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Old 08-15-2003, 11:16 PM   #21
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Morality seems to fundamentally deal with reactions to instinct. Celebrating our instincts seems to be immoral more often than it is moral. The two basic instincts in all animals are survival of the individual and survival of the species. These manifest in humans (and most animals) as what we call "fear" and "lust." Celebrating fear is not always immoral, (horror movies, Halloween, harmless practical jokes,) but it often is (bigotry, child abuse, sexism, nationalism, crime and violence in general.) Fear is good for keeping us out of danger, but beyond that it is generally considered immoral (or at the very least, unwise) to act on fear without first filtering it through reason and thereby working to control/eliminate it. Sex is usually interpreted in roughly the same way by conservatives, i.e. sex is good for reproduction but beyond this it could be considered "immoral." Some liberals may take a different view on this particular instinct, however. Ideally, no one ought to be controlled by fear or lust. Celebrating either usually means that one is using their animal instincts and not their human ability to reason. Celebration of instinct almost always makes us feel better than we did before, (sex is obvious, but even hatred and violence are means of releasing negative feelings of helplessness and replacing them with temporarily positive feelings of power.) Maybe this isn't a bad thing as liberals sometimes claim on the sexual side of things, but I'd rather think that humans' ability to be sapient is what makes us such a successful species. I think losing this ability, (which is likely, if not assured, if it is not used against both basic instincts,) will make us much less successful as a species. (A euphemism for largely dead. )

It seems like a double standard to condemn the celebration of one instinct and encourage the celebration of another, both instincts being equally necessary for survival and equally harmful to our ability to reason. I would say that there is as much wrong with lust as there is with fear. And there is as much right with both as well. They're just instincts to be dealt with and used for their purpose: To ensure the survival of those who experience them. Uses outside of this tend to be destructive. Even if they're not immediately harmful, they both still encourage one to "feel, not think." As enjoyable as this may be to the individual who is not tarnishing his or her feelings with rational thought, I think it should be labeled negatively to help encourage a much more efficient adaptation such as rational thought rather than reliance on blind instinct, developed from millennia of mindless trial and error.
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