Objective Morality: The Greater Good & Mutualism
I have long been irritated by the lack of an objective moral rule and in my conceit I have attempted to construct such a system without the aid of divinity or relativity. Mutualism is the result of that effort, though far from complete or perfect (yet) I hope that eventually I can claim that victory. With the aid of the debaters in this forum I have little doubt the rough edges will be polished.
Mutualism
Often we are presented with a false choice. That choice is to be selfless or selfish. In conventional morality these two choices are considered good and evil respectively. How can one be entirely selfless though? If one person is selfless does it not imply that someone is being selfish? In social interaction the concept of mutualism isn’t that one party benefits exclusively, or that another party benefits exclusively, but that the most moral pathway is that which both parties benefit fairly and that this moral pathway is the only way for humans to not only progress and succeed but rather to thrive.
Too long has immorality been tolerated and justified. Humanity has progressed to the point where slight immorality becomes intolerable. In a day and age where the entire fate of the species could be determined by a single immoral individual the danger of selfishness becomes apparent. What society needs is a true objective morality. Mutualism attempts to become this morality.
The concept of mutualism takes its inspiration from natural biological relationships. One should note however that mutualism only applies to person to person relationships. True flower power is not contained within the flower’s ability to populate the world, but in the flower’s ability to so benefit those around it so much so that they benefit the flower. This is the essence of the mutual relationship. Together the flower and the bee overcome the limitations of either one independently. No bee can make honey from nothing and no flower can walk.
Often in the world parasitic relationships are observed much to the detriment of the hosts. The parasite feeds off of the host and uses the host only to further its own selfish goals. In this relationship the benefit is clearly to the parasite that lives off of its host’s effort with little effort of its own. This is a cunning natural commentary on selfishness. Blind satisfaction of your selfish needs is not conducive to society in general because selfish needs are inherently fragmented and individual. Is the host guilty for this parasite? No, the parasite is guilty of evil entirely its own. One should be careful in concluding that giving is inherently good then. The mutualist would challenge such an assertion. The individual is good, and that cannot be denied, but as soon as we take into account the parasite the morality of the interaction falls apart. The giving of the host (unconscious or not) is perverted by the inherently evil taking of the parasite.
Benign interaction does not imply morality either. Benign entities feed off of the waste, refuse, and excesses that others would rather leave behind. The Mutualist has a moral obligation to help those around them so long as they are capable; inaction is perversion and does not serve the greater good. Why be satisfied with benign interaction when the interaction serves both so much more when it is mutually beneficial? Simple lack of knowledge of the benign entity is not an excuse. The mutualist has a moral obligation to know their world. If they cannot understand their world they cannot make moral decisions. Only through understanding your choices will the limited few moral pathways present themselves.
It is clear that both selfishness and neutrality result at best maintaining the status quo and at worst evil. A mutualistic relationship is one that both creatures put in effort and both creatures receive benefits; yet, these benefits are multiplied by the individual contributions of both creatures dramatically surpassing the individual limits of either creature on its own. The wild success of angiosperm is very telling of the power of a mutual relationship. The weaknesses of the individual(s) are compensated for by the other(s) and vice versa. Bees move a flower’s pollen to other flowers, and bees are rewarded with nectar. The beautiful simplicity of this relationship is obvious.
Who in mutualist relationship is evil? We cannot say either party is evil because both parties fairly require something and both parties fairly have their requirements satisfied. If benevolence is good, mutual benevolence is better. Just like flowers, we as finite beings must enlist the aid of others to break free of our natural limitations and seek true objective morality.
The greater good is a concept that, in the end, all things add up to either good or evil. In the concept of mutualism true greater good can always be achieved. The concept of the greater good is applied relatively but not selectively. If two individuals are interacting, for the greater good to be satisfied the two must interact in a mutually beneficial way; however, if their interactions begin to involve other people the sum of the actions must benefit all of the people involved. I.e. the greater good is not served unless all peoples at all levels of organization are benefitted by the interaction.
It is important to note that the greater good does not represent a supernatural being but rather the aggregate morality of those working together. The more who work together, the stronger the greater good is and thus the better benefits all peoples within its influence experience. This greater good represents the speed at which cooperation can happen within a society. The greater the good, the greater the progress of the society. Societies which out-advance their moralities are in imminent danger of destroying themselves.
