Posted by Stan on March 26, 2003 at 09:36:53:
In Reply to: Re: Can You Read? posted by Steve on March 25, 2003 at 12:44:56:
I see this differently. I don't think you can limit it to simply you are listening and following either yourself or someone else.
I think we all have an innate feeling, sense, of right and wrong. When faced with a moral, or ethical, situation I think we simply listen to ourselves - we can't see past our desire, what we want, and we fool ourselves into thinking what we want is actually moral and/or ethical. Another way we fool ourselves is - under the guise of deep reflection and introspection - we seek out the opinions of others to help us with our dilemna. Then we ignore any opinions that don't coincide with our desires and embrace the opinions, and people that do, allowing us to not only follow our desires but feel deeply satisfied with ourselves as well.
I think what the writing is saying is we should listen neither to ourselves nor others. Look inside ourselves. Recognize our desires for what they are, but don't let them influence our decision. And don't fall sway to others whom are trying to convince us we can simply do what we wish (because they do). Discern right from wrong.
*; =qq(