The place to ask China-related questions!
Beijing Shanghai Guangzhou Shenzhen Chengdu Xi'an Hangzhou Qingdao Dalian Suzhou Nanjing More Cities>>

Categories

Close
Welcome to eChinacities Answers! Please or register if you wish to join conversations or ask questions relating to life in China. For help, click here.
X

Verify email

Your verification code has been sent to:

Didn`t receive your code? Resend code

By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .

Sign up with Google Sign up with Facebook
Sign up with Email Already have an account? .
Posts: 87

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Q: Do you believe in or accept moral values?

I'm littering the boards with questions today, but this question is actually quite serious (and maybe beneficial for society). I want to know if you believe and or accept what is considered moral? Furthermore, how strictly do you bind yourself to norms of morality, justice, civility, and honor? If you enjoy philsophical discussion, please read-on, if not.. please stop here.

 

I know that's a long question, but I ask because someone in a past thread said I 'might' be a sociopath. The thing that I sometimes consider is I may very well be becoming a sociopath. Not in a joking sense. Maybe the for the past year I have been debating with myself internally the efficacy of being a 'moral' human being. I've read many philosophical works on the nature of human values and morality as well as scientific perspectives on these same topics. In every instance I feel more and more divided as to whether being a moral person is at all helpful. Now, I feel myself leaning towards rejecting human values.

 

All the things that could be done that no one may ever know.. And these things could be beneficial to ones life. What does it mean to do what ever it is that you want if no one knows (for your own security)? Moreover, that you also yourself do not care?

 

There are definitions for different types of people; those whom commit acts they know or believe to be wrong; people who have no sense of right or wrong; those who do terrible things for the sake of the terrible act. It seems like moral values are rules created and developed to bind human society together, but it is those whom can exploit those rules with impunity and with complete security that appear to advance themselves in society.

 

Are there any 'philosopher kings' on this earth? The elite of our world are not philosophers, more often than not the elite of our societies are the corrupt. What does it mean to have a society led by the corrupt and to we ourselves waste our lives struggling to be incorruptible? What does it mean to be Nietzsche's 'superman?' Godless and amoral.

 

I think for this, to become truly amoral, there is no transitory stage, only the before and after. A societal misfit is someone skirting the line of what is wrong and right. A true amoralist doesn't recognize that such constructs even exist beyond diluted peoples mind. For myself, I feel stuck in the before... unable to act, unable to reach the after. Values are so greatly ingrained in our DNA, civilization, and individual cultures. How to grow beyond something that doesn't exist except in our minds?

9 years 27 weeks ago in  Culture - China

 
Answers (10)
Comments (7)
Posts: 9192

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Take a test.indecision I actually implied that twice.

Report Abuse
9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 7178

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Goodwin's law in action.

 

The key words are all there.

Report Abuse
9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1198

Shifu

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Those that become truly amoral are free to become politicians, lawyers or telephone marketing salespeople and reap the windfall of their lack of moral restraint. You are beginning to sound like a follower of Ayn Rand.

Report Abuse
9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 2587

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I give you one thing: at least you're really thinking about the important things.  I'll answer with an illustration.  Let's say you bought a brand new Ferrari and it's in your driveway right now.  There are many ways you can display, drive and maintain your beautiful car.  The manufacturer gave you a detailed, leather-bound owner's manual, but you can choose to ignore it and choose your own methods.  You can choose to use Jack Daniels for fuel, tap water as a lubricant, and experiment with many different brands of tires.  You can choose to decide your own maintenance schedule.  You can wax it with sand, it's your supercar, you can do what you want.

    But in reality, if you choose to go outside the manufacturer's recommended methods, your car won't stay in good condition.  These same rules apply to anything in life.  If you go against the natural or designed flow of things, the quality of your experience will quickly diminish.  This is not to say your freedom is restricted.  You have many choices of color schemes for your car.  You can have manual or automatic transmission and you can mod it to your heart's content.  But the basic rules of mechanics can't be broken without repercussions.   Human morals are nothing other than rules that guide humanity to a smooth and happy life.  Disregarding them, your prerogative it may be, will lead to causing harm to yourself and others around you.  This has been proven time and again over human existence.  There is nothing you can try that hasn't been tried (and failed) before.  You are young and inexperienced.  Youths often challenge the accepted norms in society.  If you are wise, you will learn from others who have been there before.

I submit that it's not good morals that you have a beef with. I think your rebellion is with corrupt human society. In this regard, I can't say I blame you.

coineineagh:

Great analogy!

9 years 27 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1142

Shifu

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Isn't Kant the usual go to for this subject, and not Neitzche...although nobody can even understand what Neitzche means half the time, and the other half the time he means what ever the reader wants it to mean...

Report Abuse
9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 7715

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Firstly - 'amoral' is not the same thing as 'immoral'... it is quite possible to be a 'good' person in the eyes of those around you, and still be amoral. That is not a contradiction.

