So I was just reading Walter's post about his appreciation for his major and the awesome ways that philosophy can affect our lives. I totally agree with this, except for with regards to the subject of our class. Here's the thing: I am an atheist, and I firmly believe that one day everyone will die and, afterwards, nothing we have ever done will matter. A man wiser than myself once said, "All we are is dust in the wind." While each of the readings help me to understand the importance of justice or its origins, they never compel me to act differently that I would have before those readings.
I can totally identify with Hume's explanation of the origin of justice, and I agree with (almost) everything that Mill says. The fact of the matter is that I don't care to make efforts to become a just person. I am one of the people Dr. Johnson was describing when she mentioned how people in our society make decisions based on utilitarian concepts, except for one minor detail. That idea would have me make choices which maximize pleasure for the most and minimize pain for the most. Instead, I pretty much always act in ways which maximize pain for me and minimize pain for me. Anytime I do typical "nice" things (hold the door for someone, etc), I can pretty much say I only do those things to benefit myself. I'm holding that door because I hope it'll make that cute girl smile at me.
So yeah. Basically, I enjoy these readings/discussions quite a bit, but in the end they just serve to make me feel like I'm somehow more selfish and meaner than the rest of you.
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OK I am not an atheist but I do see where you are comming from with respect to a lot of what you said. I mean I think there are very fiew selfless acts in this world because there is a motive behind most anything. Like you said, you don't hold doors open just to save someone else the trouble, you do it because you feel obligated or because you may get something out of it. I think most people do what they do to make their own lives easier, so basically what I'm saying is take it easy on yourself. None of us are angels...
ReplyDeleteWell, i mean if your going into why we do what we do, in this case the thing being justice, i think its completely logical that you feel that we only do things out of selfishness. It brings to mind what Smith says, that we only sympathize with other people because WE WANT to be in harmony with them. If you comfort someone he would say its because you want others to think you kind by doing so, or for the person to be in your debt, or that you yourself get a "good feeling" from comforting them."In short i would agree with that portion of your statement, but would disagree that just because that it is selfish makes it meaning less.
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