Bliss Of Being : Our Natural State

On the absolute and ethics

By Wayne Hoover

Note to reader: This is all very stream- and should be edited in the coming days.

Days keep on going by- yet what is happening? Am I really growing? Am I really doing what I want to do?

The Greek gods were said to be completely self sufficient; that is they needed no other being or thing for their well being. In contrast to us humans that can sound pretty amazing or pretty crazy. Yet the notion is rather alluring isn’t it? Self sufficiency sounds like that final bliss of awakening. No longer am I dependent on others- or on anything -outside- for my happiness- my upkeep- my wellbeing. How nice- I can finally just be.

Yet is this even possible? I don’t think so- not as long as -I- still think -I- exist. Emptiness seems like awakening. Finally the ego drops and no longer are we dependent on anything- because -we- don’t exist dependency has nothing to be on. There just is dependency and no one for it to work on. All things just are as they are simply as they are. No longer do things get done to ones self- things just are- nothing is done to anyone.

And ultimately that is all that is going on right now. *yawn*

Who cares about all that absolute stuff? Does that change the way we live our life? Does knowledge of the objective really matter? Its happing right now- yep- right now- and it will go on. What really interests me is the ethics of believing such a thing. Does this stuff really matter?

There is no absolute ethics.
The only things that matter is what we say matters. Nothing matters- all things are really equal- it is only the human mind that puts some things above or below other things. But really all things are devoid of any judgment- or any subjective quality. Things are. So with that out of the way- lets build up a system in which what we say matters and carries us to a place in which we want to be.

The fundamental question: What is our goal?
Since there is no right and wrong- lets make the ‘right’ and the ‘wrong’ be useful constructs in our life. So the question- the fundamental question of all ethics is; what is our goal in life? Once that question is answered we can construct values (which we must remember are arbitrary) to actions which can help us to our goal. So what is our goal?

Ethics is a system.
I don’t think that its that important what our goal is; rather the important part is that we have one. Because without a goal one can not construct a valid ethical system to live by. An ethical system without a goal is bound to be unexamined. And whats the use of living an unexamined life? Whats the use of living if one does not realize that one is living?

It seems impossible that one could live and not know she is living. Therefor we must all have goals- if we know it or not. We might have goals that create contradicting ethical systems. For example we might have the goal to be healthy- yet we might also have the goal to enjoy food. But remember- contradictions- like any other conception- are only bad because we make them so.

A note on contradictions:
I can imagine a system in which contradictions are not something to label as bad- yet it seems unlikely because contradictions get us no where. That is to say contradictions take us away from our goal. Unless of course your goal was to create contradictions. What an interesting ethical system.

An ethical system in which the goal is to create contradictions. Seems like a paradox to me- much like the liars paradox. Which can be understood through the example: “This sentence is false.” It seems to create a circular chicken-egg problem- and it gets us no where. But in this system that is OK- because there is no where to get other than contradiction. So- it succeeds in its goal. Yet this system is unsatisfactory because it was over before it ever started- we didn’t even have to do anything. The logical system destroyed itself before it could even have the chance to guide our actions- so this ethical system- while valid- seems utterly useless.

In conclusion; There is no objective Ethics. The fundamental question of any ethical system is; what is my goal? Ethics is a system in which we implement to guide our individual actions so we may reach our goal. Ethics is only good as it is useful- therefore it is devoid of contradiction.

So what is your goal? What is my goal?



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