So, I’ve been chatting with my buddies lately, and it’s turned into a bunch of debates about right and wrong. I think I have a pretty solid moral compass, I’m not bragging haha, but most people I know can’t really explain why something’s right or wrong without getting all circular or contradicting themselves.
So, how do you figure out what to do? No judgment, just curious. I’ll share my thoughts below.
Thanks!
Edit: Oh, all you lil’ philosophers have brought me a cornicopia of thoughts and ideas. I’m going to take my time responding, I’m like Treebeard, never wanna be hasty.
Pee when you have the chance.
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When going out into the cold during the winter, especially if you are going on a bit of multi hour journey … poop first, even if you don’t feel like it.
How do you poop when you don’t feel like it?
Hahaha, I know right!
I’m caught in a loop.
There is no such thing as objective morality. Being moral is a matter of will and character—consciously choosing what kind of person you want to be. I want to be the kind of person that brings pleasure into the world, and so I am a utilitarian.
Edit: And I’m not saying that I am fulfilling that adequately at all. Any coherent moral stance usually has implications which are “undesirable”. If I were truly utilitarian, I should probably be donating money to the global south, and so should anyone else who claims to be moral.
I the immortal words of J.
“Don’t start nothin’, won’t be nothin’.”
Amen.
Don’t be a dick.
Shut up, Wesley
To paraphrase Dr. Who, this has always stuck with me: Never be cruel, never be cowardly. Remember – hate is always foolish…and love, is always wise. Always try to be nice, and never fail to be kind.
Reminds me of the Stephen Moffat poem, they used it heavily in Dr who at one point.
"Demons run when a good man goes to war,
Night will fall and drown the sun,
When a good man goes to war.
Friendship dies and true love lies,
Night will fall and the dark will rise,
When a good man goes to war.
Demons run, but count the cost;
The battle’s won, but the child is lost."
Do what you think is right, but spend some time considering if it’s right or not first.
Recognizing when you’re not considering and just going by intuition or emotional response would probably already put you ahead of most of us.
Empathy seems to be necessary (but I’m not sure if sufficient) for logical moral consideration because you cannot justify your position if you purposefully ignore another’s, and considering someone else’s perspective without prejudice is empathy.
Learn the difference between a necessary risk and an unnecessary one, and whenever possible, decide with intent when to deploy the latter.
Other than that, leave things better than you found them. That goes a long way.
If you want to judge the character of a person:
Observe how they treat those they have power over, usually in terms of social hirarchy or economic position.
Edit: Read the question wrong. Be nice to the service workers you rely on to get things done, like janitors, servers, cleaners, basically the bottom ranks of the totem pole.
If you have to ask why and need a selfish reason:
These people often are in positions where they can sabotage you, make your life difficult or slow you down. You really dont want to scream at the people who handle your importent paperwork, which can easily “get lost in the administration”…
I would take it a step further with indigineous teachings that those with great power use it for the greater good, understand the central role of women in communities and respects the sanctity of all that is living, human and non-human.
To me, that is a good person and I believe that every person has the potential to be good.
Drink enough coffee to shit before leaving the house.
Always shit on company time
And use 1 ply with no bidet?
Savages.
Im sure you’ve got some other principles you could share. Theres more to life than caffiene and deffication, surely.
Before enlightenment, caffeinate and defecate.
After enlightenment, caffeinate and defecate.
It’s right if it brings happiness to yourself and the world, it’s wrong if it brings pain to yourself and the world.
It is also right to follow rules if you don’t have a clear understanding of the situation, because (hopefully) those rules were made with an expertise that you don’t posses.
Nice, very good, I’m gonna poke some holes for arguments sake, I like a good discussion.
What’s right?
And what if bringing pain is better long term, like a needle with medicine, whats a statement that draws that line?
From an old Irish friend I’ve known for many years
Whatever you do in life, no matter the situation or circumstances … always be kind
Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you’ve got a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies-“God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
Great philosophy, gotta make sure people dont take advantage of that though.
Being kind to yourself counts as well.
It also acts as a filter in life … whenever you meet unkind people, you stay away from them
Whenever you meet people who would take advantage of your kindness … you kindly stay away from them
When you meet other kind people, you do your best to stay with them, live with them, work with them or encourage them
Everyone always remember a few key things in life … people remember others who were unkind to them … people also remember people who were kind to them.
Life is short and it gets shorter every moment … whatever you do in life … just be kind … because most of the people you will ever meet you will only ever know for that one moment or just for a very short time.
And if we err, let it be toward kindness.
Maybe it’s kind to not let people take advantage, force them to rely on themselves, thats a kindness.
Leave a better world behind than you entered (to the extent you are able to as an individual).
Define better for me
There are lots of different meanings. Pick one. Make people happy. Leave something that will help the next generation, whether it’s planting trees or a park bench or curing cancer. Be kind to people along the way to enable them to see the best in humanity. There are lots of ways to make things better. Just pick one and do it.
I’m not asking for general ideas, do you have a definition you ascribe to, or does it just change to suit the situation
Rather, why are you unable to define it for yourself? It’s not that hard. Helping things towards balance (like helping any angry, sad, or greedy person to be less so, etc., or trying to heal a physical or emotional wound as appropriate) is a fine start.
The cub scouts have a rule: leave the camp better than you found it
It’s a great rule to apply to everything in your life. Small improvements add up over time and benefit those who come after
Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.
Not if youre being a cunt.
My standard for “good” practise is: if everyone adapt said practice, then the world would be better off.
Even though the effort of a single person can be futile; if I cannot chance my behavior for a cause I believe in, how can I expect the rest of the world to do the same?
Don’t be a dick.
Number one rule I have.
The problem with it is, everyone defines “dicky” behavior differently.
Beat me to it.
Don’t be a dick, don’t make anyone’s life worse out of indifference or even temporary malice, don’t make your own life harder because of the aforementioned, and the greatest accomplishment would be to make someone else’s life measurably, permanently better and have no need of credit or compensation for the act.
