To Ponder…
What are your thoughts on the following statement?
“It is better to destroy than to create that which is meaningless.”
Related posts
Tags: philosphy
Choices | American Texan March 27, 2008
5 Comments
Other Links to this Post
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
By matthew, March 27, 2008 @ 1:42pm
Creating meaninglessness (chaos) is morally wrong, but to destroy [unqualified] is amoral, so yes, I would agree with it in principle.
Destruction of something good may be worse than creating something meaningless.
God is a creator, and everything He created has meaning and purpose.
I think the slippery slope is our ability to judge meaninglessness and good and bad.
By JPennStar, March 27, 2008 @ 3:54pm
What about the thoughts on the very word ‘meaning’?
When this can be answered the above can be answered.
By myrrhbeth, March 27, 2008 @ 8:55pm
CAN we create something truly meaningless?
“Creating” chaos seems to equate destroying order.
By matthew, March 28, 2008 @ 7:24am
Those are good points myrrbeth and JPennStar.
American Texan and I were talking about this last night, and we found we each had different views of the concept of “meaningless”.
She was taking a ‘utilitarian’ view, where “meaning” equated with “use”. If an item or idea does not have “use” (a screen door on a submarine, gibberish), it is not bad, just incorrect. The item itself, so long as it does not detract from something else, is amoral, not immoral.
I took a ‘metaphysical’ view where “meaningless” equated to “chaos”. The hypothesis of naturalistic evolution, by removing any form of meaning or purpose from life, creates chaos.
Finally, we need to assume what it is we are destroying:
Obviously, when we are destroying something bad, that action is morally good.
This statement though, seems to imply destruction of good.
Taking into account this implication, “To destroy” is a moral wrong.
So, then we have the two possible moral equations:
Either:
“To Destroy” is better than creating that which is “without use”
OR
“To Destroy” is better than creating that which is “chaos”
Looking at it this way, I think we can agree that creating that which is without use may be impractical and dumb, but it is not necessarily wrong. While creating chaos is wrong and may indeed be worse than destroying that which is good.
While destroying that which is good may be a singular act with little additional harm, creating chaos is never confined. Chaos infects and pervades, and has greater potential because it is both a cause of destruction and a result of it.
By the Grit, March 29, 2008 @ 11:44am
Hi y’all,
I would point out that the term “meaningless” implies “at this moment or in the past.” Over time, it’s quite possible, even likely, that a meaning will be discovered for whatever thing or idea is being discussed. Oil, for example, was meaningless for thousands of years, but now we find it difficult to live without.
the Grit