Man Commits Suicide at DLH

innerSpaceman · 05-04-2008, 10:08 AM

Yes, we all do what we want to self-satisfy. Even our most Mother-Teresa-like "selfless" acts are done primarily from the motivation to satisfy ourselves with ... pride, empathy, warmheartedness or any other good feelings associated with good acts.

It's precisely this kind of selfishness that I don't think the word selfishness or the term self-centered is meant to imply. Sure, all acts are self-motivated.

It's when that gets out of balance, just as when anything does, that the "bad" judgment of "selfishness" gets applied, and perhaps rightly so.

Most things are fine in moderation. Pride may be one of the seven deadly sins if it's out of balance, and a fine human attribute if it's within a certain range. That's one example out of far more than seven.

Does suicide get out of the acceptable range of self-interest? Impossible to say, I think. Case-by-case basis, likely. But I continue to grant the benefit of the doubt that far greater things are tragically out of balance to expect anyone's sense of self-motivation/selfishness range to be within society's acceptable limits when they are in the state of mind to end their own existence.

05-04-2008, 10:08 AM	#11
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	Yes, we all do what we want to self-satisfy. Even our most Mother-Teresa-like "selfless" acts are done primarily from the motivation to satisfy ourselves with ... pride, empathy, warmheartedness or any other good feelings associated with good acts. It's precisely this kind of selfishness that I don't think the word selfishness or the term self-centered is meant to imply. Sure, all acts are self-motivated. It's when that gets out of balance, just as when anything does, that the "bad" judgment of "selfishness" gets applied, and perhaps rightly so. Most things are fine in moderation. Pride may be one of the seven deadly sins if it's out of balance, and a fine human attribute if it's within a certain range. That's one example out of far more than seven. Does suicide get out of the acceptable range of self-interest? Impossible to say, I think. Case-by-case basis, likely. But I continue to grant the benefit of the doubt that far greater things are tragically out of balance to expect anyone's sense of self-motivation/selfishness range to be within society's acceptable limits when they are in the state of mind to end their own existence.
	Submit to Quotes