Various Thoughts continued

This article was written by shade000 on 2012-02-05 under Member Pages.

A continuation of my meanderings.

I have something to pose to the site at large.

What is the basis for your decisions (by that I mean your moral center).

Many think that morality is a clear cut issue, and that they are right, they are on the straight and narrow, et cetera. My purpose in this article is to illustrate just how straight and narrow you arent.

Let us begin.

 

First off, there are many things to center morality on. Logic is a common one. Another is altruism.

Allow me to show the flaws in all of the common viewpoints.

Logic

How does logic apply to everything? Answer: It doesn't. Logic is effective, but only in areas with clear cut solutions. It only works in areas where you can determine the right course of action through something along the lines of a cost-benefit analysis.

Overall, logic is limited, and thus, anyone who bases their decisions off logic alone will someday end up dazed and confused.

Inherent flaws in common views

A view I hear a lot (even here on MyTK) is that morality should be based off mass opinions and customs. This is logically (hehe) flawed. Why? Because morality is intended as a static (unchanging) foundation, and thus, basing it off of people is impossible. Why? Because times change. People change. Look at the stunning changes in 'morally acceptable' attitudes and values in the past 100 years. It graphically illustrates the foolishness of basing yourself on the admittedly lackluster dependability of human opinions, for they sway back and forth.

Th Beautiful Truth

What is the true way, then?

After several years of mulling this over, I have an answer to the age-old question of moral basis.

 

Morals should lead to courses of action based on what will lead to the most beneficial action for everyone, including Self, as a whole. That is accomplished by establishing a compromise between the physical and psychological needs of Self, the physical and psychological needs of the others who will be directly influenced by your decision, as well as the proper course of actions towards the Universe itself, namely, what will preserve it's well being while still keeping a balance of human life, within certain constants that will ensure the continued comfort of aforementioned human life, to the furthest possible extent. To ensure this is reached, one must avoid sanctimonious altruism, emotional motivations such as the desire and/or assumed need to detract from another individual that you hold contempt for, as well as purely selfish motives that will elevate your safety and comfort above the other motives as mentioned above.

 

That paragraph, from what I can tell, is the clearest possible answer to the question of what a firm moral basis should be. It is the much sought after method/formula that not only applies to any and every situation, no matter how great or how miniscule, but also ensures that anything selfish or damaging is omitted (as much as possible). You will find that if you apply this philosophy to your everyday life, it will indeed shed great light into your questions.

Thank you for reading.

-Rialian

Truth Seeker

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