Anamnesis or: How I Learned to Stop Learning and Love the Soul
Philosophy? Bah why?
I love philosophy- specifically political philosophy, but really anything philosophic will do. My love of philosophy started soon after my birth. I have also been curious- and that's where my love of the interweb started as well.
As I grew up I thought myself a moral relativist- thinking that morality was purely a human construct and that any constraints placed on human action must be placed there to control people or to prevent them from deviating from societal norms- and yes, I was insufferable.
It's not relative
As I went to college I took an ethics class, expecting to learn next to nothing. I read Kant, J.S. Mill, Aristotle, Plato, Hume and I realized that hmm, perhaps there is something universal- and not just relative about morality.
I am not a moral relativist- but I'm also not a moral absolutist. I realize now that philosophy is not meant to be an answer to the greatest questions in the multiverse- but to be a tool- a lense to view these questions. There are no perfect answers to our greatest questions, but there are tools. Why reinvent the wheel when somebody dedicated their entire life trying to understand our morality?
The Greatest Happiness Principle
I am a utilitarian that believes we should strive to increase the overall happiness of the greatest number of individuals with the least amount of suffering. However, individuals refers to all life. Where there is the potential for happiness, we have a moral obligation to protect it from harm. Whether that's your mother, a dog, or a cockroach. We have a moral obligation to ensure that the greatest amount of happiness is available to everyone and everything.
This is why I'm vegan. (more on that on a future page!)
