These aren’t so much “stupid” questions but ones which have no clear answer, and I’m curious what people here feel have to say about this.
-Why should (or shouldn’t) one aspire to be “good” in the sense of prosocial, altruistic etc.?
-Why should (or shouldn’t) one attempt to be as honest as possible in their day to day lives?
I have strong altruistic inclinations because that’s how I’m predisposed to be and often because coincides with my values; other people’s suffering upsets me and I would prefer to live a world in which people are kind and supportive of each other. I want to be nice, but I don’t want to want to be nice; I can’t find strong rational reasons to be altruistic.
I’m honest with people I voluntarily interact with, but ambivalent about lying in general. For example, I’m currently on sort of intermittent fasting regimen and if someone I’m not particularly familiar with offers food, I tend to say “I’ve already ate” rather than giving my real reason for abstaining from. I’ve seen it argued that lying to others will make you more likely to lie to yourself, but I’m unconvinced this is the case.
These aren’t so much “stupid” questions but ones which have no clear answer, and I’m curious what people here feel have to say about this.
-Why should (or shouldn’t) one aspire to be “good” in the sense of prosocial, altruistic etc.?
-Why should (or shouldn’t) one attempt to be as honest as possible in their day to day lives?
I have strong altruistic inclinations because that’s how I’m predisposed to be and often because coincides with my values; other people’s suffering upsets me and I would prefer to live a world in which people are kind and supportive of each other. I want to be nice, but I don’t want to want to be nice; I can’t find strong rational reasons to be altruistic.
I’m honest with people I voluntarily interact with, but ambivalent about lying in general. For example, I’m currently on sort of intermittent fasting regimen and if someone I’m not particularly familiar with offers food, I tend to say “I’ve already ate” rather than giving my real reason for abstaining from. I’ve seen it argued that lying to others will make you more likely to lie to yourself, but I’m unconvinced this is the case.