Society of Individuals

My moral philosophy professors seem confident that we can make the right decisions. In fact we can do better than formerly believed because we are not hindered by an idea of guilt or original sin. We are burdened by something we cannot change, but we are incredibly responsible (I still can't believe my philosophy professor is a real Utilitarian! I thought those didn't exist.)

But that has to do with action. I want to know about being. The reason that being is done away with, I suppose, is that it was associated with sin and guilt and egoism. Either we give up the self or live for it alone. False dichotomy! I just want to be my best. I don't think that means hurting others or forgetting myself. I do not see why it needs to mean these things. I gather that there is a break in my education. Something about the world wars and the modern view of the world means that the way I think is not permissible. I do not know what it is. The best I can guess is we thougth we were gods, but that's egoism so that just means we were wrong. It doesn't mean that all philosophy to do with what I am is wrong.

Our solution is no better then what we are trying to avoid. It is not healthy to raise people to think of themselves in the way that we do. On one hand we are telling them that they are special and unique. On the other hand we are telling them to conform to a system they do not understand. Doing the latter only is slavery, the former the sort of evil we no longer permit. Together it just makes a mess. Is everyone reallly so special as we tell them they are? No. Special is the wrong word. We can be unique in that we are ourselves and no one else, like a unique point in a chart. But that does not mean that we are unique. In order to be we have to separate ourselves off from everyone else. Is that really something that each of us ought to do? I'm not sure. But I believe that in order to be properly interdependent there ought to be a separation. Once each of us understands that we are a separate entity, that being the period of solipsism that many youth suffer from, we can re-enter an interdependent concept of identity well maintaining ourselves as a part of that whole. Then we will understand both specialness and the need for a system. But unless we can do that we are not special and we should not follow the system, because we will be following it improperly and entertaining a lie.