What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Should you think about your duty, or about the consequences of your actions? Or should you concentrate on becoming a good person?

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prof
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What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Post by prof »

A good Ethical system, a logical theory, will deduce reasons for living morally. Those are systemic. There are practical, extrinsic, advantages as well. Let us list a few of them now.
Behaving morally, being nice is the easiest way for an individual to be. If you try it you will find that it will suit your temperament, and that pleasing people will make it more likely that they will please you. It greases wheels and levels paths. It tends to make life pleasant. It pays forward to make this world better for all of us to live in, including yourself. Also there is ancient wisdom found in many cultures: the “Golden Rule.”

One form of The Golden Rule is: 'Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you.' In other words, do no harm: live ethically. Rules are Systemic values.

'Good' is the default and inherent nature of being human. We have empirical evidence for this - namely, the innocence of a baby - until that innocence is perverted by the culture in which a child is immersed. And acting against our inherent nature results in causing ourselves internal strife. We thus experience needless stress. We cease to have peace of mind. We sacrifice our serenity.

We can also demonstrate this theoretically as well. We can test this default principle by assuming its opposite and seeing where that would lead us. What if no one could trust anything anyone else said or did because everyone behaved immorally all the time? Wouldn’t that society soon fall apart? Wouldn’t it soon self-destruct? If that legendary Dobu society ever existed, where is it today? We thus conclude that it is universal and necessary to behave morally. Although all humans are born with the potential to be unethical, one can learn to modulate one's evil impulses and strive towards the highest good at all times in accordance with the moral law. There are other reasons to be moral e.g., self-respect and respecting the basic dignity of others.

Furthermore, if you genuinely want to be you can be morally good. Do you care at all about the welfare of others? If you care about others, then it makes sense to be nice to others. If you are uncaring then you do not know your own self-interest. Once people know what is in their true interest, normal people are just inclined to be kind to one another just as people feel a need to eat and to sleep.

Ultimately moral goodness is only "good" insofar as it is harmonious with that which is smart, wise, and efficient. No one wants to be stupid, foolish, or inefficient. So if you conduct yourself morally, you will focus on being wise and efficient. You will learn the basic principles of Ethics, the science, and will aspire to practice those principles, put them into action. Demonstrating loving goodness toward others will make you feel more fulfilled as a person.
For all these reasons, and more, morality makes sense, and immorality doesn’t make sense. Good reasoning will help us figure things out.
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TSBU
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Post by TSBU »

"Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you."

You've ruined sex.
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Greta
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Re: What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Post by Greta »

I'm not convinced by equating innocence with goodness. Much damage in this world was and is perpetrated by the naive.
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Hobbes' Choice
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Re: What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Post by Hobbes' Choice »

"Advantages".... Diabetes, slavery , lack of education, criminality

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Above us only sky
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Re:

Post by Above us only sky »

TSBU wrote:"Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you."

You've ruined sex.
Are you advocating extreme sex like gangbang?
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TSBU
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Post by TSBU »

Above us only sky wrote:
TSBU wrote:"Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you."

You've ruined sex.
Are you advocating extreme sex like gangbang?
No. And I can't remember what was that...
Another example. You've ruined insuline for diabetics.
osgart
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Re: What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Post by osgart »

i would say their is an absolute moral standard that applies to all.

justice is the bottom rock of life itself.

being moral at heart would only benefit.

you may not agree with a person's nature or actions but that shouldn't prevent you from being kind and considerate of that very person if so that person isn't unruly and dangerous.

being moral towards an immoral person means to be wary of them, and that requires defense. if the immoral person gets what they morally deserve you have done them a service and the rest of society.

morality has it's defenses. there is only benefit in it.

Any leader should know first and foremost to create good will. survival of humanity depends on it. no good thing happens otherwise.

The trouble is opposing consciences. where moral relativism causes dissension and chaos no universal morality is recognized.
Yet it's universal that no one is to harm the harmless. if there were no absolutes society would fall.
Walker
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Re: What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Post by Walker »

The advantage to behaving morally is that one retains perspective of appropriateness to situation, which in turn fuels behaving morally, which reinforces retaining the perspective.

Facing fear is good for you, and benign situations offer opportunities that confer knowledge of self, with a little s, to self.
ForCruxSake
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Re: What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Post by ForCruxSake »

prof wrote:.... being nice is the easiest way for an individual to be.
Greta wrote:I'm not convinced by equating innocence with goodness. Much damage in this world was and is perpetrated by the naive.
My son was four, or five, years of age when we had a discussion about good and bad behaviour, which ended with him saying, "It's easier to be bad. It's hard to be good."

I took this to mean my boy was going to be one of 'those' boys and my thoughts about him were usually underscored by the 'Jets and Sharks' signature music, or 'Officer Krupky', from West Side Story.

On his birthday, when he had more than a few young friends over, I brought the subject up again and it turned out that all of them thought it was harder to be good than bad, whilst a few actually found it "too hard".
Belinda
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Re: What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Post by Belinda »

ForCruxSake wrote:
prof wrote:.... being nice is the easiest way for an individual to be.
Greta wrote:I'm not convinced by equating innocence with goodness. Much damage in this world was and is perpetrated by the naive.
My son was four, or five, years of age when we had a discussion about good and bad behaviour, which ended with him saying, "It's easier to be bad. It's hard to be good."

