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| Sensible Values |
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| Written by maurice foley | |
| Sep 26, 2007 at 06:01 PM | |
'Sensible' Values - those that emerge from 'Sensible' political philosophyTo be useful, Politics must be based on Philosophy, where philosophy is taken in a broad sense as "the processes by which we develop Meaning, and construct ['discover'] Truth in terms that are open to all" and where Politics is taken as "the processes by which we organise and govern ourselves and the principles that guide or cause these processes." [See the "Definitions"] In turn, for philosophy to be practically useful, it must be based on our best understanding of what we are, what we want and what we need. The discussions of Good, Right, Civilised society, Values etc. form the basis of a political philosophy which can be expanded endlessly, as our understanding of ourselves deepens… The development of this political philosophy also requires some axioms [ or agreed starting points], some of which are included in the definitions given [see "Definitions" in the left hand menu]
Good"Good" actions are those which sustain, develop and advance the potential of life i.e. something is good only to the extent that it promotes life, which means that it improves the experience and sustainability of life. Bad actions are those which diminish the experience or sustainability of life, which reduce opportunity or which engender fear or less civilised behaviour.RightAn action or decision etc. is "right” only to the extent that it is (or its reasonably expected consequences are) good.This means that good precedes right - we can judge something to be right or wrong according to whether we see or expect its effects to be good or bad. This means that we should not consult a book of regulations for directions on what the “right” thing to do is, unless we are confident that those regulations are designed to achieve good. [The above can be summarised as “anything is good only to the extent that it promotes Life, and anything is right only to the extent that it is good. The concept of "right" is very useful in so far as it helps to ensure a common understanding of what is good - because it is often easier to judge what is right according to long established and well known rules, than it is to see for ones' self what is good for all (especially when, e.g., one feels caught in the middle of a situation, or when one's own family or friends are involved, or when others' reactions are confusing or contradictory). Rule books or any systems for codifying “right” (e.g. the Bible or Koran), are only useful to the extent that they encourage "good" - and can do more harm than good, unless people can see the difference between right and good, and which precedes which. It is surely unhelpful to base a moral system around the concept of the expected result of good actions being that we will get closer to some Heaven or Nirvana - or any place (or state of being) which is outside both our space and our time - and cannot therefore be tested confidently, because it can only be imagined, not seen and felt by us when we act. It is not coincidental that many of those prepared to murder others to secure themselves or their own sub-groups believe that their actions are sanctified by their special relationship with a super-powerful being from another dimension, an almighty god. Apparently their goal in this life is to earn the right to admire for ever (in safety, comfort and satisfaction) the omnipotent one who could just as well damn them to an awful eternity if they fail him. Therefore, here on miserable little Earth, they can bite the hands that may feed them for a mere life time, so that in the next, they will just have to joyfully sing at the feet of the Hands that will feed them forever and ever. ] Civilised SocietyA civilised society would be one in which its members feel and see and rejoice in themselves as they are – tiny, brief, non vital parts of the most vital thing in the universe, Life. It would be one where physical or emotional security issues would be almost entirely group related – since its members would see each other as family, not as competitors, or yardsticks to justify themselves by. Sensible ValuesCommonsense informs us that just as we all have a common origin, eventually we all have a common destiny, and that what we do at any time must be guided by the needs of all of us, no matter where in Space they are now, or where in Time they will be in the future. Practically, this means that any solutions we adopt now for current problems must also be part of solutions to our longer-term issues. We must lay down clear principles and values to ensure that commonsense underlies policy. In short, commonsense values are:1. To decide what we want to achieveBefore judging the relative merit or usefulness of any thing or event, there must be a clear and consistent framework to compare things by - we need to know which way is “up”. That framework must be based around the commonsense definition of “good” - i.e. that something is “good” only to the extent that it promotes Life. I.e. anything that does not secure or develop or increase the potential of Life is not “good” - it may be pleasant or sexy or desirable or anything else, but not good!2. To choose between right and wrongSomething is “right” only to the extent that it is, or its consequences are reasonably expected to be, “good”. All moral codes, whatever faith or tradition they may claim to be based on, must accord with Commonsense - i.e. they should only be tolerated to the extent they promote Life.3. To choose between the rights of the individual and the rights of the groupThe basic right of the group, always and everywhere, is that the promotion of life as a continuing and developing and improving and ongoing phenomenon must be respected in the most fundamental way possible, as the primary value. However, the group only exists through individuals, so its interests include individual happiness and freedom of expression, with the group’s interests additionally including securing the ongoing promotion of life beyond the lifespans of the individuals who currently constitute it by being alive now.This means that sometimes the interests of the group over-ride the interests of particular individuals or sub-group (e.g. Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, Yasser Arafat, Galluruwuy Yunipingu, John Laws et al. should have been or be eliminated from the public arena), and at other times require that the interests of a particular individual or sub-group over-ride the short-term interests of the larger group (e.g. a family’s or community’s sacrifices so a few can go on to a better life). 4. The relative weighting of Future .v. Current consequencesThe promotion of life will always require that the future consequences of current alternatives be considered, and sometimes that they must take precedence over the expected current consequences. (e.g. in general we need to reduce current resource consumption levels in case we reduce life potential or prospects in the future, but in times of dire need, a people may have to damage their environment in the medium term to survive.)5. To choose how we want ourselves and others to behaveCommonsense tells us that it makes sense to encourage good behaviour – i.e. behaviour which is designed to promote life. We must develop clear codes to encourage honourable behaviour – which requires loving vision (i.e. seeing others as fellow travellers rather than competitors) and truthful behaviour (i.e. behaviour based on seeing the situation from others' points of view).Philosophy and PoliticsSolutions we adopt for current problems must be designed with the future in mind. Current actions are 'meaningful' only to the extent they have meaningful consequences and can only be 'Right' to the extent they are 'Good' - see the definitions... Similarly, current actions taken in response to our current world-view can only make 'sense' to the extent they are based on our best understanding of what we actually are... of what it is to be human, to be a human, to be a human alive now.. This simply means that any action can be meaningful only to the extent that it is based on knowledge of what we are... |
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| Last Updated ( Oct 03, 2007 at 01:02 PM ) |
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