Desire
Notes
Levels of desire:
- The thing itself - (chocolate), i.e Intrinsic value
- Utility - The utility from the thing (pleasure), i.e Instrumental value
- Second order - do we want to derive such utility from this thing Second order thinking
Complications arise when the thing we want is only a step towards our actual goal. Say that we want to catch a train in order to do something elsewhere. The value from catching the train is neither intrinsic nor instrumental since it derives it's utility from the next (future) step we shall take. It is as if all the series of steps are bundled into one when we try to evaluate the way we desire them. And what if one of them appears to fail? i.e it doesn't derive the desired utility, how does it affect all the others? Desire is inherently linked to epistemology. The way we perceive and what we believe about the world.
Desire can be problematic when it causes Attachment, we become so focused on something that it takes over our mind, our identity, our being. It leads us often to Impulsivity and doing things we eventually Regret. Desire can often lead to Future disillusionment, where our happiness depends on the future, on "only if" we achieve what we desire, and we can't be happy with who we are, what we have, or our life right now.
Therefore desire can be thought of as something that we want less of , because only through reducing desire we can achieve happiness Happiness is contentment.
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Overview
🔼Topic:: Epistemology (MOC) 🔼Topic:: Emotions (MOC) ↩️Origin:: Elucidations 🔗Link:: https://share.snipd.com/episode/84d6576d-4f94-407c-a172-3774cbc9ca47