A philosopher is a person who doesn't take anything for granted and wonders about the origins of things.
Profit
(Cross-posted at DarshanChande.com)
Profit is a gain for oneself at someone else's expense.
On moral grounds, I tend to be against profit-making. I consider profit to be a kind of backdoor interest. It's like sex. Everybody would want to make profit wherever they can, and they might, but it should not be accepted as a virtue. The natural motivation to make profit and the stigma associated with it would create a system of checks and balances.
If I have something which you value more than I, and you are willing to pay for it more than it has cost me, we both stand to gain by the transaction. There doesn't seem anything wrong in it whereby I make profit. However, it's accidental that I happened to have something that put me in a position to earn profit. If I make profit-making a motive and deliberately create situations (as opposed to it happening accidentally) of profiting, that would be questionable on moral grounds, under certain conditions.
In today's society which is largely influenced and controlled by big corporations, more often than not profit directly creates inequality. Inequality in a crudest form of society calls forth physical force to correct itself. (The state of Nature is the baseline for equality.) In a sophisticated society like ours it exerts psychological costs if/because physical force is restrained. Hence, ideally, we should strive for egalitarian society, either by not making profit or distributing it.
Granted, people are not naturally equal. But the reward for the merits one has (owing to genetic lottery or favorable living conditions) should be the goodwill earned by using those merits, and not profit; for goodwill is earned by putting one's merits to common use making everybody gain. Profit being for oneself (and that too at someone else's expense) only threatens social harmony.
For a sustainable society, common gain is the only type of gain possible with long run perspective.
Though it would be wrong to say that profit is unethical in essence, but being a backdoor interest, it has a tendency of becoming harmful to the society if not checked and balanced by some social mechanism. That mechanism is stigma associated with profit motive. If profit-making is accepted as a virtue (as it is today), it sure would lead the society to its doom.
People should not have a mind of 'businessman' but of 'service provider'.
Profit is a gain for oneself at someone else's expense.
On moral grounds, I tend to be against profit-making. I consider profit to be a kind of backdoor interest. It's like sex. Everybody would want to make profit wherever they can, and they might, but it should not be accepted as a virtue. The natural motivation to make profit and the stigma associated with it would create a system of checks and balances.
If I have something which you value more than I, and you are willing to pay for it more than it has cost me, we both stand to gain by the transaction. There doesn't seem anything wrong in it whereby I make profit. However, it's accidental that I happened to have something that put me in a position to earn profit. If I make profit-making a motive and deliberately create situations (as opposed to it happening accidentally) of profiting, that would be questionable on moral grounds, under certain conditions.
In today's society which is largely influenced and controlled by big corporations, more often than not profit directly creates inequality. Inequality in a crudest form of society calls forth physical force to correct itself. (The state of Nature is the baseline for equality.) In a sophisticated society like ours it exerts psychological costs if/because physical force is restrained. Hence, ideally, we should strive for egalitarian society, either by not making profit or distributing it.
Granted, people are not naturally equal. But the reward for the merits one has (owing to genetic lottery or favorable living conditions) should be the goodwill earned by using those merits, and not profit; for goodwill is earned by putting one's merits to common use making everybody gain. Profit being for oneself (and that too at someone else's expense) only threatens social harmony.
For a sustainable society, common gain is the only type of gain possible with long run perspective.
Though it would be wrong to say that profit is unethical in essence, but being a backdoor interest, it has a tendency of becoming harmful to the society if not checked and balanced by some social mechanism. That mechanism is stigma associated with profit motive. If profit-making is accepted as a virtue (as it is today), it sure would lead the society to its doom.
People should not have a mind of 'businessman' but of 'service provider'.
Sexual freedom
A state of sexual freedom is where sex is not a taboo. Where people freely talk about sex in all kinds of social settings and express their sexual desire without being judged as indecent. Contrary to popular attitude, I stand against the idea.
A society of free sex which permits unrestrained sexual expression would have sex as a predominant ingredient in relationships, and where man-woman relationships couldn't be more meaningless and painful.
Sexual freedom is not a feature of forward society but a backward one, for it is through regulation of animal instincts that we have developed into civilization. Now giving way to it couldn't lead us ahead, not in any meaningful way, I believe.
