Orange Is the New Black and Philosophy by Richard Greene

Author:Richard Greene [Greene, Richard; Robison-Greene, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780812699081
Publisher: Open Court

When no one is looking out for you, guiding and directing your behavior and choices, abandonment and loneliness might seem like obvious feelings to have—especially for theists like Pennsatucky.

This prospect could obviously be somewhat troubling, since it would seem that there are “no values or commands to turn to which legitimize our conduct,” as Sartre states. Well, maybe there isn’t some almighty judge laying down eternal punishments and handing out heavenly rewards (apparently, transportation buses to paradise are involved as well, according to Pennsatucky), but that certainly doesn’t mean there isn’t any justice. So, what is someone like Piper left to do? On what sort of model can she base her actions and values?

There’s an obvious answer here: she should trust her instincts. We see Piper display this in the faith healing example above, and this sort of ethical approach aligns with the humanist attitude toward ethics: ethical values are based on and tested by our experiences and the needs of others, and moral standards “grow out of reflective inquiry” (What Is Secular Humanism?, p. 40). “Only a reflective decision,” Kurtz states, “can best balance competing values and principles, or balance self-interest with the needs and demands of others.” The humanist and existential perspective is grounded in individual freedom and responsibility, and that responsibility extends to others as well. The American Humanist Association’s Humanism and Its Aspirations sums up this attitude:

Humanists ground values in human welfare shaped by human circumstances, interests, and concerns and extended to the global ecosystem and beyond. We are committed to treating each person as having inherent worth and dignity, and to making informed choices in a context of freedom consonant with responsibility.

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