Philosophy

I'm taking an Ethics and Values Philosophy class this semester, and so far I've enjoyed the discussions and reading. It's definitely hard to wrap my rusty mind around some of the concepts, but I still enjoy it nonetheless. And I want to blog a little bit of philosophy today - so bear with me.




Thomas Hobbes' Fifth Law of Nature from Leviathan:

THAT EVERY MAN STRIVE TO ACCOMMODATE HIMSELF TO THE REST

Hobbes philosophy is that we are all egoists. (Not to be confused with egotist/narcissism.) That means that all our actions are centered around how those actions will benefit US. Hobbes came up with 12 Laws of Nature that be believed men must live by in order to have a society of egoists function. This is my favorite one. I *LOVE* this idea. We all need to try and accommodate ourselves to the rest of society. If everyone did this - we would probably all be a little less cranky. It's one of my biggest pet peeves when people act as if they're the only human on the planet that matters. People drive this way. (Road rage. Cutting people off. Just being a plain old jerk.) People act this way in the grocery store. (Move your cart out of the middle of the aisle! There are other people shopping, too. Or how about - put your cart AWAY!) What about at home? Are we all trying to accommodate and make life easier for those we live with? Or are we more concerned about what we want to take notice of others?

I've definitely had my moments of road rage, or of being more concerned at attaining my own goals, that I haven't paid attention to or been accommodating to those people around me - be they perfect strangers, friends and family members, and even my own children. But how nice would it be to have other people be a little less selfish - and be a little less selfish ourselves.