Ethics

God offers to everyone his choice between truth and repose. Take which you please - you can never have both.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I haven't often considered some of the deeper questions of philosophy. The branches of metaphysics and epistemology are new ways of thinking to me and very exciting, although I think that I may not have enough patience to investigate them thoroughly. The questions of "Where does knowledge come from? Where do we come from? What is the nature of reality?" have rarely crossed my mind. They seem to me to be impractical. Indeed, if anything, I question the point of ever posing those questions because I do not believe that we can ever know the answers. By the very act of asking, "What is knowledge? How is it best acquired - through the senses or by reasoning?" aren't we answering ourselves? Isn't that a question of reason? And shouldn't we be engaged in a deeper investigation of the knowledge that we already do have to see if it leads us someplace else? Isn't that what we do, what history is all about? I don't know. Greater minds have gone before me; who am I to question the conclusions they drew? But maybe a new generation comes up with its own answers to everything. And, even if fresh eyes don't come up with new answers after all, maybe they can learn to better defend the answers already given, especially where the existence of Truth (with a capital "T") is disputed.
I believe strongly in the existence of the ultimate Truth. Of course, the great Socrates was wise enough to not give a definition to Truth because he knew that the height and breadth of it could never fully be grasped. Indeed, perhaps there's a fear that, defining it, is kind of like defining God; we run the risk of limiting our imaginations as to what it is. Nevertheless, I am not as wise as Socrates. So, for the purposes of this journal, I will at least give a broad definition of that which I'm looking for. Truth (capital T) is, in my opinion, the union of the fundamental, all-inclusive explanations as to the nature of life, living, and living things.
This, I think, is where there's a crossover between the branches of philosophy - metaphysics and epistemology - over to ethics, the only branch that really holds my interest. Because, if we're going to talk about "What is ethical behavior?" then don't we have to acknowledge that there is a Truth, a fundamental acknowledgement that X kind of behavior is always harmful and Y kind of behavior is always helpful, or, if not behavior, at least motives? And then we have to acknowledge the Truth in every human heart, right? What I really want to know is, "How should I live? What should I do?" Ethics interests me the most because, first of all, I believe that, at the end of my life, I will have to answer to God as to how I spent my time. But, second of all, even if today I suddenly lost all my faith in a Higher Power or an afterlife, the question of "What is right living?" would still be important because I believe that ethical behavior brings quality and satisfaction to my life as well as making life easier on those around me, thus strengthening our bond as a community, and this has its own intrinsic rewards regardless if there's a bigger one after death. I want to reach the end of my life in satisfaction that I used everything that I was given, and I'd given everything I had. Is that possible? Can we ever be satisfied with our own efforts? That leads me in a circle. The Biblical argument for a Savior is that we need someone to atone for the shortcoming that are the very nature of humanity thus reconciling us with the Perfection that is God. It all tangles my head into knots. I feel that I have been given every advantage that someone can be given and many wonderful opportunities besides. I have not always been thankful for these advantages, and I have not always made use of the opportunities. I can - and, by all means, should - strive towards excellence even if I can't fully achieve it. But I think maybe what's more fundamental to ethics than the goal of excellence is the role of gratitude. I will never be the "best" at anything, I will always fall short in the way of behavior or words, but out of gratitude for the gifts given me, I can take advantage of the opportunities that I have left for service, the gifts for giving. Investigating the questions that the branch of Ethics poses is the only way to know how to do this fully, correctly, and purposefully.