This is day # 14 of 30 days of blogs on philosophy. This month, as part of the Praxis philosophy module I am blogging every day about something that I am in the process of learning. If you are between 17-25 and interested in becoming awesome at life find out more at discoverpraxis.com
In this series of questions I am answering, the original last question was, What is Good?
I sat down to answer it and I realized that a better question is what is right, and what is wrong. So to answer it I wrote an allegory.
AHHHHHHH allegory.
There are three people in the middle of a swampy area. All around them as far as they can see it is swap. They need to build some shelter for themselves, and they have the tools and materials they need to do so, but there is a problem.
There is no solid ground around. It’s not just mud, but it doesn’t seem substantial enough to build a structure that will last a long time.
One person decides that he will invest his time and effort into creating a big ass fancy house. He has faith that it will hold up in the long run, even though there is no reason to have that faith.
The second realizes that he can’t be sure of how long his house will last, and he also realizes that his life will be much better off for having a house. So he makes a fairly simple house. So that one day, when the foundation gives out, he will not be bothered. He knew it would happen and he built accordingly.
The third doesn’t make anything at all. He can’t be sure that a house will stand, so he doesn’t build anything. He just sits there, while the others build their houses, mocking them. How dumb are they to build houses when they know they won’t last.
Who is right? Who is wrong?
One seems more practical than the others, but no one is right, and no one is wrong. They are all right to some degree. But the decisions they made do have consequences on their lives going forward.
I’m new to the analogy game, but I think I’m getting my point across. Our experience of life does not rest on a solid foundation. If you poke around enough, you realize that it is actually not solid at all. How you choose to build your life is up to you.
In the past people have used religion to build the foundation that doesn’t actually exist. Questions about the meaning of life or right vs. wrong were answered with 100% certainty. Because God.
On the other end, people realized that you can’t be sure something will stand forever, and have decided the proper course should be to do nothing at all. Since the foundation isn’t solid, they jump to the conclusion that there is no foundation at all. They don’t realize that since they aren’t sinking into that earth that there must be some level of foundation.
In the middle is where most people exist. They make the calculations about their lives, realizing that they can’t be 100% certain, knowing that they can put something up that will stay there a while and while it lasts their lives will be better off.
Each individual person needs to, at some point, make this calculation for themselves.
So who is right?
The person that decides for themselves how to live the life that they want to live. They accept the reality that they face and direct their course as they choose.
And who is wrong?
Well in my little allegory, no one is wrong. Each person went their own direction and allowed their companions to do the same. In life, certain institutions are not so accepting. Cough ** the government** Cough.
In real life, person 3 would be trying to live in person 1’s house. And when they were starting to build, person 1 would have attempted to force person 2 and 3 to build in the same manner as him.
The people who are trying to force others to live a certain way are wrong.
To sum it up, we live on uncertain foundation. When pushed far enough everything becomes a bit mushy. We need to accept that other people will not see life the same way we do. They will draw different conclusions, that result in different actions. But, that we want the freedom to live our own lives as we see fit, so that means giving the same freedom to others.
As long as they don’t force you to live the way they want, and so long as you don’t force them to live the way you want, then no one is wrong.
I’m going through these questions to clarify my thinking on them, and hopefully, provide value to others who are reading. If you agree or disagree with me, I would love to hear from you in the comments! Let me know how you would answer this question, or what you think my answer is missing!
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