I took this to mean my boy was going to be one of 'those' boys and my thoughts about him were usually underscored by the 'Jets and Sharks' signature music, or 'Officer Krupky', from West Side Story.

On his birthday, when he had more than a few young friends over, I brought the subject up again and it turned out that all of them thought it was harder to be good than bad, whilst a few actually found it "too hard".
Belinda
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Re: What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Post by Belinda »

ForCruxSake wrote:
prof wrote:.... being nice is the easiest way for an individual to be.
Greta wrote:I'm not convinced by equating innocence with goodness. Much damage in this world was and is perpetrated by the naive.
My son was four, or five, years of age when we had a discussion about good and bad behaviour, which ended with him saying, "It's easier to be bad. It's hard to be good."

I took this to mean my boy was going to be one of 'those' boys and my thoughts about him were usually underscored by the 'Jets and Sharks' signature music, or 'Officer Krupky', from West Side Story.

On his birthday, when he had more than a few young friends over, I brought the subject up again and it turned out that all of them thought it was harder to be good than bad, whilst a few actually found it "too hard".

Religions have over-hard standards of goodness. The reason for this is so as to imbue people with guilty feelings so that they will be coerced into obedience.
It's shameful that education authorities have for so long equated goodness with religiosity. Let us vote for politicians who listen to education experts, the teachers and educationists, who endorse moral education based upon reality and cooperation.
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Greta
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Re: What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Post by Greta »

Belinda wrote: Mon May 15, 2017 12:24 pm
ForCruxSake wrote:
prof wrote:.... being nice is the easiest way for an individual to be.
Greta wrote:I'm not convinced by equating innocence with goodness. Much damage in this world was and is perpetrated by the naive.
My son was four, or five, years of age when we had a discussion about good and bad behaviour, which ended with him saying, "It's easier to be bad. It's hard to be good."
Religions have over-hard standards of goodness. The reason for this is so as to imbue people with guilty feelings so that they will be coerced into obedience.
"It's easier to be bad. It's hard to be good" brought to mind a physics documentary discussing entropy, where they observed that an egg has many fewer intact states than broken ones, which is why you can't unscramble an egg.

Religions' notions of goodness seem arbitrary to me. The main demand is belief, although it seems to me that many who do not actually believe are faking it in the hope that belief emerges, seemingly just as fearful of death and what may or may not happen as anyone else.
ForCruxSake
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Re: What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Post by ForCruxSake »

Greta wrote:
ForCruxSake wrote:My son was four, or five, years of age when we had a discussion about good and bad behaviour, which ended with him saying, "It's easier to be bad. It's hard to be good."
"It's easier to be bad. It's hard to be good" brought to mind a physics documentary discussing entropy, where they observed that an egg has many fewer intact states than broken ones, which is why you can't unscramble an egg.
You can't unscramble a child's view of the world, either. It's just as delicious as it's eggy comparative. :D
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vegetariantaxidermy
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Re: What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

ForCruxSake wrote: Mon May 15, 2017 8:34 am
prof wrote:.... being nice is the easiest way for an individual to be.
Greta wrote:I'm not convinced by equating innocence with goodness. Much damage in this world was and is perpetrated by the naive.
My son was four, or five, years of age when we had a discussion about good and bad behaviour, which ended with him saying, "It's easier to be bad. It's hard to be good."

I took this to mean my boy was going to be one of 'those' boys and my thoughts about him were usually underscored by the 'Jets and Sharks' signature music, or 'Officer Krupky', from West Side Story.

On his birthday, when he had more than a few young friends over, I brought the subject up again and it turned out that all of them thought it was harder to be good than bad, whilst a few actually found it "too hard".
When it comes to children, what exactly is 'good' or 'bad' behaviour? Some people think children are 'bad' if they don't obey everything an adult says. Any adult. Some people think children should never argue with their parents, or express opinions. Some people don't seem to mind the horrible pointless screaming their children do in the supermarket, deafening everyone around them. Some parents even think their child is being 'bad' for wetting the bed, or not being out of nappies early enough. I don't think children can be 'bad'. They just have stupid parents who don't know how to enable them to be socially acceptable human beings.
uwot
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Re: What are the advantages to behaving morally?

Post by uwot »

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: Wed May 17, 2017 10:12 amWhen it comes to children, what exactly is 'good' or 'bad' behaviour? Some people think children are 'bad' if they don't obey everything an adult says. Any adult. Some people think children should never argue with their parents, or express opinions. Some people don't seem to mind the horrible pointless screaming their children do in the supermarket, deafening everyone around them. Some parents even think their child is being 'bad' for wetting the bed, or not being out of nappies early enough. I don't think children can be 'bad'. They just have stupid parents who don't know how to enable them to be socially acceptable human beings.
Given that some people think this, some don't mind that, who exactly is included in the society you refer to that decides what behaviour is acceptable?
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