Thursday, February 28, 2013

Happiness v Right

So there are tons of things in life that render happiness. There is also this idea of what is morally right, or morally permissible. The idea of utility plays a role in these moral decisions. What is good? Good yields the most pleasure while minimizing pain. Bad? The opposite.

What happens when a situation is at hand, and there are different factors to weigh? What happens when pleasure for yourself means pain for another? How is that to be measured? It's a question that has been examined for centuries, and yet there is barely a plausible answer. To many, there is a way to determine the weight of pain and pleasure.

I personally feel that there is no way of determining degrees of pain and pleasure. For each person, it is different. There is no established measurement for happiness. There is no point system, or weight. Maybe I'm a little bit selfish, but I feel that I need to do all I can to make myself happy.

This contradicts with social utility in that social utility is the maximization of happiness amongst society. While considering only my own happiness, I am disregarding the happiness of the rest of society. What if the cause of my happiness is the cause of devastation for the rest of society? Would I be doing the right then in that respect? From my point of view, probably. From other's points of view - probably not.

My discussion falls into the philosophy of Emmanuel Kant. The categorical imperative insists that one must treat another as an ends rather than a means. Now, if my overall purpose in life is to achieve happiness - what would my means be? What means would I have to apply to achieve happiness? What if I negatively affect someone on my pursuit of happiness?

I often have thoughts regarding such situations. Under what circumstances is it permissible to inflict pain on another in hopes of achieving my own pleasure? I have decided that holistic selflessness is extremely rare. It is a very difficult concept to apply to one's life, because we are all selfish in our own ways - however discreet.

I do not believe that people pursue pain rather than pleasure - unless there is a masochistic factor involved. The pursuit of happiness is one that has been examined for centuries, as previously mentioned. It seems that selfishness may probably be the best answer to many situations in that happiness stems from what one believes. It has a different meaning for everyone.

The same concept applies to pleasure. One may find pleasure in whipping himself or cutting his skin. The general societal idea of pleasure does not apply to all. I do not find pleasure in inflicting pain upon myself, yet others may - and would this person be acting wrong or immorally? What if a person is a sadist - and finds pleasure in inflicting pain upon others? What, then, do we consider is morally permissible?

Moral permission seems to rely on people's concepts of right and wrong - but there honestly cannot be an explicit definition of what is wrong and wrong, or good and bad. Selfishness is often viewed as a negative trait of a person - yet I feel that with selfishness, one truly understands what is desired. The desire to attain happiness is a universal principle, but the definition of happiness has yet to be determined.


xo.E

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

So this might sound crazy..

Sometimes I sit around at home and think about what my life is going to be like later in life. No, that's not the crazy part. The crazy part is that I think about who I'm going to marry, who I'm going to spend the rest of my life with. I can't wait to be with that man who I willingly do everything for. I want to find the man to whom I want to cater.

I'll get home from work after a long day, and I'll be exhausted and tired as shit. Regardless, I'll still want to do everything in my power to make him happy. I'll want to cook, clean and satisfy my man. It sounds crazy, because I honestly don't seem like that type of girl. I don't seem like the type of girl who knows how to take care of anything or anyone but herself....maybe. That's not true. That's not true, but why not let people believe what they want.

Sometimes it's just a little weird to me that I think about how much I want to make someone else happy. What about my own happiness? I feel like as people mature, as they grow, they realize that happiness is not all about loving oneself or being completely engulfed in just being 100% focused on oneself. Happiness grows contingent upon another's happiness. I feel like if I find that person who I find happiness pleasing, I would never give up. Why give up on something that powerful? Something that amazing?

I've always known myself to be extremely selfish. I know where people get that idea from. I always put myself first, and I always think about myself. Yeah, whatev. Truth is, there have only been a handfull of people in my life who I would put ahead of me. I would think of them before I even think of myself. These people are the most important people in my life. I don't know where I would be without them.

Everyone needs a support system, and everyone needs a shoulder to lean on sometimes. I used to think that I could do it all by myself. I used to think that I could make myself happy and nothing and nobody else mattered. That's before I found people that I wanted to be a part of my life permanently. It's really a trip when you find someone that you can connect with on every & any level. It's intriguing. It's amazing, wonderful, and it really just puts some things into perspective. The feeling that I get when I talk to people with whom I have many things in common is almost euphoric.

Anyways, I guess I just haven't been able to talk to people about things like this in a long time. Or I've just had too many thoughts in my mind lately. Whatever it is, venting is always therapeutic.

xo.E