Medicating Morality (Part 1)
The Key to the Deadlock of Morality
M. D. Kwak
IF A PILL COULD ENHANCE YOUR MORALITY – boost your empathy for example – I wonder, would it cure the ailing human condition that seeks so desperately to emerge from the decadence and selfishness it finds itself in but is incapable of escaping? The human is a poor creature condemned to an existence of inadequacy. Freewill presents the curse of choice and the deadlock of morality. Yet it can also be said that one is in a continual fight for self-improvement that seeks to cast away the shackles of evolution and the crushing force of societal conditioning – to be more than a complicit accomplice of a selfish society; more than a vessel for carnal desire, to feel pleasure and avoid pain.
Oftentimes, for individuals, it is far too easy to be selfish and self-serving – even necessary according to the justifications of many. Instinctively we may prioritise our own wellbeing and safety above those of others. Economically and socially, we are members of a society run by Western liberal democracy and capitalism in which the interests and desires of the individual being is paramount. That isn’t to say that collective institutions are weak. Organised religion, frameworks of partnership and collaboration in both our personal and public lives are all examples of where common interests, faiths and objectives can unite us and maybe even lead to better outcomes. However, even underpinning those, lies a fundamental biological instinct and a variety of societal pressures that drives us to actions and behaviours that are imperfect, selfish and maybe even malicious and harmful. In one way or another, the economic principle of each actor seeking to maximise their utility holds true in the vast number of cases.
Don’t misinterpret me here, however. This is not a case for why humanity is intrinsically evil. Contrary to that, I find that almost universally there exists a beautiful yet somewhat futile longing amongst imperfect and selfish individuals – including myself – to be simply better than the condition in which they exist presently. In most cases, I find that the average human being recognises their inadequacy to some degree and has at least an inkling of a desire to fix that and change. Sadly, therein lies the problem. Incentive and capacity are definitionally distinct concepts and no matter how much one longs for themselves to be better, there are cases where it is difficult, if not virtually impossible to change such behaviour. Evolutionary instincts are notoriously hard to deviate from and I would argue that it is too much to demand that an individual refuse to participate in the only socioeconomic system they have available to them.
Except for the most extraordinary circumstances, one cannot escape the system they are living under. Capitalism is built upon “selfishness” and the interaction of individual economic interests. I ask, how can one not see others as products of utility and workers to generate wealth when it is the only possible means of generating the money to survive? I ask, how can a mother raise her kids by refusing to participate in the cogs of capitalism that imprison its members with the chains of greed and jealous competition? The only people who don’t need to participate in the rat race are those already winning it but even then, being privileged doesn’t always lead to selflessness.
Of course, these assertions are generalisations. They don’t extend to everyone and I’m sure some people think they’ve got morality and good behaviour pretty well figured out. However, I argue that even when it is the case that individuals comprehend the fact that their actions are narrowly selfish and genuinely want to change them, biological incentives and the overwhelming conditioning of society makes it incredibly difficult. The desire to change – but the incapability of doing so… Either the human psyche itself or the society in which humans are organised needs to change in order to solve such an issue.
To be continued…