Snippet Of Social Philosophy

Apr 04, 2010 11:24


I started to comment on a post by lisajulie, but realized it captured enough of my views on society that it might be worth posting. (It also gets me around a comment length limitation, but that's an unintentional side bonus. Honest!)

lisajulie writes:

How can I can live in my lifestyle, knowing that is built upon the labor (underpaid and so on) of others ( Read more... )

.tpc_piece, .tpc_philosophy, .sec_public, lisajulie, .tpc_sociopolitical, .tpc_blog_lj

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logangrey April 5 2010, 18:15:11 UTC
I think there are some key issues to consider though:
Why point out that there will always be bliss and always be suffering? The calculation should be about how to maximize bliss and minimize suffering wherever we're at and wherever we'll be. How do we best utilize the presently available resources to those objectives? The inability to achieve perfection is far too often used as an excuse not to act at all. So while this observation can be useful in preventing overly optimistic objectives, that's not how it usually gets taken.

Thinking about the original question I'd say our obligation doesn't change no matter where we are born - it's always a matter of using the available resources the best we can. The difference is that we have to put our lives in proper perspective - judge our level of resources that we have available on a global scale, not a national, or community scale, or a neighborhood scale. So our additional burden is to have to work a little harder to find proper perspective, since we're starting in such a position, and there are many forces pushing a bad perspective on us here.

But guilt is irrelevant. Past is irrelevant except in helping to understand the present. Only the future matters. Only optimizing what good we can do, what harm we can prevent. One should only feel guilt if they're not doing as much as they, given their resources, given their genetics & current physiological condition, can do.

Given these observations, I agree completely that the right choice depends very much on who we are, and what we can practically do without going insane. Limiting how often one considers the full extent of human suffering is certainly wise, for example, for sanity's sake. So is choosing a path that works for you - which includes choosing ways to help that you enjoy rather than that you don't - because you'll be more effective at those, all other things being equal. But at the same time making sacrifices when those will cause a great deal of benefit to others compared to the cost to one's self.

Those have been my current set of conclusions anyway. I keep thinking about this. One correlary result - it's selfish to be too healthy. Only be as healthy as you need to be to do what you're doing. Anything more is self centered. :-) Bring on the caffeine!

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_earthshine_ April 6 2010, 00:00:27 UTC
I agree with you pretty much across the board, and don't see too many spots where what we both said contradicts. I think what you added is probably more detailed and pragmatic advice, and adding the key point that we should keep our resource level gauge on a global scale, which i think is an important addition.

I think, for many of us, that whole part about staying sane gets to be a pretty crazy juggling act. For others -- perhaps the luckier/healthier ones -- that's not as tough, leaving a lot more resource for the higher cause.

The only thing i'm inclined to address specifically is your question:

Why point out that there will always be bliss and always be suffering?

I point this out because it provides a larger philosophical context that i believe -- at least for some -- helps to serve the end cause. I think acceptance of the situation allows us to face a kind of dichotomy within us that pits our eternal sense of hope against a scene of endless despair. Perhaps for some, this leads to a collapse to some kind of nihilistic hedonism or apathy -- i guess those are the ones that shouldn't think about this. :) However, i think that for many of us, it forces us to stare down the barrel of that reality and reach the conclusion that it is not the results of our compassionate acts that form the core of goodness but rather the causes and doing of those acts themseves, the wellspring within us that moves us to feel and care for others despite the innate interminableness of the tasks. I believe that knowing this not only serves the cause by keeping us from despair, but also serves our own well-being by providing a higher view of the whole of Reality that allows us to better understand everything we see, and perhaps even begin to see a kind of purpose in it.

Those have been my current set of conclusions anyway. I keep thinking about this.

Ditto. :)

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