Joe Biden's View on Human Nature and Ethics

[healthhavencom]

Jan is genius.

[SIERRAHPBT]

Biden.. the Constitution is there to direct government behavior.. not the public behavior. This guy has no idea what he is talking about.. why the people of this nation keep electing idiots like Biden is beyond me.

[SIERRAHPBT]

Biden SUCKS...

[DOHC2L]

@apmatadirolf His first response was only as improper as the question was ridiculous; Ask a stupid question and you'll get stupid answers.

The type of argument you engaged in is called Reductio ad absurdum (Reduction to the absurd); It's the characteristic style of argument used by Socrates. But you've not used the argument correctly, its only provable when the context of the discussion is uncontested. You initiated the discussion but then defined the context for him by forcing the argument.

[RunLiberty]

Ron Paul 2012 Natural Law

[rubearo]

@apmatadirolf except faith which is an extremely strong human emotion and cannot be taken away by a socialist government..when you have faith, you can operate as a decent human being without having an explanation for everything in life...with faith, you can continute to believe in your own morals, principles, honor, honesty, and good over bad....liberals lack these things and it shows in the way the live their lives and would like to destroy others

[EsClayWilson]

@rubearo With faith you can be a complete imbecile and/or a violent hateful bigot and anti-humanist. Funny, but when absolutists like you get power, you seem to like to start wars and punish people.

[rubearo]

i wonder if using the f word on tv to millions of people is very rational..i think not joe..you are just another lying, theiving, deceiving politician who should shut up immediately..who in the hell wants to believe anything you have to say you socialist freak

[janhelfeld]

If you think fear is always irrational it will screw up your life. I got him to correct himself in order to protect the audience from the consequences of that false conclusion.

[stan2craz]

I've watched a couple of these videos, and some of them really perplex me. It's obvious that Biden was being reasonable and humble about the fact that he was mistaken. I find these kinds of discussions and questions a waste of time. It's not like you caught him lying about reasons we went into a war or something, you caught him not clarifying himself about how he understands fear. The reaction to his "slip up" is completely disproportional to the importance of the discussion.

[VerumAdNauseam]

Race is a matter of taste. It's an opinion; a personal preference no different than music, movies, food, cloths, etc.. It's discrimination based on culture, emotion, and instinct. None of these are rational but they're still important, and sometimes more important then being rational. Of course, it leads to hatred and violence and genocide, which is a bad thing for anyone, but the means to an end depends on how important the end is and the conviction of those who support it.

[rubearo]

@VerumAdNauseam except that with the liberals/socialists, they live by the ends justifies the means with no regard to moral, ethics, honesty, principles, conscience, etc...that makes for some pretty miserable specimans of humanity i think

[VerumAdNauseam]

@rubearo I understand, as long as you aren't confusing liberal/socialists with liberal/libertarians because they're the opposite of each other. For example, liberal/socialists would rather add insult to injury by passing a bill that imposes a health insurance mandate on all Americans and another income tax. While liberal/libertarians would rather let the free market work by passing a bill that abolishes the patent system and restricts copyrights to original, non-technical artwork.

[EsClayWilson]

@rubearo almost as bad as some theocons I know

[Imtryingtodoright]

First of all, I commend the guy who gave Joe Biden the drugs to TRY to keep his foot out of his mouth. But, hey, we all know the truth about Biden. He was the first baby born with his head up his ass.

Every rational or irrational thought or feeling is a normal action or reaction to things that are happening to them or around them.

Besides, with Biden, you can't have an intellegent conversation too long or he'll go nuts.

[EsClayWilson]

@Imtryingtodoright I dunno, he sounds like I can have a lot more intelligent conversation with him than you with your string of petty superficial insults

[davidcialini]

duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!

[rockhuddy]

Wow, I can't believe Joe Biden could appear so thoughtful and articulate.

Of course we all know that Biden is a gaffe-prone and malicious statist.

[hyylo]

joe is such a dumb ass

[msegreto2]

biden has always been a standup guy unlike comrade obama

[BMWg84]

I am glad biden actually admitted fault. that is more than a lot of these washington career politicians would do.

[freedomnow2012]

well... he did correct himself LOL!

[oober349]

this isn't really a big deal-more of a semantic issue if any. Surprising that Biden would be the one to not crack though.

[smthngdffrnt]

So, Jan, when are you going to interview Barack Obama? That's a video I would like very much to see. Keep up the good work.

[Meanie83]

Emotions are never rational. They might be extremely valid, but they are never rational.

Rational would be to get rid of the monopoly of the initiation of force, and perceive every individual as sovereign

[McDicker96]

so if a group of people, like the governmnet stole your money it would be irrational to be angry?

[Meanie83]

Indeed.

"In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" (Lacey 286). In more technical terms it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive" Wiki

Emotions are never rational, because they are never deduced. That doesn't mean they are not logical in the behavioural sense.

[lukeev]

Emotions are perfectly 'rational'. They are highly complex unconscious processes of stored neuro-biological data and energy, and help to regulate and attune our evolutionary survival instincts to higher order cognition.

