What are your principles and values?

[Maou]

I am curious to know what people hold dear to themselves, and how they see the world. If you do not mind sharing.

 

[Luminous]

Some of the things I value highly:

• honesty,
• integrity,
• thoughtfulness,
• kindness,
• standing up for what's right,
• connection/friendship,
• open mindedness,
• compassion.

 

[1487610420]

bros ib4 hos

 

[Hermit of the Forest]

bros ib4 hos

 

[Coriolis]

I am curious to know what people hold dear to themselves, and how they see the world. If you do not mind sharing.

"What I hold dear" includes personal autonomy, personal responsibility, calling a spade a spade, being the change, and staying focused on one's goals.

I see the world as full of opportunity, stupidity, beauty, suffering (often self-imposed), and possibility. On some levels, it is perfectly rational; on others, anything but. Learning to navigate one's way through it all and come out with something meaningful is the work of a lifetime.

 

[Red Memories]

-Compassion
-Honesty
-Integrity
-Loyalty
-self awareness

 

[Maou]

Here are some of my own.

- Honesty
- Efficiency
- Fairness
- Dignity
- Respect
- Forgiveness
- Openmindedness
- Humility
- Kindness

 

[Lark]

My virtues are:

- righteousness,
- courage,
- benevolence,
- respect,
- honesty,
- honor,
- and loyalty.

Also unofficially:-

- Piety,
- wisdom,
- and care for the elderly

Who will get this reference? Well, probably [MENTION=109]Gen[/MENTION]tlemanjack and perhaps @Kyuueni (yup, cant spell for shit, that's not a virtue )

 

[Earl Grey]

These three things in combination;

- intelligence
- open-mindedness
- ingenuity

I find that when listing things down in myself or others it often ends up getting cut down to those three. After these three are present;

- stability
- integrity

It's annoying because it's difficult finding people with all those in one package. It's somehow either/or sometimes.

 

[Virtual ghost]

C'mon people, some of you surely have some bad values.

 

[Maou]

C'mon people, some of you surely have some bad values.

My principle is there is no good or bad, only what works.

If I had to label any value of mine as bad, I would say that my value of independance/self-sufficiency can be attributed to having bad qualities if used inappropriately.

 

[Luminous]

C'mon people, some of you surely have some bad values.

Seeking of pleasure?

 

[Bush]

C'mon people, some of you surely have some bad values.

My principle is there is no good or bad, only what works.

Same here, basically. Essentially, that what works is good.

Pragmatism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Pragmatism is a philosophical movement that includes those who claim that an ideology or proposition is true if it works satisfactorily, that the meaning of a proposition is to be found in the practical consequences of accepting it, and that unpractical ideas are to be rejected.

Most would probably consider it bad to anchor moral principles on what is rather than on some ideal. Cheating, for example, is a risk/reward problem and nothing more.

But doing it too often will likely bite you in the ass later on, and a society can't function without trust. So it's generally not good in the long term. And thus I end up arriving at the conclusion that cheating is basically bad, but I get there for reasons outside of adhering to "thou shalt not cheat" and do see exceptions.

 

[Coriolis]

C'mon people, some of you surely have some bad values.

Well, I do ascribe to "the ends justify the means", which many people label as bad. To echo [MENTION=37565]Exolvuntur[/MENTION] and [MENTION=22264]Bush[/MENTION], though, it works. When it does lead to problems, it is usually because someone has focused on one end to the exclusion of others, when in fact most of us have several ends in play at any given time, some near-term and specific, others longer term and more general. In any case, the converse seems far worse, that is, using the means to justify the ends.

 

[RadicalDoubt]

I seem to value self control, pursuing and sticking with one's goals, independence, understanding/the ability to look at things through different perspectives, change, and understanding.

I see the world as a chaotic mess filled with knowledge and ideas waiting to be unraveled if you'd like me to say something positive

 

[Yuurei]

Just one “ Own your shit.” Such a simple phrase but there is a lot unpack from it.

 

[Shadow Play]

It's difficult to say for sure. There isn't always a clear right and wrong. It depends partly on the needs of the situation, and partly also on what consequences a given act could produce. I see all moral systems as being inherently self-contradictory, anyway.

It's easy to say "stealing is wrong," but what if the thief needed the thing more than the person from whom they were stealing? Shouldn't we be all held accountable to the same moral standards anyway, since making an exception for one individual makes it more likely for injustices to go unpunished? Besides, crime is often a symptom of economic inequality, so rather than simply stamping down on crime, why not also focus on societal reform so that people have what they need? Or how about a justice system that focuses on reforming "wrongdoers" so they can have a second chance at life? It's easy to say "murder is wrong," but could we fault a rape victim for taking revenge against her rapist? She might even be doing others a favour by removing one more rapist from this world. On the other hand, the danger in playing hanging judge is a lack of respect for due process. Or, as Gandalf once said, "many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement."

I guess my general moral outlook is a utilitarian one, but it's not an absolute thing. I don't think it makes sense to (hypothetically speaking) torture someone for sixty years just so everyone else doesn't have to get sand in their eyes, and nor does it make sense to (hypothetically speaking) tell a serial killer where a child is hiding, out of a belief that lying is wrong. But if utilitarianism really ought to be applied loosely rather than as a catch-all solution, by what metric should "the ends justify the means" be viewed as applicable? It comes down to a bunch of abstract variables.

Also, I find our valuation of other species to be arbitrary. Many people would decry the hunting of leopards for their pelts while wearing leather coats, but somehow that's different because cows aren't an endangered species, or because they're not "beautiful" enough to let live. We even make children's cartoons of farm animals while eating those same farm animals. Conversely, it's somehow morally acceptable to shoot a tiger in order to save a human life, even though tigers are an endangered species. While I understand the concerns vegans have, sometimes it is necessary to consume animal products if a person's situation requires it.

All that said, I still have values I hold dear because they give my life meaning and purpose.

• Insight

• Knowledge

• Responsibility

• Foresight

• Creativity

• Purpose

• Dignity

• Respect

 

[Lark]

I have nothing in common with any of you people. Nothing.

 

[Population: 1]

My values are a little less flexible than those of some people. They’ve definitely left me at a disadvantage at points. However, unless it’s clear the only way to proceed is with something drastic, I don’t discard them for convenience. I suppose it comes down to whether or not you can live with your choices -and thus yourself. At the end of the day, you’re left with only the echoes of your own thoughts for company.

 

[cascadeco]

Well, I'll list out some of the traits of a coworker I totally despised, and we'll then reverse engineer to outline what I DO value.

What I despised - attempting to scam the system by taking long 'bathroom breaks' when he was sitting in the stall the entire time watching videos on his phone (coworkers verified this), arriving late to work but writing in the book (when he didn't time punch) that he was on time; looking at his phone constantly / taking extra long doing work stuff because he was constantly checking out his phone.

Thus:
I value - Integrity and honesty; Being fair and considerate of others; Not cheating the system to get paid for something you're not actually doing and screwing other people over in the process( = lazy and pathetic / no self-honor/respect or honor or respect towards others).

I value many other things but this is an easy example that's immediately obvious to me since it's something I've reflected on recently, and there's no rationalization going on; it was a visceral reaction.