.
APOLOGIA for MASOCHISM
(ETHICS in the light of REINCARNATION)
10.3. NATURE of EGOISM
è
So, the altruistic behaviour of a person is more preferable than egoistical one not only to his associates, but also for himself. Nevertheless, practice, the daily practice shows how roots and tendencies of egoism are strong.
The sources of egoism are instincts, psychic heritage, received from biological ancestors, who would perish as the species if they weren't obtain them (or weren't retain) in the course of evolution. One, who was better (stronger, more cunning etc – it means more egoistic) than others, this one took the territory, the food and other advantages including election of the sex partner(s).
Emotions, which express/present both activity in order to realize such advantages and satisfaction owing to such achievements, which (achievements) cause simultaneously perfection of the species, improvement of its fitness/suitability to environment, may be represented by the formula of the natural, primitive egoism:
I'm better than others and THEREFORE
| I have!
| (À) |
Nevertheless for a human, who lives, distinguishably from his biological ancestors, in artificial habitat of civilization, in collective and society, the dominant instrument for survival becomes the thinking, reason (higher level of psyche). The importance of emotions remains but it drew back (in norm) to background.
Simultaneously the same civilization, after rising/beginnings of property institution in its framework, makes it possible to change, distort the primordial essence of the À-emotion, to move the accents from the proper advantages of the person to the value of property, which he possess. Correspondingly, the À-formula itself may be modified:
I'm better than others, BECOUSE
I'm better than others, BECOUSE
I'm better than others, BECOUSE
| I have something more valuable than others have
others have something less valuable than I have
only I have and no other
| (B)
(C)
(D) |
Such distortions – both primordial natural egoisms and corresponding senses and behavior tendencies – lead to specifically human vices.
Prepotency of the B-emotion, striving for realization of the situation, espmed by the B-formula, leads to avidity, avarice, money-grubbing, hoarding, "vulgar consumerism";
prepotency of the C-emotion, leads to envy, cupidity, not so much (or not only!) to aspiration to increase the value of own property, but also to reduce the value of strange property; for instance, by means misappropriation or destruction of it; and at last
prepotency of the D-emotion leads to the morbid jealousy, striving to press everything and everyone down under his own, leads to imperiousness.
Greed, envy, jealousy can be interpreted not only as the emotions reflecting aspiration to attain something but (and even more likely) as fear to not attain, to not receive the desirable, or to lose something, but that changes nothing in ethics plan.
The aspiration to live better others, and for this to be better than others, is direct initially toward improvement of the species, increase in its fitness, viability, survival probability - can become an end in itself and so, in the hypertrophy, absolute form can turn into
competition for competition itself
rick for rick itself
power for power itself
enmity for enmity itself, |
and in such a way may be carried up to an absurdity, up to an antagonism regarding the primordial direct, making harm to society, to the species of Homo Sapience, for such a striving maintains the rough, foul force to the detriment of subtle, lofty, specifically human traits and thier manifestations.
Patriotism, as collective egoism, ( jingoism - not as unselfish love for own fatherland) - as well as the infantile egoism, (my mother, my toy), we've inherited from phylogenetic ancestors. Predators egoisticallypatriotically defend hunt territory. Salmons patriotically return in that very stream, where they hatched from spawns, in order to leave posterity and to die just here.
Nevertheless, resemblance between people of different countries, peoples and nations is much more considerable than differences between them (all the more between those of neighbour villages or streets). Since for everyone the Earth is the place of hell, the sphere (world) of captive spirit, the proving ground for suffering and moral conditioning. All of us are a little Jobs [it calls up "all of us are a little hourses" by V.V. Mayakovskiy/ Â.Â. Ìàÿêîâñêîìó]. The hell, as well as heavens, is not a place, but a state . But if to consider it as a place, it is more likely not a posthumous nether world, but the Earth. It is here where we are thrown to work off our karma (though we often worsen it, instead of to improve).
è
