Humans are selfish, hedonistic creatures; incontrovertibly and immutably. I am not being jaded or condemnatory.

As much as our individual creeds may vary, we all have one united objective: to maximise our happiness. All humans are equipped with the reasoning skills to assess pros and cons, and will make the most rational decision to bring the greatest expected benefit to them. Such benefits may be “selfless” in that others may benefit more than you (especially in a material sense); however, the inherent sense of satisfaction or enjoyment you may feel from helping others still offers a personal happiness that outranks other alternatives. This is essentially selfishness, but not in the awful, heartless meaning that is propagated. After talking to Brendan yesterday about his involvement with the Oaktree foundation, he admitted that his involvement was ultimately selfish, due to the intrinsic joy he derives from helping others. This is a case in point: selflessness and selfishness coincide.

Moreover, whilst one may extract happiness from a morally sound life devoted to God, another may flourish in the shallow thrills of promiscuity, booze or hard drugs. The latter may be called to mind when hedonism is mentioned; however, both are hedonistic. Perhaps one is seen as more “morally degenerate” than the other, but apart from different preferences, the actions are identical: the pursuit of happiness.

There is nothing wrong with selfishness and hedonism: they are fundamental pillars of human nature. Rather, it is our methods to achieve them that may be condemned.

-Mel

Labels: Ramblings

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