- #1
quantumcarl
- 770
- 0
No.
Selflessness results in the immediate destruction of the self. How can this help the greater good... which includes the "self"/individual?
The closest approximations to selfless acts are those acts of a soldier, firefighter and police. Volunteer rescuers are also in the category.
The self gratification these men and women derive from their courageous acts is overshadowed by the immediate risks to their lives that they attract in their careers.
After posting in the
thread about how automobile owners are being trained in the art of Ethics by following the rules of the road, selflessness came under scrutiny. When drivers don't adhere to the ethics of driving there can be no progress, no arrivals or departures, no road and no commerce and/or spring board for alternative commerce to speak of.
This brings to mind the fact that each person driving is doing so out of self gratification. They have somewhere to go, or no where to go but they are in the car for themselves and their various justifications. They follow the ethics of driving so that they may gratify their individual cause. And in doing so, they are allowing others to do the same/equal/rights/thingy.
And they treat other drivers... for the most part... as they would treat themselves... with great care (to varying degrees).
This brings me to the surprise of my opener. You may be familiar with the saying...
Yes, you read it here. Confucius wrote this famed philosophical statement... not Deuters Palmes or whoever. It was written 500 years before the Roman/Hebrew conflict. This is something discovered after many visits to the dusty bowels of curious shops in the Chinatown area of the city.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Does this sound selfless? No. Its cooperative.
How did Confucius come up with this idea? My guess would be that he observed the nature of people and the cause and effect of their interactions.
When Confucius saw the "eye for an eye, tooth for a toof" crowd slowly hacking each other into extinction he realized there must be a better philosophy that tended toward a more permanent form of culture. And what culture has been more permanent than that of the Chinese people?
True enough to say that the famed Budda was alive around the same time and perhaps had an influence in the wording or editing of Confucius's saying.
The Budda took out the last sentence which read "next beer's on Budda".
Selflessness results in the immediate destruction of the self. How can this help the greater good... which includes the "self"/individual?
The closest approximations to selfless acts are those acts of a soldier, firefighter and police. Volunteer rescuers are also in the category.
The self gratification these men and women derive from their courageous acts is overshadowed by the immediate risks to their lives that they attract in their careers.
After posting in the
"does personhood conflict with ethics"
thread about how automobile owners are being trained in the art of Ethics by following the rules of the road, selflessness came under scrutiny. When drivers don't adhere to the ethics of driving there can be no progress, no arrivals or departures, no road and no commerce and/or spring board for alternative commerce to speak of.
This brings to mind the fact that each person driving is doing so out of self gratification. They have somewhere to go, or no where to go but they are in the car for themselves and their various justifications. They follow the ethics of driving so that they may gratify their individual cause. And in doing so, they are allowing others to do the same/equal/rights/thingy.
And they treat other drivers... for the most part... as they would treat themselves... with great care (to varying degrees).
This brings me to the surprise of my opener. You may be familiar with the saying...
Confucius said:"do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
Yes, you read it here. Confucius wrote this famed philosophical statement... not Deuters Palmes or whoever. It was written 500 years before the Roman/Hebrew conflict. This is something discovered after many visits to the dusty bowels of curious shops in the Chinatown area of the city.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Does this sound selfless? No. Its cooperative.
How did Confucius come up with this idea? My guess would be that he observed the nature of people and the cause and effect of their interactions.
When Confucius saw the "eye for an eye, tooth for a toof" crowd slowly hacking each other into extinction he realized there must be a better philosophy that tended toward a more permanent form of culture. And what culture has been more permanent than that of the Chinese people?
True enough to say that the famed Budda was alive around the same time and perhaps had an influence in the wording or editing of Confucius's saying.
The Budda took out the last sentence which read "next beer's on Budda".
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