JacobDwelle

FreshmanInquiry
BeMoral,BeSelfish
Thegoalofthemajorityofpeopleistosimplybehappy.Wewanttolivelivesof
joy,andwithoutsuffering.Weseektoactinawaythatwill,forthemostpart,maximally
increaseourhappiness,ordecreaseoursuffering.Inordertodothis,wenaturallyactin
waysweperceivetobemoral.Actinginagoodwaywillresultingoodfeelings,while
actinginabadwaywillreflectnegativelyonus.Therefore,weshouldalwaysseektoact
inwayswethinkaremoral,becausegoodactions,orthebestpossibleactions,should
resultinsomelevelofhappinessandfulfillment,whilebadactionswillresultinsome
levelofbadthoughtsandfeelings.
Actinginagoodwayshouldresultingoodfeelings.Forexample,Imaychoose
togivemytimetothelocalfoodbank,andseemanypeopleenjoytherewardofthis.
WhileIdonotreceiveanymaterialobjects,Idoreceiveakindofgift.Givingto
someoneorsomethingisagiftinitself.Peoplemaynotseekanysortofmaterialthing,
butrathertheywillseekthispseudogiftthatgivesyourpersonalconscienceafeelingof
goodness.Wewantthisgoodfeelingbecauseitisgood,andnotbad.Weknowthatthis
goodfeelingwillresultinmorepleasure,andlesspain.
Someactionswillresultinamixofpleasureandpain,andsomeactionsresultin
exclusivelypainbutstillaremoral,oratleastintheviewoftheindividual.Forexample,
youareonasidewalk,whenyouseethatachildhaswanderedintothestreet.Youthen
seeanoncomingcar,andtheonlywaytosavethechildistodiveintothestreet,pushing

himoutoftheway.Thiswillresultinthecarhittingyou,butnotthechild.However,this
actionwillbemoralorimmoralbasedonyourpersonalviewsandconvictions.I
personallyfindittobeamoralactionforthesolefactthatitincreasessomeformof
happinessinmyself,andinthatofothers.Itdemonstrablyresultsinthepleasureofthe
parents,thechild,andthosewhoknowthefamily,butalsomypersonalpleasure.While
inthisscenario,Ihavereceivedphysicalpain;Itoogetsomeformofmentalpleasure
becauseIhavesavedthelifeofanotherperson.Theactionwasmoralbecauseitresulted
inmorehappinessthanitdidpain.Ihaveactedinawaythatresultedinagoodfeeling
notonlyformyselfbutothersaswell.
Letuslookatthereverseofthisscenario.Instead,Ihaveseenthechild,andI
readilyacknowledgethatthechildwillbehitandkilledbythecarifIdonotact.Ihave
decidednottojumpintothestreettopushhimoutoftheway,knowingbeforehandthe
exactresultsthatwillfollow.Thechildishitandkilled,andtheparentsaregriefstricken
fortherestoftheirlives.Thedriverofthevehicleismortified,andsaddenedbytheir
inabilitytopreventthis.Inalargesense,Ihavechosenforthisscenariotobetheonethat
wasplayedoutinreality.Ihavemadetheimmoralchoiceofaddingmorebadtothe
world,ratherthantheoneofaddingmoregoodtotheworld.Thisactionisimmoral
becauseevenIhaveinflictedsomesenseofabadfeelingonmyself,whichcouldhave
beenprevented.
Thisisbasedontheconceptthatthepersonwhowillsavethechildiscapableof
theact.However,peopleinawheelchairareunabletoassistthechild.Inthescenario
thattheablebodiedpersonchoosesnottosavethechild,heislookeduponinadarker

sensethanthepersoninthewheelchairwhosimplycouldnotsavethechild.Whilethe
endresultisthesame,onepersonisregardedasimmoral,whiletheothercannotbe
judgedinthisscenario.AswritteninanarticletitledMoralLuckbyDanaNelkin,in
section1,resultantluckisdescribed.Asitnotes,twopeoplecanhavetheexactsame
intentions,butdifferentthingsresultfromwhathappens.Weregardapersonwhokills
anotherashorrible,butapersonwhosimplyfailedtokillanotherpersonassomething
else.Thesamecanhappeninthecaseofsavingachildfromanoncomingvehicle.Those
successfulinsavingthechildmayberegardedasheroes,butthosewhofailregardedas
nothingmorethanwheretheystarted.
Furthermore,thepersoninthewheelchairmayevenfallvictimtoanothertypeor
moralluck.Aswritteninsection1inMoralLuck,Constitutiveluckmayapplytothe
personinthewheelchairwhocannotsavethechild.Itmaybearguedthatheshouldhave
triedsomethingmore,whetheritbealertthedriver,ortrytogetapasserbytobeawareof
thesituation.However,hecannotsavethechildbasedonwhatconstituteshisabilities
thefactthatheisinawheelchairisbeyondhiscontrol,alongwithotherfactors,and
thereforemightinsomesensebeblamedbyothersaftertheincident.Inthiscase,
constitutiveluckisnotonthesideofthedisabledperson.
Someactionsareparticularlymoralorimmoral.Somecauseextremehappiness
foreveryone,whileotherscausehappinessforafew,andatthebottomofthisscale,
thereareactionsthatcausenohappinessandexclusivelypain.Peoplecapableof
donatingalargesumoffoodtoadepravedareawillresultinthehappinessofall.The
donatorinthisscenariorealisticallylosesnothing,butgainsasenseoffulfillment,and

