Week 7 part 2

     Man is a storytelling animal. Humans are only able to answer the question, “What am I to do?” if we can answer, “what story or stories have taught me about this instance?”. Humans rely on stories like no other to form moral and political judgement. By living and learning from mistakes humans attempt to change their world and lives through stories. Telling stories has been significant for as long as there has been a way to share them. While humans do not have sharp fangs or large statures comparative to other animals, humans do have the capacity to work together through the power of stories. Telling stories is in no way arbitrary, it is not for simply for pleasure. The desire to learn new narratives and hear the stories of others is a biological and chemical survival mechanism. Moving narratives can create the release of dopaminergic signaling which is associated with reward-motivated behavior; this is easily the most straightforward way to form what is morally right and wrong. This has everything to do with many problems in contemporary philosophy. Contemporary philosophy often fails to assess how narratives influence the weight of moral and political reasoning.
    The concept that stories influence the moral starting place of individuals is at odds with contemporary liberalism and individualism. The concept of individualism reflects a sort of moral shallowness, and even blindness at times, to the full responsibility that can flow from historic memories and storytelling. These modern philosophies oftentimes leave people in an attitude of historical amnesia that amounts to a kind of moral abdication. For example, americans who deny any responsibility for the effects of slavery upon black americans by saying that they never owened any slaves clearly shows the failure of these modern philosophies. These moral philosophical stand points allow individuals to detach themselves from their ancestors stories, to avoid blame. It has created this notion that because individuals live in the now, they are above the stories that preceded them. This has greatly hindered the modern nations ability to function as a group to improve society. Were people to view the stories of slavery with a true understanding of the lesson it taught, these same people would be beyond motivated to put an end to the modern reincarnation of slavery that is the ‘justice system’.