Some good reasons for having good reason
So what does Cicero believe helps us achieve the good life? Honor, friendship, service, generosity, kindness, and truthfulness. Essentially, this could be more simply put as “doing the right thing”. As pavanguduri so eloquently put it, “By defining the purpose of human existence as not for oneself, but for one’s country and one’s community, Cicero defines the good life as a life that is committed to making mankind better.” Cicero wants us all to be genuine, kind, productive human beings that flourish in the society we live in. If only everyone in the world thought like Cicero. Sadly, there are a large number of people who don’t care at all about the wellbeing of others, and only care about things that benefit themselves. We all know someone like this. They just feed off of those around them like a leech, sucking up everything they can until it’s all run out. Then they move onto their next victim. It really frustrates and upsets me to see people like this, and it’s even more depressing to realize that you have been a victim of the leeches-of-life too! On a more optimistic note however, one bad apple (usually) doesn’t ruin the whole barrel. I have faith in humanity as a whole and that all the good people in this world make up for all the terrible ones. There are people out there who go out of their way to help complete strangers, because it is the morally right thing to do. There is a line however, that Cicero warns us not to cross; that by helping someone else it should not be at the cost of hurting yourself. I have mixed feelings about this. What if in order to help someone else who truly needed it, it required you to put your own best interests second? What if you got a call today, a six year old boy needs a kidney and you are the perfect match for a donor. What does Cicero say about that?
One section that intrigued me was when he talked about decision-making. Cicero talks about this three-part question that we all ask ourselves before deciding to do something. While sometimes we may consciously examine these things, other times it may happen subsciously. The first part under question is whether or not said action “is an honorable or dishonorable thing to do”. I think it is usually easy to distinguish things that you would be proud of versus things you would not be. In the second part of this decision making process, one must consider whether the action would be “conducive to the advantageousness and pleasantness of life… to benefit themselves and those dear to them”. This becomes a little more complex, because sometimes doing the things beneficial for yourself might hurt someone you care about, something you care about, or put others at a disadvantage. And there are situations where acts of self-interest are not necessarily dishonorable, but not something to be revered over. This leads into the final part of this process, “the uncertainty that arises when something apparently beneficial appears to conflict with what is honorable”, and I feel as if this conflict between what is morally good or materialistically good creates a lot of tension in this process. It also helps define who someone is as a person; the virtuous person chooses to walk away from something that might be amazing for him but terrible for someone else; the unethical person chooses self-gain over what is morally righteous. Mcstovall noted how this process is unique to humans, unlike animals who act solely on instincts. He says, “It is instinctual to look out for one’s own benefit, but since man has this special gift called reason, it is his duty to strive to make the right decision.” Without reason, we would be on the same intellectual level as animals. Maybe that’s why the terrible people in this world usually aren’t the smartest ones either.
