May 16, 2008
I have one more assignment to go before I had to prepare for my coming exam this June. It's been a busy month for me and thus, I will be taking frequent hiatus from the blogging scene. To my readers, thanks for poppin' by and thank you for some of your great feedbacks. I will be updating most part of my blog during my vacation in mid-June, including the alteration of certain stuffs on my blog. I will be including new links to this blog and some more interesting stuffs, so do check it out when the time comes.
I am so tempted to seek a therapy. It seems that I have been 'suffering' (not sure if this is the correct word to use here) from insomnia. Besides, the term 'insomnia' is itself a layman's term, as I am not very sure whether my condition fit its description. Nonetheless, I think it is giving me some trouble sleeping. I am not sure how am I able to get help anywhere. Friends.. please tell me what do and how to cope with this.
Several days ago, I recovered from a throat infection again (the second time this year). This time, assignments weren't the cause, but the weather was. I hate the weather here in Singapore. I just don't understand why some white-skinned friends who come all the way to Singapore and love this tropical weather! I think it sucks. I think tropical weather is good because of the wind, and that's about it. The rest just sucks when you think about it, especially when the sun ray starts to burn on your skin during the hotter days in April, May, June and July. I am already roasted and I wish my white-skinned friends the best of luck. In addition, many are coughing outside my house. And to step outside my house, I need immunity. If I fail to be immunally strong, I'd be the next in line to check out the nearby clinic next to some convenient stores. The doctors are indeed busy earning some extra money this summer... although there's no summer in Singapore.
Now that I am well, I feel like a free man. Freedom from the agony of sickness, freedom from the bondage of medicine, and freedom from porridge. And until next time when I see the doctor again, I'd be enjoying myself and the things I eat. Sounds pretty hedonistic isn't it? Haha. I was never a hedonist back in my Christian days... but now, an angelic wretch like me finally see the light. I think happiness is what everybody is going after, but that does not make it an objective entity in itself. It all still depends on how one defines happiness. I am for the hedonistic views of happiness in that we should all do things not in terms of finding the means to an end, but it is all for the sake of happiness itself. Drinking coke is unhealthy, but if drinking coke makes you happy, then it is perfectly alright to drink coke. Masturbating is dubbed morally unsound to Christians, but if masturbating makes me happy, then it is again perfectly alright for me to do it, regardless of what others think. Why is that so?
Morality and other considerations are subjective. Therefore, happiness is subjective. If my happiness is not your kind of happiness, it is not a crime; it is simply natural. Similarly, what makes me happy would not possibly make you happy. So, it doesn't matter what you do or what I do, as long as each of us is doing it for the sake of happiness regardless of any disagreement. However, there are some ethical consideration, as I do not completely buy into hedonism without rethinking the consequences that would, in the process, occur.
First thing for sure - No taking of lives. I know this sounds cliche and silly, but seriously essential. Not that I have been brainwashed by the secular society, but rather, we move together as one society. And that no individual is capable of outcasting himself from society, because society itself is after all the universal entity that engulfs the entire human race. No one is capable of neglecting universal human rights or universal law, because the current society (and the society yet to come) will be the deterministic force that drives human action and existence. No matter how individualistic we are becoming, we are still collectivistic by nature. Hence, the society or rather, the majority of people agreed that the taking of lives without legal consent is wrong. Therefore, so let it be.
Second thing is - No one gets hurt. If I want to be happy to an extent whereby someone would get injured in the process, I should reconsider my intention. "Better safe than sorry" is the appropriate phrase. Having oral sex may be wrong in another individual's point of view, but when there are two contenting parties who engage in such satisfying sexual act without risking any injury, it is perfectly ALRIGHT. Therefore any country that bans such act calling it illegal is a country that needs to be laid. Obviously this particular country should start a sex business before its economy goes flat and their people grew desperate. BUT BUT BUT... I'm a great supporter of safe sex. And Christians, you need better sex lives. Muslims, I think you need it more than Christians. Monks... oh, don't bother.
Third thing is - Parental consent. Apparently, I have lived over the age of 21, so this does not apply to me anymore and I am finally immune to this. Unfortunately for some who wish to practice "Individualistic hedonism", and if momma or pappa says "NO", then it's too bad. Because engaging in something you like (as long as no one gets injured or killed) and that no one can ever stop you in the process, is something which one should exercise responsibility. My kind of hedonism is an individualistic one if you have noticed so far. Therefore, it requires lots of resonsibility as such personal philosophy has much to do about freedom and free will. It is by far, free-er or more liberal than Liberalism.
Last but not least - Observe the law. Philosophy is philosophy. Ethics is ethics. Morality is morality. But the law overwrites all. The law is above every ethics, free will, and moral decisions. It is socially constructed, but effective against anarchism.
So, in summary, my personal philosophy has something to do with plenty of freewill. And I shall guarantee that some people out there would be offended. Nonetheless, I couldn't care less because to me, as long as no one gets killed; as long as no one gets physically, mentally or emotionally hurt; as long as there is no illegitimacy in a specific act, anything I do is completely permissable.
Am I a liberal? Not completely. Am I a libertarian? Partially. Am I a hedonist? Much of me, but not all. What am I then? I am ME. Because I don't subsrcibe to only one theory per se. In fact, I value life as it is, rather than life as it is without. Every political theory or philosophy is making sense but each has their weakness. I cannot afford to adopt just one philosophy for myself to live my life as if without it, I would perish. Rather than living my life by ethics, by philosophy, or even by law, I choose to live my life as it is - meaningless, purposeless, and valueless. It is only by seeing that something itself is missing and lacking, thus it motivates oneself to create something out of nothing. Well, I am motivated, I don't know about you. Life is meaningless, but if I don't create my own meaning, who will?
