Kailey McDonald H01
Midterm Part 1
For my midterm blog posts, I will be analyzing the philosophy of Gregory House. I will attempt to accurately portray his ideas on the world and compare him to the other philosophers we have been studying. Now for a brief introduction of Dr. House:
House is a diagnostician who seems less concerned about the well being of his patients and more concerned with solving puzzles. He lacks sympathy for the people he treats and is often found breaking the rules and putting his patients' lives in danger in attempt to find the correct diagnosis. House is egotistical, harsh, and "enjoys picking people apart and mocking their weaknesses." He is a deeply unlikable person, but a brilliant diagnostician.
For my first blog, I will be looking into House's views on Humanity.
In the pilot episode of House, M.D., Gregory House makes the statement that "humanity is overrated." He bases this off of his philosophy that "everybody lies" which he states in almost every episode.
Dr. House: It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what.
Dr. House: I don't ask why patients lie. I just assume they all do.
House is a lot like Thomas Hobbes. In A Little History of Philosophy, it says Hobbes believed "we are all basically selfish, driven by fear of death and hope of personal gain." He believed that at the heart of humanity, we are all evil and selfish creatures. Without laws and fear of punishment, our society would be "poor, nasty, brutish, and short." In a 'state of nature' no one could be trusted because we are all deceitful creatures looking out for our personal well being. House says, "We are all selfish, base animals crawling across the earth, but 'cause we've got brains, if we try really hard, we can usually aspire to something that is less than pure evil." Wow! House actually thinks that people can aspire to be good? He says in a later episode that "people can do good things, but their instincts are not good." But House doesn't believe that people do good things solely because they are good, selfless people. Many times throughout the series House makes it clear that he believes people are always looking out for themselves, even when they are doing seemingly good acts.
Season 1, Episode 18:
Season 2, Episode 1:
Dr. Wilson: You know why people are nice to other people?
Season 2, Episode 4:
Season 2, Episode 7:
Do a person's motives determine whether or not their act is good? Most of his colleagues argue that House does these things in order to solve his puzzles, without true regard to his patient's well-being:
I believe House would say that a good act is a good act no matter the reason for it. However, no one is a good person; He or she always has ulterior motives. House does not think that he is a good person, this is obvious. But he does believe that by saving people, he is doing the right thing.
This leads me to House's views on morals. House lies, deceives, and breaks any rule he feels is necessary in order to "do the right thing" and save his patients. When he wants to use a machine or run a test, he will skip line and break rules to get it done as soon as possible (well he orders his team to do it). He often sends his team to break into his patients' homes to gain information. After he asks about an MRI reading and Dr. Chase tells him that it is scheduled for later that day, House responds, "I teach you to lie and cheat and steal... and as soon as my back is turned, you wait in line?" House works on a philosophy where "the end justifies the means."
I think House's views on morals can be compared to those of Jeremy Bentham. Where Immanuel Kant believed that it is never okay to lie, Bentham believed that it was the effect of the lie that determined whether it was right or wrong. This idea is called Utilitarianism.
For example, in one episode, a girl is in desperate need of a liver transplant. Her girlfriend is a match and willing to donate her liver. However, the team learns that the patient had planned to break up with her girlfriend prior to becoming ill. If they were to tell the girlfriend, she would likely keep her liver and the girl would die. House decides that it is best to not tell the girlfriend because it is better to save a life, even if it will cause psychological pain to the girlfriend.
To House, saving one person justified lying to another.
Although House enjoys lying to patients "for their own good," he usually takes the side of telling the cold hard truth. No matter the social consequences, he'll say it like it is. In this way he is similar to Immanuel Kant. He tells the truth, even if it hurts people. If his patient is has a terminal illness, he'll tell them; And he wont sugarcoat it. However, I think he just does this because he's a (excuse my French) jackass.
Jack [to House]: You pretend to buck the system, pretend to be a rebel, claim to hate rules. But all you do is substitute your own rules for society's. Now it's a nice, simple rule— tell the blunt, honest truth in the starkest, darkest way. And what will be, will be. And what will be, should be. And everyone else... is a coward. But you're wrong. It's not cowardly not to call someone an idiot. People aren't tactful, or polite just because it's nice. They do it... because they've got an ounce of humility. Because they know that they will make mistakes, and they know that their actions have consequences. And they know... that those consequences will be their fault. Why do you want so badly not to be human, House?
And some more fun House quotes to ponder......
Dr. Cameron: What happened to "everybody lies"?
Dr. House: I was lying.
Dr. Chase: You can trust me.
Dr. House: Problem is, if I can't trust you, I can't trust your statement that I can trust you.
Word Count: 1347
Great post, I am actually doing an analytical paper for my philosophy class. I was thinking of doing it on " House M.D" too; I came across this and it really helped. :)
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