warning: what follows is long and academic

being the kind of person i am i do not like to engage in debates about religion. the idea of talking about who is more correct when it comes to whether there is a hell or not, whether God is just one man or woman, two men and a dove, or a thousand souls, doesn't really do it for me. for one thing, i find belief to be so personal and subjective that arguments about it never really reach common ground. there are no standards to go by, like two people arguing whether the dish was delicious or not. no matter how conclusive the argument is, it will never change the fact that one person found the dish tasty while the other did not. and so, in principle i avoid debates about food and religion.

one of the things i do like to argue about is ethics. now this for me is worth brawling about. like the question "is it selfish to see to your own well being?", "is seeking my own happiness a hedonistic thing to do?". given the field that i am in, i firmly believe that the single most important thing for people in general is the self. there is nothing intrinsically bad in acting for yourself and seeking pleasure for yourself. and yet even in saying that people usually do self-serving things, it is not to say that we are not capable of doing unselfish things either. there are always people who will throw away their lives for someone else, from soldiers to mothers. the thing is, you should not think that acting for yourself and acting for others are two mutually exclusive things. doing one could lead to the other. you can act in your self interest and at the same time cause the well being of others; conversely you could also act for the well being of others and achieve happiness for yourself in the process. for hedonism, happiness is the greatest good, but it did not say that you have to be selfish about it or that seeking your own happiness will eventually lead to unhappiness in others. happiness is not a zero-sum game; it is possible for everyone to win. by looking for your own happiness, it enables you to help others achieve happiness in the future. and it is very possible that the simple fact that you are happy will make others happy also.

all of this isnt really original so if you dont trust me you can probably trust the ethical philosphers who have mowed this lawn before and keep mowing it still (but they wont all agree with whats written here). this argument has long been on my mind; i just needed more reading to articulate it. i of course have my own reasons for rehashing it here.