[Meanie83]

So if I get angry at you for disagreeing with you I am behaving rational? Emotions are a state of mind induced by the interpretation of your surrounding and your own situation by the brain. They are never logical conclusions that come from deducing information. Rationalism is the opposite of emotion. That however doesn't mean they are never perceived as reasonable or moral.

[janhelfeld]

If " the interpretation of your surrounding and your own situation by the brain" is based on facts and logical, then it is rational. If not, it isn't.

[lukeev]

Just to say again, Jan, that I love your videos and your recent work; and your discussion with Stefan Molyneux was brilliant too. Good luck to you in all things in life and thank you for the important work you do.

[lukeev]

It's irrational if it is an idea or concept which is not consistent with tangible physical reality. Emotions are perfectly consistent with reality. They have purpose and meaning. Things which are irrational (inconsistent, impossible, intangible) are concepts like 'god', 'government', the statement "I don't exist", "there's no such thing as truth", etc.

[Meanie83]

Why would God be an irrational concept? There are many rational explanations for God, although it does depend on your definition of God. The most rational explanation would be that we don't know everything, so the possibility is open ;).

P.s. I am not religious. Just thought i'd mention ;)

[lukeev]

So you're quite 'certain' that 'we don't know everything' hehe... ;) ...ah, did I sense a gentle smattering of agnosticism?!

Well, I won't get into debate here; but I'll state that I do respectfully disagree with that position, and thanks for the interaction, it was enjoyed and best of luck to you.

[y2knoproblem]

So then why is Biden such a war monger? Sounds irrational to me.

[tanto1948]

All Biden knows how to do is "grin" like a jackass. He's full of shit along with all of them.

[biffmctavish]

He just sounded like he was muttering through his point. Then he comes up with nothing. Nice hair plugs. He says he invites all the train conducters to his house for a summer party. Is that rational?

[prrolg]

So here's Dumber. Where's Dumb (Obama)

[standardeviator]

....what's so wrong with someone saying "i stand corrected?" that's the whole point of debating. here, biden seems to show his, in lack of a better word, "sportsmanship" and makes you seem like a petty Socrates wannabe

[janhelfeld]

When we say an irrational emotion, we mean an emotion based on "irrational or unsound arguments".If you prefer the term "inappropriate emotion" that's fine. Some emotions are based on "irrational or unsound arguments",others are not.

[sentenced988]

Emotions doesn't have anything to do with rationnality and reason. The way I see it, that emotions are irrationnal doesn't mean it is bad or innapropriate, it means that "it is not based on clear thought or reason".

I truly believe that when you see a tiger you don't cogitate about its dangerousness. You already know it is dangerous and when you see it, you simply feel fear. It has nothing to do with reason...

[1324123432]

why are you afraid of something?

You have to have an understanding of consiquences. To know what can happen. And then, to have a deep cause to be opposed to those consiquences.

So.. You are saying, with out knowledge of possible intent- that things are afraid. Well, all it takes are wild animals to prove you wrong.

Animals that are used to humans stay away unless domesticated. Wild animals that are not around humans will sometimes come close to see what a human is.

Explain that.

[vronica03]

There are irrational or unsound arguments, but there are no such things as irrational emotions, like fear. In fact emotions are neither rational nor irrational. This is a false dichotomy.

[LordSch3tzer]

WOW STOP THE PRESSES

[WhiteShark392]

I agree with Borat. Racism is rational because it is rational to fear people because they are black. Look at all the crimes black people commit and if you are not afraid they might commit a crime against you then you are irrational.

[janhelfeld]

A rational fear is one based on facts and sound resoning, albeit, a subconscious evaluation. In this case, the fact that the tiger can eat you - a bad thing you should rationally be afraid off.

[ronrutherford]

This actually made me respect Biden a bit more. Sure he's dead wrong politically, but at least he has a brain and uses it.

[david12588]

+1 Im not for his politics but he definitely didn't bury himself in a lie like the other politicians Jan has interviewed.

[oakschris]

Actually, Joe Biden was correct at first and should not have said "I stand corrected." Fear of a tiger may work to a mans evolutionary advantage, but that does not mean that the fear was produced through any rational process. In reality, the man did not reason his way into becoming afraid.

[XOmniverse]

Why so many negatives on this comment? oakschris is correct; fear is an automatic response, like all emotions, and not reasoned.

Emotions are a product of knowledge about the status of one's values. In the case of a tiger walking on the set, knowledge of one's value of life, along with knowledge of a tiger's aggressive nature, creates fear.

Emotions can be the extension of rationality if one chooses rational values, but emotions themselves are not arrived at through reason.

[grantsinmypants2]

Just goes to show you the amount of effort, sustained over a life time, it requires in order to maintain one's intellectual honesty.

[feeknocks]

jan, you need to make the crooks that are mccain and obama stutter and show their true colors.

[TehBANN3D]

Wow, he's actually somewhat of a decent person.

[CynicKnowsBest]

I wouldn't be so sure. What he said about the constitution promoting rational behavior for advancing the "cause of mankind" sent shivers up my spine.

[TehBANN3D]

I'm talking about his level of discourse, not his substance. He's competent in terminology and able to reason, which is why he's somewhat decent compared to other Politicians.

[CurtHowland]

He certainly hasn't lasted as long as he has by being stupid. It's not like he's interviewing Barbara Boxer here.