Contemplating A Decision
Whenever I am contemplating a decision, I often review my motives first. Ever since I heard David Hume's second most well known dictum, "Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions," it has struck a strong chord with me. Our desires, known here as the 'passions', control the very foundation of our thinking and decision making. Nothing supersedes them. Thankfully, our desires and motives are more than one level deep, typically. One wants to want to exercise. One wants to want to help people in need. So on, so forth, and if I go any further we might just have to talk about Elizabeth Anscombe and no way are we doing that on a Saturday night.
My process, in so far as I have one, involves tossing around different points of view in my mind and following through the possible consequences to see how I myself would perceive and how others might perceive it affecting my character. To bare it simpler with a hyperbole: if I was thinking of taking over the world, would killing a billion people to eventually solve global hunger and eliminate water shortages make me evil both in my eyes and the eyes of those I respect?
There really is no direct chain of questions I ask though. My mind wanders. A lot. One of my favorite directions lately is whether evil actually exists when there is no God, as we are all natural beasts whose underlying structures are so similar (albeit chaotic in their formation) that in order for only some of us to be rationally considered what most of us believe to be evil there would require some manner of intention in our creation. And, of course, I often have a little digression where I think to myself if there is evil it requires a God as only God could truly be evil as only he could actually stop evil things from happening or evil people being created. Then I remember that I do not believe in omnipotent, omniscient invisible beings who never give proof of their existence but people think require that we have a lifetime of testing before sending us to a heaven or hell for the rest of eternity. Scottish shortbread cookies are an excellent followup for those moments.
Notice that last paragraph? All wanderings. We really should get back on topic. Look for my self-published philosophy book, Gods and Cookies, on digital bookshelves as soon as I start, finish, and revise it for public consumption. Yes, that was a pun on the end there. Get over it.
So, I ask questions and try to determine how it will change my perceived character. I sense a couple eyes fluttering back to that word 'perceived' though. Let's just say that I only agree with two thirds of this William James quote, as it seems nay impossible to know a 'character' objectively as we are all subjects ourselves.
Once I have a fairly firm grasp on what I see as possible outcomes from my possible decisions, I evaluate which one is most inline with my desires as a person. Do I want to see myself as evil, good, rational, emotional, nice, mean? To what degree? How do I want others to see me? Do I care?
The tricky part begins here and is where I see religion coming into play. You have to have a reason for living. A purpose. An overarching desire to give your life meaning. Does not have to be pretty or succinct, but you surely should it a bit of thought. Many, too many in my opinion, have it as following the tenets of a religion blindly. How wasteful to be given the gift of reason and never use it to explore and build a foundation for your life.
I have my own, which as I suggest in my first paragraph is more than one level deep. No matter what yours is, it explains a great deal of your character. And, here is the part I love, it can be changed. You can want to want to be good. You can want to want to do the right thing.
And...
It is late. Yet, I think there are even deeper motivations beyond desires that influence desires and are the basis for our desires concerning character, but they are not quite desires as we think of them philosophically. Love, Pain, and Social Instinct, for example. That dips far deeper into psychology than philosophy but at least we can consider them, if not outright affect them.
My process, in so far as I have one, involves tossing around different points of view in my mind and following through the possible consequences to see how I myself would perceive and how others might perceive it affecting my character. To bare it simpler with a hyperbole: if I was thinking of taking over the world, would killing a billion people to eventually solve global hunger and eliminate water shortages make me evil both in my eyes and the eyes of those I respect?
There really is no direct chain of questions I ask though. My mind wanders. A lot. One of my favorite directions lately is whether evil actually exists when there is no God, as we are all natural beasts whose underlying structures are so similar (albeit chaotic in their formation) that in order for only some of us to be rationally considered what most of us believe to be evil there would require some manner of intention in our creation. And, of course, I often have a little digression where I think to myself if there is evil it requires a God as only God could truly be evil as only he could actually stop evil things from happening or evil people being created. Then I remember that I do not believe in omnipotent, omniscient invisible beings who never give proof of their existence but people think require that we have a lifetime of testing before sending us to a heaven or hell for the rest of eternity. Scottish shortbread cookies are an excellent followup for those moments.
Notice that last paragraph? All wanderings. We really should get back on topic. Look for my self-published philosophy book, Gods and Cookies, on digital bookshelves as soon as I start, finish, and revise it for public consumption. Yes, that was a pun on the end there. Get over it.
So, I ask questions and try to determine how it will change my perceived character. I sense a couple eyes fluttering back to that word 'perceived' though. Let's just say that I only agree with two thirds of this William James quote, as it seems nay impossible to know a 'character' objectively as we are all subjects ourselves.
Once I have a fairly firm grasp on what I see as possible outcomes from my possible decisions, I evaluate which one is most inline with my desires as a person. Do I want to see myself as evil, good, rational, emotional, nice, mean? To what degree? How do I want others to see me? Do I care?
The tricky part begins here and is where I see religion coming into play. You have to have a reason for living. A purpose. An overarching desire to give your life meaning. Does not have to be pretty or succinct, but you surely should it a bit of thought. Many, too many in my opinion, have it as following the tenets of a religion blindly. How wasteful to be given the gift of reason and never use it to explore and build a foundation for your life.
I have my own, which as I suggest in my first paragraph is more than one level deep. No matter what yours is, it explains a great deal of your character. And, here is the part I love, it can be changed. You can want to want to be good. You can want to want to do the right thing.
And...
It is late. Yet, I think there are even deeper motivations beyond desires that influence desires and are the basis for our desires concerning character, but they are not quite desires as we think of them philosophically. Love, Pain, and Social Instinct, for example. That dips far deeper into psychology than philosophy but at least we can consider them, if not outright affect them.
– Posted: May 11, 2008, 12:27 am