A man can live and act selflessly, care for his sick mother, be a model citizen in society, etc.
He does all he can to help others.
He has sexual feelings for the eight-year-old girl living next door.
He may never act out his fantasies, and keep them in his mind only, but to merely think them would surely contradict all the good in life that he does.
An alcoholic dragging himself through each day, trying to find enough money for his next beer, though cares not for his hygiene, cares for the ducks in the park; cares and thinks about his sick mother.
He knows that he is an alcoholic and feels guilty because he cannot shake off his addiction to help her, but he makes no effort to stop.
Without the alcohol, he could be as selfless as the man before him.
The first is selfless in action but sick in mind.
The second is selfish in action but caring in mind.
Which of these is the better person? Is living a good life determined by what you do, or what you think?
2006-10-03
15:23:16
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28 answers
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asked by
anon
3
in
Philosophy