ok, back again…
so, we note that there is no facts or evidence that we can put forth,
that can be used to defend any type of ethics or morality…
because what facts or evidence can we use to defend morality or ethics?
The earth is 93 million miles away from the sun?
the average height of a man in America is 5’ft 8’ inches tall?
we have 205 bones in a human body?
I can’t see any type of facts or evidence that we can use to
for or against morals or ethics…
so what is left?
we might use this as a possibility for morals or ethics…
we have Artists, past and present, who create ART, and we can include
in this ART, statues, buildings, books, literature, paintings, sculpture…
as examples of ART…the act of creation… the creation of something out
of nothing…
and in this Creation, how do we approach it?
what is the point of this creation?
so, I am a writer, and in fact, I have a published book out there,
why did I write that book? what was my motive?
If I wrote my book to make money or to get the Nobel prize or to achieve
fame, those are false values, they don’t lead us anywhere outside of the value
being pursued… money, fame, titles…that is being false to the writing,
I am not writing to seek wisdom or impart knowledge, I am writing to gain something…
and that is being false to the ART in question…
If I am writing something, not to gain money or fame or titles, why am I writing?
I am being honest to the ART… I am not writing to get something of value,
I am writing to be honest with the words I am writing, I am not seeking something
when I write, I am exploring ideas and values and knowledge…
I am writing because I have a truth or I am trying to get to the truth…
and that is quite different then writing to get wealth or fame or titles…
in other words, by seeking truth as oppose to seeking something of false value
like money, fame or titles, I am being ethical, I am being moral because my
reasons for writing is clear and honest… I am not seeking something when I write,
and that makes what I write, moral or ethical…I am being true to the words I write,
and as an ARTIST, that makes my writings, ethical and moral…
think of great writers, take Tolstoy for example, War and Peace, is a great book…
but why is it a great book? that Tolstoy wrote “War and Peace”
not to seek wealth or to make a name for himself or to gain titles, no,
he wrote it to seek honesty in the novel he was writing…
that makes his book, “War and Peace” an ethical/moral book…
to seek the truth of any given situation makes it an ethical, moral book…
Tolstoy was honest with his writings, he didn’t create false situations that
he then “solved” with some false morals or values…
he created a world that had moral and ethical possibilities and he solved those
moral/ethical situations with honesty and truth, what does it mean to be
an Patriotic Russian? and he answers that question in a realistic fashion…
by the actions of his characters…what values should we hold to and why those values
can be thought of as the point of “War and Peace”
“War and Peace” can be thought of as a moral/ethical novel because Tolstoy
honestly attempt to answer moral/ethical questions of values…
ok, that is something ARTIST do, create from ethical/moral standards, but
how does this work for the average person who doesn’t create via ART
or some other creative means?
we as human beings are faced with questions of ethics and morality, all the time…
what is right for us to do ethically? what should we do in terms of morality?
we face this question all the time, we just don’t put it into those terms,
but we should…what is the moral thing to do in regards to our life?
should I have an affair? is that ethical or moral? should I beat my wife or kid or dog?
is that the moral/ethical thing to do and if not, why not?
we act as if there is no such thing as ethics or morals, but it is there,
we only have to look… since we cannot, cannot use facts or evidence to
back up an ethical or moral conclusion we might discover, how can we,
as average people, discover what is moral/ethical in our own lives?
If I am trying to gain something from my actions, be it wealth or sex or titles
or fame, then my actions are not being ethical/moral…
but Kropotkin, we are always trying to get something for every single action we do…
and therein lies the problem…we have needs as human beings, and those needs
are universal or transcendental, necessary to every human being…
we must eat and drink water and have shelter and education and health care,
those are fundamental, necessary needs every single human has and we
have psychological needs, to love and be loved, to have our safety/security needs met,
and to have esteem and to belong… again, these are universal/transcendental needs…
every single human being must have love and to love…
to be ethical/ moral, means in our daily life, we seek our basic needs,
both physical and psychological…and if we seek these needs in our life, that
is being ethical/moral, as long as we are honest about our needs…
to be ethical/moral, is to be honest with who we are and what we need…
the ethical/moral is about honesty…to be dishonest is to be unethical, immoral…
Kropotkin, show me your facts or evidence to prove this? remember in
ethical, moral, doesn’t require any facts or evidence, because there are no facts
or evidence one can provide to prove or disprove the ethical or moral…
so, can I prove that our engagement with the ethical/moral involves us
in honesty? nope, I can’t show any such evidence or facts to support my claim…
but to suggest that the ethical/moral is an engagement with honesty, is one
real possibility of the ethical/moral…
in existentialism, the actions we take, are about this honesty…
if we are untrue to ourselves, this is unethical, immoral…
part of our estrangement from ourselves lie within this dishonesty we have
within ourselves… one of the important issues within existentialism is
being authentic to oneself… and this being authentic to oneself can only occur
within an honesty to oneself… being dishonest with oneself isn’t being
authentic…
“to be who you are” isn’t about being dishonest within yourself,
“to be who you are” is about being honest and true with who you are…
think about it this way, is a discrepancy between your words and your actions,
is that honest? I say I am a peaceful person and yet I get into fights all the time,
that is a discrepancy between my words and my actions…
my words and my actions don’t line up, they are different from each other,
my words say one thing and my actions say another thing…
is that being honest? am I being truthful when my words and my actions are
two different and distinct things?
if I do separate out my words and my actions, I am not being authentic, I am not
holding myself responsible or accountable for my words or my actions…
I am not being moral or ethical if my words and my actions are different from
each other…
so the average person can discover what it means to be ethical/moral
by the connection between their words and their actions, by not being
accountable/responsible for their words or their actions…
so does this idea of being ethical/moral have any possible response from
the outside world? I don’t really see how… the ethical/moral comes from
our own connection between what we say and what we do…
so, we have an individual understanding of what is moral and what is ethical?
but do we have a collective/an us, understanding of what is moral and what is
ethical?
that might be the difference between what we say publicly and what we do publicly…
in other words, what is moral and ethical, is the same individually and collectively…
the difference between our words and our actions… if the two match, then we
are being ethical/moral… if they are different, then we are being unethical/immoral…
is this the only difference in being ethical or moral?
no, but let us stop here to think about it…
Kropotkin