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!
Golden Mean - a famous philosphy by Aristotle has been really been big part of my adult life. It’s just incredibly handy and applicable to any situation.
Aristotle’s Golden Mean is the idea that virtue lies between two extremes - excess and deficiency.
We even see this idea expressed in contemporary sciences and sociology concepts like economic diminishing returns etc. and it really applies to everything. The best parts of life are trully in the middle and if you believe in only one life focusing on extremes is unlikely to get you anywhere interesting unless you’re very lucky/unlucky.
I really recommend “How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question” by Michael Schur who is one of the creators of The Good Place and he evaluates many popular ethics and world model views from a contemporary point of view and its really well done if you’re interested in practical ethics.
I’m going to die.
That’s it. There’s not much I’m really certain of, but I’m pretty damn certain that I’m going to die.
So I ask myself - how do I want to live my life in light of this fact?
Don’t be a cunt to…
… Yourself … Others … people in need
But…
… Not bring yourself in danger … Not Bring Others in danger … Not let people bully, use, hurt etc. you.
your*
Dont break the weekend safety brief.
- Do not add to the population
- Do not subtract from the population
- Do not end up in the newspaper, hospital or jail. – If you do end up in jail, establish dominance quickly.
Obviosuly this a a comedic response but it covers most of the bases.
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Accept the things you can’t change, and improve the things you can change. I disagree with the classical stoics on their emphasis on individual action and think that these principles can and should be applied on a societal level.
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Mind your own business. If someone is doing something that doesn’t have any real impact on your life or the lives of people you care about, ignore it. If someone is gay or trans that doesn’t impact you at all. If someone has weird religious beliefs, let them believe them as long as they’re not hurting anyone.
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The supernatural should be ignored for society level decisions because it cannot be proven and hasn’t been demonstrated. If someone wants to go to a psychic or astrologer for personal decisions I disagree with that but that’s on them.
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Everyone has a god they worship. It may not be Jesus or Allah, but it may be money, a sport team, or maybe a musical band. Ritual and community are things that make us feel good. Coming together with a group of people for a common cause to enjoy something together is built into our psychology. The problem of replacing religion with bands and sports teams is that it comes with the fun parts of religion without the discussion of morality or urging to do good that religion can bring. You don’t see Kansas City Chiefs fans giving 10% of their income to the poor, for example. My ideal world would have secular temples to Reason where people come together to sing and discuss philosophy and work together for a common good. This one is weirder than the others and I won’t be mad if anyone thinks this is absurd. I just think that we have rejected religion without having a satisfactory replacement for the good things it provides.
You might want to check out Unitarian Universalists
Their whole thing is a long the lines “No body knows for sure, so let’s respect each other’s beliefs and celebrate what we have And do some good for folks where we can”
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Pushing 4 decades, and the older I get the more I try to live by a philosophy of: be the person you wish you had when you were in their shoes.
Biggest thing is school right now: I did the college thing a bit a long time ago, struggled academically and financially, joined the military instead, separated, and now I’m back for round 2 using the GI Bill. I try to generate as many resources for my classmates as possible, run study groups, host group chats, send out reminders… The VA gives me a stipend for supplies each semester, which I’ll use in it’s entirety and give those supplies to the class. At clinicals (on-the-job education - nursing school) I’ve noticed a few students don’t eat cuz weren’t able to pack a lunch and hospital cafeteria food is WAY expensive for the average broke-ass college student, so I’ll cover the odd meal and tell em to just pay it forward once they get their RN. Shit like that. Kinda feels like I have 50 sons and daughters lol. But I remember my first attempt at college and how overwhelming everything felt… idk if having a ‘me’ would have made any difference in the outcome of round 1 - can’t make the horse drink and all - but if I can hook these kids up with an easier ride, then fuck yeah I’ll do what I can!
I try to apply that kind of approach to pretty much any context - be it school, work, or just random encounters with people.
Feels good to be helpful.
This fits very nicely in my belief system as well. For me the reason to life is to make it simpler/easier for the people who come after me. And thinking about what I needed and supplying that to others is a very nice way to achieve this. Although this could sometimes lead to doing something that is not needed (anymore), but even then showing others that helping others is a nice thing to do is worth a lot.
This is the best advice I’ve heard in a long while
I the immortal words of J.
“Don’t start nothin’, won’t be nothin’.”
Amen.
A good starting place is considering what society would look like if everyone did whatever thing.
Everyone steals - doesn’t work
Everyone murders - dosen’t work
ect.
Another approach is the Terry Pratchett argument that everything boils down to just not treating people like things.
- etc.
So, like the Kantian categorical imperative?
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.
- don’t be an asshole
- everything is allowed as long as nobody is getting hurt
- act when you see something wrong
- when you are able to help do so
- in all other cases mind your own business
Pee when you have the chance.
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.
Or just
shitpiss on the floor 🎵I’m caught in a loop.
Hahaha, I know right!
Don’t be a dick.
Be kind.
Never drink alcohol alone.
That doesn’t save me from bad environment, but it prevents a Huge otherwise potential risk
I recently have added a don’t eat/drink sugar alone for me 😊
