2006-11-29 08:17:24 · 20 answers · asked by Tray Augustus 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
That's begging the question a bit. You have to assume that nothing matters after you die. And second of all....have people forgotten the cruelty of Attila the Hun? The wisdom of Socrates? And what about the present moment? If you do the wrong thing, doesn't it make life as you know it misreable? Think Kantan philosophy.
2006-11-29 08:22:06 · answer #1 · answered by Kay-ro 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
when faced with a difficult decision, you should do the right thing because you want to, not to be remembered as a hero. do what your heart tells you is right. and yes, you may be forgotten, but at least you will know that you were a good person. here are two quotes i really like on the subject:
Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.
- Robert F. Kennedy
The world has no room for cowards. We must all be ready somehow to toil, to suffer, to die. And yours is not the less noble because no drum beats before you when you go out into your daily battlefields, and no crowds shout about your coming when you return from your daily victory or defeat.
- Robert Louis Stevenson
2006-11-29 16:31:29 · answer #2 · answered by a 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
All us mere mortals will no doubt be forgotten in time we can't live our lives worrying about that but just imagine a single "Right" you might do however obscure that is remembered for eternity. E.g. saving from death the child next door who turns out to be the first female President, or becomes the doctor who discovers the cure for Cancer. Turning left instead of right when you turn out of the carpark could be the right thing for the lady who crosses the road safely with her child. You won't always know that you have done the right thing but then it's not always about you.
2006-11-29 19:29:25 · answer #3 · answered by witterwax 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The simplest way of which I know to determine if what I'm doing is right or wrong is to ask myself what the logical consequences would be to society if everyone acted that way. If you don't have to do the right thing, then neither does anyone else, would you want to live in a society where no one had any respect for your rights, your property, or even your life? Morality is a social contract that allows people to co-exist. Without some such contract, a culture cannot exist, let alone survive. Just look at Iraq.
2006-11-29 16:47:25 · answer #4 · answered by rich k 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Essentially all time is contained in this moment. Or, to make even less sense, this moment is in all time. When Adolph Hitler invaded Poland it was this moment at that time, and when George Bush invaded Iraq, it was this moment at that time. They were not separate in time or from time. Everything we do is part of the fabric of time, like making a tapestry, or a painting. And we are doing it now. What we experience in each moment is the painting we create. If you wish to be in a nighmare, for yourself and those your share this moment with, then you can create that. If you create something beautiful, that is this moment for you and others. Whatever we do is this moment, can we say it does not matter, or that it will be forgotten? If all time is in this moment, how could what you do be forgotten? How could it not matter?
2006-11-29 16:34:43 · answer #5 · answered by michaelsan 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it matters what we do. Money itself wont matter in a hundred years, but the lives you touch-for better or worse-will affect those people. Children mimic our actions and if we cannot do the right thing...our children will have all the wrong actions to mimic.
And not everyone is forgotten. If you touch people's lives you will continue to live on through those person's actions and treatment of others.
2006-11-29 20:58:13 · answer #6 · answered by bluebettalady 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it does, because you, along with others who also do the right thing, will set a precedent and form attitudes in the hearts and minds of the young, who will follow you and me. We will have set the stage for them, helping to guarantee a better life for our descendants. And yes, we individuals will be forgotten eventually; even Abe Lincoln, George Washington and Jesus will be forgotten - but the attitudes we taught will go on, for good or for ill. We cannot depend on the better of the two but must work all our lives to ensure it. My grandchildren are worth the effort: aren't yours?
2006-11-29 16:25:46 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's important that you have purpose in your life......what you do in your life whether you realize it or not affects those around you....some in small ways and some in very profound ways.
So......will we be forgotten? Many, many years down the road but so what? If you do something profound enough you may always be remembered......singers, songwriters, actors, presidents, mentors in many fields of expertise.........yes, it matters that you do the right thing. It's the here and now that matters the most.....period.
2006-11-29 16:25:30 · answer #8 · answered by jazi 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hitler, Caligula, Nero, Stalin, etc. They've been dead a while but I doubt they'll ever be forgotten.
All mystical hockus pockus aside, what goes around comes around. It's best to do the right thing because people respond in kind. If you want to live a horrible and miserable life, don't live morally and ethically. Live morally and ethically and that's what you can expect to come back to you--for the most part that is.
2006-11-29 16:23:55 · answer #9 · answered by Troy J 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If no one did the "right thing" then this world would be utter chaos and we would have destroyed this planet by now where no one could be living so YES it does matter....
And no one will be forgotten if they spread some joy in someone else's heart- that person will remember you....
2006-11-29 16:31:23 · answer #10 · answered by P!ss Ant 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