Chapter 7: PoNtE En Su LuGaR

Something very important to name in this chapter is the fact that we should take into consideration others’ point of view when we want to understand their acting. To me that sometimes turns difficult to do because we consider that the way we think is right, and that there is no another one.
Personally I try to do that in order to understand some things but it doesn’t mean that I will do them completely.
We choose to consider somebody else’s point of view which would or not conditionate our actions or we can choose to ignore other’s feelings, thinking. And we come back again to something very crucial in our lives: choosing.

Chapter 6: ApaReCe PePiTo GriLlo

When Savater talks about the different kinds of “imbeciles”, I realize that in my everyday life I happen to act as some of them!!! For example, I am sometimes so scary about the freedom I have that I refuse to make my own choices and decide what route to take; or I just see what is happening and I don’t do anything to change it or to avoid it because the fear do not let me to do so. I know that I can change that if I would like to.
Another thing that I consider important to name is "remorse". It is so powerful that can make a person to feel upset, uncomfortable and unhappy with oneself when one feels that he/she did something wrong. It would be great if many of us had it (especially politicians).

Chapter 5: ¡DesPieRtA, BaBy!

The only thing that I can say is that when we treat others as things, we should put on their shoes and think just for a second if we would like to be treated like that; what they would feel in that situation. We shouldn’t behave towards others in the way we know we wouldn’t like to be treated: the Golden Rule.

Chapter four: DaTe uNa BuENa ViDa

ThIs is another chapter where freedom appears again, it must be very important, isn´t it? I think it is so since we can not escape from this and also because nobody can´t take it away from us. In all the decisions we make, freedom comes to play;

We have to be very careful with this statement "live a good life" since we have to consider that living a good or great or wonderful life is not related particularly to own material things. Why is this idea the first to come to our mind? something that I heard , and that is true, is that we can live in a comfortable way with just the half of the total of goods we have at home.But why don´t we think that to live a good life is very very related to live with company, with other persons who may love us, or hate us or help us, but in some way they make our life to be good. We can live pretty well if we haven´t got internet, t.v., a car, etc., but are we able to spend our days lonely? without anybody to share those things? I don´t think so. What is more, in some way our life depends on others, so we should "give a good life" in order "to receive" a good one.

We should take into account that we are an animal species that need others to live and/or survive.

Chapter three: HaZ Lo Que QuIeRaS

ThE title of this chapter says "do what you please", but this is very difficult to do. Why? just because those actions should be done always taking into account the consequences that they would bring. In some situations, we act according to commandments or customs that are not always the best ones to follow, so in this kind of situations we have to realize that we can choose not to obey or to keep doing what they say.

We have "something" that comes to play here which is "freedom"; we are free when we take a decision (to follow what commandments and/or customs say or not to follow them), and we know that we have to respond for the consequences that they may cause. Savater says that freedom is a concept concerned by ethics, naturally.

Another thing that can be met in this chapter is the fact that there is no "universal rules" to determine that a person is "good". We say that a tool is good when it is useful to do something, but when are we "good" persons? aren´t we "good" when we don´t hurt anybody when we want to achieve something? what about those who help others without any kind of self-benefice? Yes, we are good persons in those situations among others, but the problem is that there are a lot of actions that we perfom which make us be good, so that we can´t make a list saying which are the conditions that people must fill so as to be "good".

Chapter two: Órdenes,Costumbres y Caprichos

According to Savater there are different justifications that conditionates the way we act: “ordenes”: this comes to play when we obey somebody who has somekind of power over ourselves.
In those situations when we do things over and over again even without thinking and also because everybody does it,so we are talking about “costumbres”.This two reasons above are considered by Savater that comes outside as if they were imposed to us. Finally Savater talks about “caprichos”, that is when we act in a particular way because we want to do so and there is no other reason.
After reading this chapter I can see that for every act we perform Savater wants to give a possible reason, cause, etc. He wants to justify the way we act everyday of our lifes and he finds this way as the easier to explain to his son the reasons that may conditionate his behaviour.

Comments about the prologue

Fernando Savater wants to talk to Amador, his son, about what ethics is, but he wants to do it in a way which allows Amador to understand him and trough this to put in practice in his life.Savater also wants that his son has confidence on himself and on love and on his intelligence which will allow him to livea better life.This philosopher tries to explain some concepts that life concerns trought this particular way because Savater wants his son to read this when he feel that this is a neccesity and not an obligation.