by sandmann » Feb 22, 2005 @ 1:27am
There is a tomorrow insofar as the idea of tomorrow exists in our head. However, tomorrow never actually exists in a concrete form; it's something we trust will come. You can't say that today is yesterday's tomorrow because once it becomes today, it ceases being tomorrow. We don't know if there will be a day after today because it doesn't exist yet.
The ends sometimes justify the means, but not always. If you're searching for a definitive doctrine on the subject, give up.
An ideal is, by definition (or rather, by implication and connotation) impossible to achieve. You have two alternatives: give up on the ideal and focus on what's real, or work as hard as you can to bring the ideal and the real together. No guarantees on how far you'll get.
Finally, is selfishness a virtue? No. That statement is incorrect. If it were a virtue, the more of it you would have, the better a person you would be. Selfishness definitely does not work that way. It is, however, a necessary skill to survive; those who are completely and 100% unselfish cannot survive unless they have some sort of auxillary services. So sorry Moose, it's not possible to be completely selfless and to simultaneously survive in the world. There you have it.
Oh, and Andy, I think true selflessness is possible, though not common. Some may give money to the homeless even when no one else is watching, and that person will never tell anyone they did it. If you can isolate the act from its possible external rewards, you can determine whether or not it is truly selfless.
Last edited by
sandmann on Feb 22, 2005 @ 1:30am, edited 1 time in total.
The fates lead him who will;
Him who won't, they drag.
Seneca
