Why ask questions?
Because I'm going to attempt a summer-long research project in philosophy, that's why. But I need a question to answer. And as soon as my advisor told that, what happened but all the questions in my head flew out the window?
So now I'm trying to gather them back. Here's...a bunch of questions. Feel free to answer them, if you care to (and that ( Read more... )
Sounds like your combat reflexes are in overdrive. Suggest you take up a loud, violent hobby.
> My first question: is being good and doing good a luxury?
Yes, if you mean good beyond your immediate circle. It's all about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
>What would life be like entirely without romantic attachment?
Bloody awful. Lonely. Dull. Romantic attachment is a source of happy neurochemicals.
>On a somewhat related note, where is the line drawn between friendship and romance? ...(what
>about "friends with benefits"?), or even a willingness to spend your entire life with someone
It's partly down to neurochemicals; romantic... um... activity... creates a feedback loop. Which is why flings should be kept short. Beyond that, the thing that gives you permission to let go, is personality compatibility... a sort of fitting together, where you have a shared core, and complimentary differences. In other words, the sex is great and you make a great team, and enjoy each other's company,
>Is a "sense of injury" an artifact of culture?
Yes and no.
No, because some of it's instinctive monkey level stuff - most honour codes seem to reflect this.
Yes, because if a stranger punches me, that's different from if a fencing buddy gives me a bruise.
>What is redemption? Does it exist, outside of religion (where it seems synonymous
>with "conversion")? How would different moral systems define it?
Speaking as an atheist; when you wipe away some misdeed or set of misdeeds in such a manner that they no longer form part of your psychological or social identity.
>What makes things right?
There have been cross cultural experiments to determine this. Broadly, our instincts for good are the same across most cultures.
>And what is "justice", anyway? Rightness? Fairness? Goodness?
An attempt to industrialise the above.
>Is there any evil except pain?
Yes. Evil is treating others as less than human.
>Any goodness except what promotes happiness?
No. But that happiness may not belong to the immediate parties. (The Spartans at Thermopylae were doing "good".)
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