 

'Immoral' means knowing what the moral values of a society are (and perhaps, one adheres to them in general) but chooses to flaunt them. 'Amoral' means not choosing to accept society's values at all, and creating your own set of values of 'right and wrong' (whether you accept the terms or not... such terms can merely be 'useful to me, vs not useful to me' or similar!) So, 'good' and 'amoral aren't contradictory.

 

There's a philosophical line (Kant?? maybe not... Tongue) about self interests...two related views were "One should only act in one's perceived self-interests", and the other was " one CAN ONLY act in one's perceived self-interests". I personally believe the second!! Which is why, in your OP, I'd say that NO-ONE does something that they 'know' is wrong... they know that society's mores and values say what is wrong, but for those people, they 'know' that they are an exception to that rule (like Chinese drivers...).

 

Depending on how you choose to act, yes, you would be considered a 'sociopath'... if your actions are considered 'wrong' by society... (however, see above).

 

Nietzche's 'superman' only rejected values created by others to control others (such as religion). He certainly did NOT reject the idea of creating one's own values - and, in fact, it is this creation of personal value, and acting upon it, that makes one a 'superman'.

 

One value, however, that you seem to have chosen - along with the rest of humanity - is that you are more important than virtually every other human being alive.... AND that a human's value is intrinsically more important than any other living being's existence... AND that life has greater value that anything seen as not alive.

 

May I suggest, as the free-thinker you seem to think you are, you make your first priority the ensurance that you are actually correct in the basis of your primary value... are you sure you're more important than everybody, and everything, else? That there isn't something that has more value in the multi-verse.... ie, the primary value is 'truth' (your own).

 

(for myself, yes, I have sociopathic ideologies... if it takes the death of 1 CEO to save the whales, I don't see what the problem is... and similar arguments).

xinyuren:

 that last thought was a humdinger.  You made my day.

9 years 27 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 4397

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

  I accept them, rather than believe in them as such, in that I play the game and I don't eat babies, the reason being that I believe to do so would drive me mad. Is it wrong to eat babies? If it is I guess I shouldn't eat lamb. Is a human baby of more value than a lamb? Not if you're the lamb. Do human babies taste good with mint sauce? Unfortunately yes.

xinyuren:

drive you mad?  isn't already too late, martian?

9 years 27 weeks ago
Report Abuse

Spiderboenz:

If you want to know what human babies taste like, just eat a baby pig.  Apparently pork tastes VERY similar to what human tastes like.

9 years 27 weeks ago
Report Abuse

mArtiAn:

  Pork, thank you! That's been bugging the hell out of me. And Xinyuren, I find your suggestion that I am mad, quite quite offensive, for what is mad? Is it working a 9-5 job that you hate all your life, or killing your fellow man on the instruction of a stranger, or merely standing in the street saying "Biddlem ploop squatch wibble?" No, I am not mad sir, I am completely sane, or my name isn't Biddlem Ploop Squatch Wibble.

9 years 27 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 46

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Would it benefit Chinese mainland society if its culture believed in moral absolutes and valued the pursuit and cultivation of virtue?

Report Abuse
9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 3269

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Look at China and its history. People did really bad things here. They went too far, and can only subsist by isolating themselves from the rest of the world, indoctrinating their own people and sacrificing freedoms, liberties and quality of life. The rest of the world doesn't trust China, they have only the worst allies, and their behaviour is notorious throughout the world. The only people who speak highly of China have little experience with the people and are mystified with feel-good propaganda and/or optimistic economic stories. This is what happens when you disregard ethics. They are unwritten rules of the "game" we play. You want to cheat? I hope it was worth it - now the rest of the kids don't want to play with you anymore.

This only applies outside of China of course. Inside the Dictatorship/Playground for the Rich, the honest people must Smile Or Die. Cheaters rule here, critical thought is absent, rule of law is a facade, hospitals are corrupt and greedy. If you ask yourself: Why not do what I want if no one knows? Because you will keep on doing it and eventually someon will know and tell others. And you need only look around your host country to see the consequences. They are staring you in the face (like retards)!

Report Abuse
9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 9631

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I believe a society will only function if it is subject to a shared moral codec. Like China is. 

xinyuren:

I'm not sure if you're serious, but I agree with the words.

9 years 27 weeks ago
Report Abuse

Scandinavian:

thanks xin :) I am sincere in this. I think to know you well enough to know we will disagree where moral values come from, nevertheless, they serve a purpose in society. Whether it is "thou shall not coveth thy neighbor's gadgets" or "don't drive drunk", doesn't really matter. It is a consensus in society that this is comme il faut. In China this consensus exists, although it is severely warped from the actual rules that are in place. 

9 years 27 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 27 weeks ago
 
Know the answer ?
Please or register to post answer.

Report Abuse

Security Code: * Enter the text diplayed in the box below
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <br> <p> <u>
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Textual smileys will be replaced with graphical ones.

More information about formatting options

Forward Question

Answer of the DayMORE >>
A: It's up to the employer if they want to hire you that's fine most citi
A:It's up to the employer if they want to hire you that's fine most cities today require you to take a health check every year when renewing the working visa if you pass the health check and you get your visa renewed each year I know teachers that are in their 70s and they're still doing great -- ironman510