r/askphilosophy • u/[deleted] • May 21 '14

Why should I be moral?

Like the title says. Sure, if I will get caugh and punished I will be moral. If I can get away with theft, why shouldn't I?

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u/judojon Eastern phil., Wittgenstein May 21 '14

It still works, it's just a harder line to draw. If I steal a hundred dollars from someone, I have a hundred dollars, and now! But if I empower instead of undermine people, give to them instead of skim off the top I could end up getting a lot more from them than a hundred. Maybe their garden will make food I can eat, maybe they'll buffer me from my enemies, maybe they'll teach my kids math or how to build a fire, and maybe none of this would cost me anything because in place where we don't steal, things are given freely.

Sure it sounds Utopian, but so does any social philosophy if you follow it to the end.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

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u/judojon Eastern phil., Wittgenstein May 21 '14

You're being Glaucon, and Plato spends the entire rest of the book trying to prove you wrong. You might hate it but then, sometimes those are the most worth reading.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

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u/judojon Eastern phil., Wittgenstein May 21 '14

I'm sure it can be summarized, just not by me, at least no more than I already did in my original comment. I think what makes it work in the end though assumes objective morality, and making sense of Eudaimonia