This brings up the conundrum of whether individual actions benefit the population at large. The greater good asserts that, though this contribution may become diluted by the contributions of others continuously serving their moralities, a good person always means a good influence upon the world. No single person’s value can be understated, yet the value of that which is achieved by the masses is only as great as the value that those put in. One for all, and all for one.
No raindrop fills a glass; the raindrop has natural limitations which it cannot overcome. Two raindrops do not fill a glass either; the raindrops have smaller limitations but they are still limited. A thousand raindrops fill the glass; here we can say the raindrops have overcome their individual limitations. People, as raindrops, are naturally limited. It is only by enlisting the aid of others we overcome this limitation because it takes many drops to fill an ocean.
It is not that we do not necessarily have the capability to keep surviving. We plausibly could maintain the status quo indefinitely. It is that the danger of knowledge that offers us an impetus to temper it with morality combined with the desire not to simply survive but also to thrive. We have advanced to the day and the age where there are a considerable amount of people who could really destroy civilization as we know it. This capacity requires moral scruples as strong and universal as knowledge has become. Assuming we desire to advance in knowledge and civilization when it is likely that every person in the future will know how to destroy every other we must adopt either censors or morals. The freedom of knowledge can only be established through morality.
Mutualism neatly solves many moral conundrums which seem to test an individual’s respect of law, or relative moral obligations. By taking the path in which the individuals both benefit the greater good, objective morality can be achieved and moral rule independent of divine law or relative philosophy can be established. Many moralities pale when presented with the question, at what point does benefit become harm? Many solve this by urging abstinence from that which benefits you. Others solve this by urging acceptance of that benefit and claiming it without regard. To the mutualist however; this line is apparent. The line in which a benefit becomes a perversion is that line that represents when an action stops benefitting the greater good.
Altruism interestingly mutates under the paradigm of this philosophy. If we accept that altruism is in essence goodness then mutual benefit surpasses the concept of selflessness that altruism popularly represents and becomes a concept entirely more complicated yet entirely more satisfying. No longer is someone uncomfortably forced to represent the taker, no longer are those who give away all of their possessions to the parasites around them considered paragons of the greater good. Altruism is no longer a concept possessed by the individual but a concept only attainable through the interaction towards the benefit of both parties.
In regards to the greater good, helping someone may not pay off for a long time. Thus we can consider charity a good that just hasn't paid off yet. Charity therefore represents any action in which the repayment is at a later time. It’s important to realize that fairness does not necessarily dictate a mutually beneficial exchange but merely the promise of a mutually beneficial exchange. This promise must be kept to serve the greater good or the individual is betraying the trust of the mutualist and thus perverting the goodness of the act.
Perversion is seen as the degree of difference between the ideal moral decision(s) and the chosen immoral decision. As humans we must accept the concept that perversion can destroy the greater good itself. Every evil action that a man engages in has far reaching implications drawing more and more people into its sphere of influence. Perversion has a similar power to that of the greater good but it works in entirely the opposite direction.
Unlike the greater good perversion merely results in corruption, fragmentation and eventual societal failure by over emphasizing a specific group or individual. In Austria a young boy witnessed anti-Semitism; decades later he had found himself in a position to apply such an insignificant evil to millions resulting in one of the most morally reprehensible times in human history. The act of evil which was so insignificant to those at the time grew exponentially as each opportunity to quell it was lost to time.
How does one end perversion? Perversion must be ended through mutualism. Perversion is by nature defensive because it is not a trait many value. In the attempt to defend itself perversion will grow stronger, deeper and wider. Attacking perversion simply results in more perversion. The Greeks represented this concept in the story of Hercules with their idea of the Hydra. A beast that no matter how many times you attempt to slay merely grows stronger.
In the story, Hercules slays the monster by cauterizing the wounds with fire. Modern day interpretation of this story is that there’s simply another way to kill the beast. While, in essence, this is true we must consider what the Greek’s conception of fire was. In ancient Greek society, fire was seen as a ‘gift’ from the gods. A gift the great hero Prometheus had to steal from the selfish gods to give to man. Fire was seen as the essence of goodness, life, and order and represented the ultimate power of man to overcome any obstacle.
