| I seek an ethics of open-ness and questioning or "political good." Namely, an ethics without any fixed standard, but informed by perpetual otherness. To flesh out this ethic, I rely on Aristotle and Derrida, particularly their views of the good and friendship.;Aristotle offers an "in" to otherness when he suggests Plato's view of the good as one-ness is empty because it largely ignores the human fact of plurality and free choice. So how to marry the good with these facts? Friendship. In particular, Aristotle uses the love bond of friends to show how our multiple views of the good can work to form a common good. Thus, thanks to the affection and love of friendship, the good is set alongside a greater sensitivity to the other. On the other hand, this sensitivity is ultimately limited, since friendship like everything else in Aristotle remains defined by the Platonic good.;Derrida takes otherness more literally and so gives plurality and choice freer play. Thus, following Heidegger, he suggests that a fixed, singular good does not exist. In other words, the good exists only in perpetual change, questioning and work. The reason for this, Derrida suggests, is that when the good is fixed or presumed from the start as in Aristotle, it is ultimately not very "good" at all. Namely, it is not open to all views of the good, but instead favors one particular view. Further, this pre-eminent view must be assured by force or the absolute exclusion of other views.;If there is to be hope for a truly universal good then, we must get beyond this ethics of force and exclusion. Thus, Derrida posits an ethics which is never fixed and final, but ever open to the questioning of the other. Precisely, it is a vision of the good ever undone by its other. As such, Derrida's view of the good is literally one of friendship. Namely, it is a common good which is ever questionable, ever informed by its other and for that very reason, inclusive and universal. |
