explains Jay. Regret is connected with a more profound human phenomenon that contributes greatly to the value of our lives: attachment. Being attached to others makes you vulnerable to regret.

Ken asks: does it make sense to regret something that you’ve done badly but which later led to good results? Jay says that there is a marked distinction between the bad feeling of regret and the intention, and he sees a paradox within the latter element: you opt to not want to have done what you did in the past but at the same time it brought the good consequences to you and led you to your present life. If you are in that situation, Jay claims, you can’t really regret the mistake that gave rise to a good result, to valuable things in your present life. John says if you will the end you have to will the means. He thinks it is an illusion that if you regret the event, you must regret the consequences. But what about the other side, asks Ken? Suppose you affirm the consequences: if you affirm the end point, must you not also affirm what brought you there? John answers is no, you regret a particular event, not multiple events put together.

John, Ken, and Jay welcome questions from the audience. Ken starts off by asking Jay what regret means to him. There are different kinds of regret, explains Jay. People ask in plural: do you have any regrets? And this kind of regret being asked about is superficial. You can have regrets without conditional intention, but there is an unconditional regret that does involve a determination of the will, something more like a conditional intention. If you could do it over again you would do otherwise. Among the topics further discussed are concerns about the interplay between guilt and regret and whether guilt is always a precursor to regret, the question of whether there is such a thing as collective regret (i.e. climate change), and if there is, is it important, and whether, when no action can be taken for a past mistake, this is a sort of punishment.

  • Roving Philosophical Report(Seek to 7:15): Shuka Kalantari explores childhood regret as an important tool for development. Memories of regret seem to linger forever and sink us into darkness, so is it better to live by the motto “No Regrets?” She speaks with Emer O’Connor, a Psychologist at Queen’s University in Belfast, who disagrees with this motto, as regret help us to change our decision making behavior. A balance is needed where we can learn about our mistakes and then move on.
  • 60-Second Philosopher(Seek to 46:47): Ian Shoales speeds through his regrets of things undone - regret is a weird thing, as is the word “regrettable,” as is…regret in superheroes? Is there such a thing?

Transcript

Comments(1)


Harold G. Neuman's picture

Harold G. Neuman

Monday, July 9, 2018 -- 11:28 AM

Regret is like guilt. A

Regret is like guilt. A popular joke, attributed to the Jewish ethnicity, goes something like: 'Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving.' How true. I think we teach our children (and each other) the 'virtue' of regret, even when there is no useful or educational reason for doing so. Indeed, the syndrome may be devastating; emotionally and developmentally damaging; even (as demonstrated): deadly. I (and some others) have noted the disturbing regression to tribalism in society-at-large, in too many aspects of daily life. This does not bode well for the furtherance of a civil society of the personal welfare of its constituents. Virtue, indeed...