4 ms·

If, life being temporary, and no afterlife being apparent, there is nothing to be gained from good or evil in the end, why not refrain from violating your consc

by vba616 4y ago

If, life being temporary, and no afterlife being apparent, there is nothing to be gained from good or evil in the end, why not refrain from violating your conscience just because you can?

ImHereToVote 4y ago
Because a strained conscience isn't the only sort of suffering one gets to experience.
- vba616 4y ago
  I don't know why you would think it is or think I think it is. "Why not refrain from violating your conscience" implicitly is in the context of having an opportunity for a choice, and being in immediate physical pain is not having a free choice, wherever you may draw the line.
headsoup 4y ago
Because it is not just about you. What of a white lie to protect the feelings of a loved one, lying to tell someone who is about to die something good, a lie to hopefully escape punishment? People do it all the time balancing their conscience with the weight of consequences and implications. We're complicated.
- vba616 4y ago
  >What of a white lie to protect the feelings of a loved one, lying to tell someone who is about to die something good If you choose to do that, it might be the right thing, but it also might be the most monstrous thing you ever did, and nobody will ever tell you because it's not socially acceptable. Some (but not all) doctors will falsely tell a terminal cancer patient she is recovering and not tell anyone this is a "white lie". A doctor that does that may never get any feedback on how horrific it can be to be deceived like that. Some other doctor is honest, and nobody has time to educate the younger man, he may change eventually. Conscience is a shortcut to relative peace of mind when you can't pretend it's possible to analyze a situation fully or satisfy everyone. Oliver Cromwell once said (and never mind the context): "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, to think it possible you may be mistaken"... And from Maus: "Yes, life always takes the side of life, and somehow the victims are blamed..."

by vba616 4y ago

If, life being temporary, and no afterlife being apparent, there is nothing to be gained from good or evil in the end, why not refrain from violating your conscience just because you can?

ImHereToVote 4y ago

Because a strained conscience isn't the only sort of suffering one gets to experience.

vba616 4y ago
I don't know why you would think it is or think I think it is. "Why not refrain from violating your conscience" implicitly is in the context of having an opportunity for a choice, and being in immediate physical pain is not having a free choice, wherever you may draw the line.

headsoup 4y ago

Because it is not just about you. What of a white lie to protect the feelings of a loved one, lying to tell someone who is about to die something good, a lie to hopefully escape punishment? People do it all the time balancing their conscience with the weight of consequences and implications. We're complicated.

vba616 4y ago
>What of a white lie to protect the feelings of a loved one, lying to tell someone who is about to die something good If you choose to do that, it might be the right thing, but it also might be the most monstrous thing you ever did, and nobody will ever tell you because it's not socially acceptable. Some (but not all) doctors will falsely tell a terminal cancer patient she is recovering and not tell anyone this is a "white lie". A doctor that does that may never get any feedback on how horrific it can be to be deceived like that. Some other doctor is honest, and nobody has time to educate the younger man, he may change eventually. Conscience is a shortcut to relative peace of mind when you can't pretend it's possible to analyze a situation fully or satisfy everyone. Oliver Cromwell once said (and never mind the context): "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, to think it possible you may be mistaken"... And from Maus: "Yes, life always takes the side of life, and somehow the victims are blamed..."