From this perspective we can see Hercules was not cauterizing the wounds with burning painful flame but rather it was the essence of goodness that allowed Hercules to finally defeat the beast. As Hercules did, we must not attack perversion less it overcomes us and defeats us, we must encourage the perversion to wither on its own. When perversion is brought into the light of goodness the wound it leaves ceases to fester. When the wound is gone the perversion can be corrected through the utilization of the greater good. One does not feel the need to defend one’s self from something so plainly beneficial.
Mutualism further refutes the concept that morality is equal to justification. Justification is merely reasoning, necessity and does not imply morality. Morality instead thrives as an ideal all can hold themselves to yet, even if an individual fails to reach that ideal they have context for improvement. We cannot be content with immoral actions because they are justified, we must continuously ask ourselves how this interaction could better serve the greater good. As moral individuals we must learn from these perversions of morality called justification to better serve the greater good in the future.
To many this may sound as though the ends must justify the means. This is not true with respect to the greater good however. Any immoral means perverts your eventual end. True moral ideals cannot be established this way. The end justifying the means implies only justification. A logical decision when presented with few choices perhaps but the decision may change depending on the logical argument applied to it. The greater good however is an all encompassing morality which denies that any individual is ever put into circumstances in which a moral outcome do not or did not exist. It is the duty of the mutualist to aim for those moral outcomes in all situations.
One might ask what rights do humans have? With respect to the greater good the desired outcome for society is a society with as little individual hardship as possible yet with the maximum shared happiness it can obtain. In this we find that all humans must be guaranteed the right to seek happiness. At the same time we must remember this happiness is not found in the disenfranchisement of others but rather as a result of the cooperation of many to receive mutual benefit. Some have unconventional methods or desires to obtain happiness. These can be met so long as the desire is not perverse by a mutualistic standard.
Betrayal, revenge and punishment have also confused many philosophers. To the mutualist all of these concepts are considered immoral with but may be justifiable with respect for how their particular definitions are satisfied. Betrayal is considered justifiable but never moral. To betray someone is to violate their trust in you and by violating their trust you take from them what isn’t fairly yours. Similarly by seeking revenge you may be justified but you are never moral; even though they took from you attempting to find retribution at their loss is inherently wrong. The same system can be applied to any concept.
Mutualism deals slightly differently with respect to life and death. Life is of infinite possibility. Throughout our existence we are only limited by the time our death comes. If our death comes early we lose that infinite possibility. Thus, the death of any person must be considered an infinite loss. This infinite loss is infinite because of the nature of human perspective. We can never quantify what someone might have done, or become after the moment of their death because their timelines cease to exist after that moment. Thus to kill someone is to inflict an infinite evil upon them. In essence you are taking from them what they could’ve been, the possibility of vindication, as well as the possibility of rehabilitation.
This infinite evil has much further reaching implications than a perversion such as racism. It was the evil perception that life was disposable that made such weak racism powerful. It was the evil contained within the ideal. Not that an idea was worth dying for, but rather that an idea was worth killing for. No man can ever call a war moral and no man can ever call a murder moral. Limited as we are, our perception limits us to justification. No morality is to be had in this justification, thus with respect to the greater good one can never morally kill another. One can merely justify it. Justification must be seen as inherently flawed in its perversion. Morality is the ideal of not just one situation but every situation.
Only through steadfast confidence in the power of good to triumph over evil will we progress towards true morality and true utopia. One must remember that the good guys always win. While it might seem easier to run a lap than a marathon the accomplishment is so much greater. Nice guys do finish last but not because they’re racing against bad guys, but because the bad guys could never hope to perform the long term race that the success of humanity requires. The very things that erode relationships destroy both our future, and our utopia.
In the end no man can be considered morally perfect, but is not perfection our goal? So long as we measure ourselves against this morality and refuse to be content with the justification of weaker moralities we can progress towards goodness. So long as the greater good is served society will progress. So long as the greater good is served, individuals will thrive. The question is not, why should we be good, but rather, why wouldn’t we be?
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Originally Posted by Hunter S. Thompson
+ rep all the same.
