Schopenhauer

Compassion as the Basis of Morality

15 min read

Beyond Self-Interest Most moral philosophy is bullshit. It tells you what you should do based on abstract principles, divine commands, social contracts, or rational self-interest. But none of this explains why you actually care about other people’s suffering. Kant says you should act morally because reason demands it. Utilitarians say you should maximize happiness because that is the logical goal. Religious morality says you should be good because God commands it or because you will be punished otherwise. All of this is external. It assumes morality is something imposed on you from outside, something you follow out of duty or...

Members Only
At Least Scholar Access Required
This article is available to Scholar and Master members. Join the Library to access the full archive.
← Back to Schopenhauer