Re: Morality and Happiness
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what would make you think that 'behaving morally' doesn't make some people happier than stealing some ones gum?
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Nothing, that then is the first option where the extent of your morality is that level which makes you happiest given everything else.
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I'm trying to come up with a situation where a person makes the choice that they believe will increase their misery quotient. I'm not saying there isn't one, but it's eluding me right now.
luckyme
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How about something along the lines of falling on a grenade in a crowd of school kids? Would you argue that the knowledge of self sacrifice in the last instant of your life makes you happy enough to counteract the act itself?
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The two maximising happiness reasons for that sort of behavior are:
1) being very unhappy in your future life if you don't do it.
2) maximising happiness in your past life by being the sort of person who would throw yourself on the grenade if the situation arose (or at least believing yourself to be that sort of person and discovering you were right).
I think its mainly the second.
chez
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