Re:Ask HN: What concepts or philosophies guide your life?
by alexh on Friday November 26, 2010 @05:40PM
(#1943555)
Existentialism.
The philosophy that I have, that most people disagree with is "Given that Ignorance of a thing is or would be bliss, that thing is not immoral"
So if I steal and give it back, but they would never have used it in the interim, I am fine, even if they found out and got angry, because Ignorance would have been bliss.
If I violate somebody's privacy, but never change my interactions with them based on it, and never reveal what I know to other people, I am fine. Because they are doing precisely as well as they would if I had not.
The philosophy that I have, that most people disagree with is "Given that Ignorance of a thing is or would be bliss, that thing is not immoral"
So if I steal and give it back, but they would never have used it in the interim, I am fine, even if they found out and got angry, because Ignorance would have been bliss.
If I violate somebody's privacy, but never change my interactions with them based on it, and never reveal what I know to other people, I am fine. Because they are doing precisely as well as they would if I had not.