getsagoodfeeling.Thereceiversofthisgiftarequitepleasedaswell,becausetheynow
havefoodtoputonthetable.Allpartiesinthisscenariobenefit,andtherefore,theaction
ismoralinthelargestsense.
Animmoralactionwouldbeonethatcausesexclusivelypain.Togivean
example,thinkofacompletelysaneperson,withnovendettaorhatred,butwhohas
suddenlydecidedtotortureandkillanotherperson.Thispersonhasdonenothingwrong,
andcouldevenbecalledamoralperson.Theonedoingthetorturinggetsnopleasure
fromthis,andactuallygetsasenseofbadness.Theonebeingtorturedquiteobviously
experiencespainandsuffering.Nopartiesherereceiveanysortofpleasure,and
therefore,theactionsofthetorturerareimmoralinthehighestsense.
Therearesomewhomaysaythatyoushouldactimmorallyfortheresult.Many
peoplemaywishtobethebootstompingontheant,andnottheantitself.Thereare
seriousrealworldimplicationstoconsiderifyoudecidetoupholdandpartakeinthis
philosophy.Theimmoralwillseektoexploitthoseofuswhoaretheantsinthe
analogy.Theymayseekthingslikemoneyandpower.Theideabehindthisisthatthese
morematerialobjectsshouldthemselvesresultinhappiness.Theideathatmoremoney,
ormorematerialobjectsmakesyouhappier,isquitesimplywrong.Weknowfroma
psychologicalstandpointthatoncebasicneedsaremet,happinessandwealthshowno
correlation.Youcanbeanywherefromthemiddleclasspersonwhoputsfoodonthe
tableeachnighttoabillionairelivingbetweenninemansions,butbothhavethesame
shotatbeinghappy.

Actingimmorallyalsosimplyreflectsbadlyonyourownconscience.Glaucon,as
describedinWhybeMoralbyPlato,hasthejobofplayingdevilsadvocate.Hegoesas
fartosaythatheisarguingthatthelifeoftheunjustisafterallfarbetterthanthelifeof
thejust(pg.535).Hegoesontomaketheassumptionthatconsciencedoesnotexist,by
usinghisanalogyofpeoplehavingtheabilitytonotgetcaughtwhiledoingadmittedly
immoralactions(pg.536).However,Iamcompletelyawareofmyownconscience,and
soitseemslogicalthatattheveryleastIknowimmoralactionswillresultinbad
thoughtsandfeelings.AsfarasIcanknow,Iwillnotfeelgoodaboutkillinganother
sentientbeing.Thisissomethingtobeexpressedfrompersontoperson.Iwillseekto
avoidbadthoughtsandfeelingbecausetheyarebad,andnotgood.Somethingisbad
simplybecauseitis,andwhilethismaynotconvinceyou,thenitisencouragedthatyou
trytodefinebad,withoutusingsomethingalongthelinesoftheoppositeofgood.
Glauconinhisassumptioncanalsobereversedbackontohim.Ifhehasno
problemassuminghisownconsciencedoesnotexist,thenweshouldnotfearhurting
him,stealingfromhim,orinflictingharmonhim.Heisnotactuallyexperiencing
anything;heissimplyazombie,actingoutofnosenseoffreewill,andwithnoidentity.
Theseattributesaresimilartothatofarobot,somethingwhichwedonotfearhurtingor
harming.IfGlauconinsistsonthis,thenhemustaccepttheconsequences,aswillallof
theotherswhomakethisassumptionaswell.
ThegoodactionsthatIpartakeinwillalwaysresultinagoodfeelingformyself
andsometimesagoodfeelinginothers.Itseemstobetherightchoicetomaximizemy
ownhappinessbeforethehappinessofothers,butdonotresultinlargepartforthe

sufferingofothers.ThesearetheactionsthatIseeasmostmoral,becausetheyincrease
mypersonalhappinessandsenseofgoodnessthemost.Moralactionsaretypicallyin
linewithactionsthatresultinpersonalhappiness.Forexample,itisimmoralto
intentionallyslamyourfistintothewall.Thiscausespain,abadfeeling,andresultsinno
tangiblefeelingofgoodness.Moralactionsshouldincreasepersonalhappinessinsome
way.Inthissense,youshouldbeselfish,andseektoimproveyourownhappinessand
feelingofgoodnessbeforethatofothers,butnottoextremeextent.Thislineof
selfishnessisespeciallycrossedwhenyoubenefitfromthesufferingofothers.Being
selfishinthewayproposeddoesnotentailcausingdirectharmandbadnesstoothers.
Youshouldseektobemoralbecauseitisinyourownbestinterest.Moralactions
willresultinafeelingofgoodness,whileimmoralactionswillresultinafeelingof
badness.Goodnessis,initself,good,andweshouldseekitout,andseizeitwhenever
possible.However,itmustnotresultinafeelingofbadnessforothers.Actionsthatare
immoralwillbeonesthatresultinalargeamountofsuffering,andespeciallywhenwe
receivenopleasurefromthem.Bemoraloutofselfishness;maximizeyourpersonal
happinessinawaythatmightalsoincreasethehappinessofthosearoundyou.Theyseek
thesamethingyoudo.

WorksCited
Plato.,&,BenjaminJowett.TheDialoguesofPlato.NewYork:RandomHouse.
Nelkin,D.K.(2004,January26).Moralluck.Retrieved24October2015,from
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moralluck/