A society of free sex which permits unrestrained sexual expression would have sex as a predominant ingredient in relationships, and where man-woman relationships couldn't be more meaningless and painful.
Sexual freedom is not a feature of forward society but a backward one, for it is through regulation of animal instincts that we have developed into civilization. Now giving way to it couldn't lead us ahead, not in any meaningful way, I believe.
Perversion
Perversion is any action or behavior that disrupts smooth functioning of the society, natural forces in humans considered.
It is so, because in absence of absolute right and wrong, we tie morality to human wellbeing (which depends on social order). Any behavior that is detrimental to this goal is immoral.
Immorality or perversion? Sex is not immoral per se, but unregulated sex or excess of it is harmful to the society, so that's perversion (and of course, immoral too).
Also see: Intellectual perversion
It is so, because in absence of absolute right and wrong, we tie morality to human wellbeing (which depends on social order). Any behavior that is detrimental to this goal is immoral.
Immorality or perversion? Sex is not immoral per se, but unregulated sex or excess of it is harmful to the society, so that's perversion (and of course, immoral too).
Also see: Intellectual perversion
Relative wellbeing theory (of happiness)
This theory explains happiness as a function of relative wellbeing. According to it, once the point of basic comforts has been reached, a person's happiness would depend on his comfort level/wellbeing relative to the wellbeing of others in his environment.
Example: When no one had smartphones people were not unhappy because of not owing a smartphone. But if all of your friends own a smartphone then not owning one would very likely make you dissatisfied and create a desire to own it, even if you don't have particular use for a smartphone. (And unfulfilled desire is suffering.) This dissatisfaction would not be because of you not owing a smartphone per se, but because of not owning it when everyone around you owns one. Hence, this suffering would not be direct product of your condition, but your condition relative to the condition of your surrounding.
Much of the unhappiness in modern times is explained by the theory.
Also see: Comforts-happiness relationship, Happiness
Example: When no one had smartphones people were not unhappy because of not owing a smartphone. But if all of your friends own a smartphone then not owning one would very likely make you dissatisfied and create a desire to own it, even if you don't have particular use for a smartphone. (And unfulfilled desire is suffering.) This dissatisfaction would not be because of you not owing a smartphone per se, but because of not owning it when everyone around you owns one. Hence, this suffering would not be direct product of your condition, but your condition relative to the condition of your surrounding.
Much of the unhappiness in modern times is explained by the theory.
Also see: Comforts-happiness relationship, Happiness
Backdoor interests
Backdoor interests are individual-centric interests which undermine the cooperation principle the society is founded on. These interests are often rooted in our animal nature. While some of the backodoor interests are unavoidable (like the pursuit of sex), that doens't mean they should be accepted as normal or good behavior (open a front door for, so to speak).
Backdoor interests would be exercised by most people to varying extent, but when the society opens the front door for them – that is, lifts social pressure/punishment and/or makes the pursuit into a virtue – that becomes problematic. A glaring example of a backdoor interest become a virtue in today's society is business. Profit is (or should be) a backdoor interest, but today we have business schools who formally and legally teach how to make profit.
Also see: Profit
Backdoor interests would be exercised by most people to varying extent, but when the society opens the front door for them – that is, lifts social pressure/punishment and/or makes the pursuit into a virtue – that becomes problematic. A glaring example of a backdoor interest become a virtue in today's society is business. Profit is (or should be) a backdoor interest, but today we have business schools who formally and legally teach how to make profit.
Also see: Profit
Cooperation principle
I use the term to elucidate the development of humans from the state of nature into the society. Society is a system wherein individuals have aligned their interests for higher wellbeing. Cooperation, therefore, is a glue that holds the society together.
In game theoretic terms, society becomes possible when all the players in prisoner's dilemma repeatedly decide to cooperate for continued mutual gain, as opposed to non-cooperation (i.e. cheating) for one-time personal gain.
Civilized society, thus, is a product of cooperation principle.
In game theoretic terms, society becomes possible when all the players in prisoner's dilemma repeatedly decide to cooperate for continued mutual gain, as opposed to non-cooperation (i.e. cheating) for one-time personal gain.
Civilized society, thus, is a product of cooperation principle.
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