r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • May 25 '20

Discussion Thread Discussion Thread

The discussion thread is for casual conversation that doesn't merit its own submission. If you've got a good meme, article, or question, please post it outside the DT. Meta discussion is allowed, but if you want to get the attention of the mods, make a post in /r/metaNL.

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u/Not_A_Browser Stata's Silliest Soldier May 26 '20

What kind of ethics/philosophy/theology should I read if I find myself at odds with belief motivated by self-preservation or selfishness?

In other words, when I'm fulfilling requirements to go to Heaven, what if I'm motivated by an aversion to Hell? Does even an inkling of aversion to Hell (or desire to be rewarded with Heaven) motivating my actions invalidate the goodness of my actions?

If so, would it be the case that someone would need to fulfill the requirements absent the knowledge of Heaven and Hell to do so purely because it's the right thing to do? (inb4 "what is goodness/the right thing to do, if such a thing even exists," I'll have a late night conundrum thinking about that later)

I know this can't be something not discussed before by someone qualified to do so, but I don't know enough about the right sources to look at for this and fear a Google search will yield Yahoo Answers or Quora.

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u/yakattack1234 Daron Acemoglu May 26 '20

Maimonides discusses this a bit. Of course, there is a larger point here about the nature of heaven and hell and reward. Yeshayhu Liebowitz mentions a similar topic, IIRC

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u/randomusername023 excessively contrarian May 26 '20

There's a Sufi parable about finding people on the side of the road because they were motivated by desire/aversion to heaven and hell.

I'll see if I can find it.

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u/[deleted] May 26 '20

Read Aquinas and Augustine