For those of us who still believe living well is more important than feeling good

Virtues and Morality

 Always a prickly subject due to it’s connotations with Christianity and puritanical piousness of giving to the poor, suppressing sexuality and putting other people before ourselves. But recently I had an opportunity to reflect on virtues and morality when a friend of mine at the NGO where I work recently found a wallet with 200 Euros in it. Dilemma.

The Greeks were the first to give us inquiry into morality and also the first to think about scientific inquiry, but in Western culture we have depended heavily on religious doctrine to mark our virtues, even René Descartes was happy to base his ethical system on the benevolence of God.

German philosopher Immanuel Kant was able to distinguish between our animal part and our rational, human part. He stated that as in nature, there is no morality in our animal part. The same as when a predator kills its prey there is only causality and not morality. On the other hand our rational part does have the capability to follow another type of law by living according to rules of conduct, which leaves people open to be judged on their morality depending on the extent that they follow these rules.

Problem with this is that for morality to be “scientific” it should be the same for everyone, the same as gravity is the same if you are English, Italian, a woman or a man. This creates problems, in that creating general rules of morality applicable to everyone is extremely complicated, and to a certain extent religious doctrine has failed due to its intent to impose generalised rules of morality. If killing is generally accepted as bad, then how would it be possible to sacrifice one life for the benefit of many? This would be morally unacceptable.

English philosopher Jeremy Bentham got over this by claiming that morality is utilitarian and that it should be at the service of the people, it should be based on its consequences in that the outcome must have the greatest benefit to all. This relativism allows breathing space and allows for a morality based on the present circumstances and not on carved in stone morality of religious doctrine.

Variables that influenced on my friends decision to return or not the wallet he found were based on. His present economic situation, who did the wallet belong to? Drug dealer or worker? And also his own belief structures related to honesty and morality. In the end he returned the wallet, it turned out that the person who lost the wallet was a Columbian immigrant who worked as a doorman in a block of flats and the 200 Euros was from the cooperative to buy cleaning materials. The consequences of my friends’ decision ended up being of benefit to them both. One person got back his wallet with money that didn’t belong to him and would have been difficult to explain and my friend has since then enjoyed being on the moral high ground.

A distorted view of reality

It never ceases to amaze me what our minds can actually make up, from this flat lifeless 2 dimensional drawing, my mind creates a 3 dimensional moving image. Of course this idea that what we perceive has little to do with reality is not new and it is well known the sky is not blue (sorry Louis Armstrong) and its blueness is perceived from the light emitted from particles floating in the air and that if we didn’t have an atmosphere we would perceive the sky as black (totally lacking in colour).

Professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka of Ritsumeikan University, Japan, created this impressive illusion which highlights our brain’s ability to perceive two identical sources of light as completely different colours. It’s a picture of a girl who seems to have lost a blue contact from her right eye. Her left eye is clearly blue.

In fact, it is not. Take a closer look; both eyes are exactly the same shade of grey. The solid block of the same grey in the blown-up picture helps to see it properly. Even with the grey block I had trouble seeing it, so I covered all the red bits and squinted at it through one eye. It’s definitely grey.

If you’re anything like me and sometimes find yourself getting into an argument that cant be won, as arguing is just as much about asserting ones “rightness” as it is about convincing the other person of the error of their ways, it is easy to loose sight of the other persons perspective and that any sort of reality depends on your perception. My depressed patients see life as meaningless and  fulfil that prophesy by staying at home so that life does indeed become meaningless, the same way as anxious person will perceive the world as a dangerous place by focusing on the dangers. 

Open Letter to the Media and Policy Makers Regarding Alarmist and Inaccurate Reporting on Prescription Opiate Use by Pregnant Women

"A substantial increase has been noted in the number of pregnant women and newborns who test positive for illegal as well as legal opiates, including those utilized as prescribed as well as those misused and/or diverted. A great deal of experience has been gained over the course of almost 50 years regarding the effects of prenatal opiate exposure on expectant mothers and their babies, and guidelines have been established for optimal care of both. And yet, reporting in the popular media continues to be overwhelmingly inaccurate, alarmist and decidedly harmful to the health and well-being of pregnant women, their children, and their communities.

As medical and psychological researchers and as treatment providers with many years of experience studying and treating prenatal exposure to psychoactive substances, as well as treatment providers and researchers with many years of experience studying addictions and addiction treatment, we are writing to urge that policies addressing prenatal exposure to opiates, and media coverage of this issue, be evidence-based rather than perpetuate and generate misinformation and prejudice".

http://idhdp.com/media/32950/rnewmanopenexpertletter_-_3.11.13.pdf 

Love thy neighbour..and thee?

Love, affection, pampering and gifts ... for everyone, but what about you? Maybe it takes a while to get used to looking after ourselves at first as we in the West are culturally taught that self-care is related to belly button gazing and associated with being selfish, childish and self- centred.

Should we not be available for others in the same way they are available for us? Love, care and nurture are reciprocal actions of give and take. Looking after another is about listening to yourself, it is about observing yourself; loving is an action that is demonstrated both to yourself and to others through actions. It is as much about demanding as it is about forgiving.

Self-love is by far one of our most valuable plants. Begin to water it every day, offer it sunshine, but do not shy away from grey overcast days. A day of suffering involves the same amount of living as a day of joy, embrace every moment ... We will be with ourselves during our whole lives, no matter what, with whom and where we pass, we pass unconditionally.
                            
 Take care, love and trust yourself.