First Principles and Happiness

"When one man has reduced a fact of the imagination to be a fact to his understanding, I foresee that all men will at length establish their lives on that basis."

Henry David Thoreau


First Principles

Conclusions are drawn from premises, whether consciously or not. Premises therefore determine one's theory of life and consequent actions. My own:

1. Reality is non-contradictory.

This is to say reality is knowable. The number one is the number one. You have to fool yourself or lie to say that one does not equal one. Or to say that an apple is red, but also not red, in the same sense and at the same time. Contradiction is possible only in the imagination. With definitions applied, a thing must be either true or untrue.

This is the first law of logic, the Law of Identity. It is represented by the equation A = A, meaning that a thing is positively itself, which is the root of all logic.

2. Judgements and actions follow from values.

Whenever you hear "good," "bad," "should," or other judgements, imagine an accompanying asterisk which refers to the assumed value.

"You should* wear sunscreen at the beach."

*If you don't want to get burned.

Every evaluation is contingent on an object, or value, which is chosen either consciously or unconsciously. If one says eggs are good for you, do they mean for losing weight, or gaining it? For what purpose are they good? Most people go through life with unconscious values, taking on notions haphazardly. Their professed values are only rationalizations for their superstitious behaviors. It is better* to establish your values, and derive judgements directly.

*If you prefer your actions to follow your own values.

3. Life is an end in itself.

A man made tool has a purpose beyond itself. A knife exists for the purpose of cutting, chopping, etc. It is good or bad to the extent that it fulfills its designed purpose. A living being, like a tree, does not exist for any ulterior motive. Its only purpose is its own existence. So it is with man.

Happiness As The Ultimate Value

If there is an ultimate value, it must be an end in itself. It cannot serve a higher end, there being nothing higher. Only happiness is such an end. All other ends subordinate to it.

Because happiness is poorly defined, we can call it a sense of justice. Compare with happiness as mere pleasure. A wise man might abandon unjust pleasure, but would not abandon unpleasant justice. We are really talking of different kinds of pleasure, of which some are the best. Justice satisfies reason, because it is the manifestation of reason. The commitment to truth is the greatest pleasure a man can experience.

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