MACROSCOPE
The Soul of Science
Michael Shermer
The Purpose Principle
Although purpose may be found in countless activities, is there a
principle by which we may generalize its particulars? In The
Science of Good And Evil I suggested two principles of
morality. First, the happiness principle: it is a higher moral
principle to always seek happiness with someone else's happiness
in mind, and never seek happiness when it leads to someone
else's unhappiness. Second, the liberty principle: it
is a higher moral principle to always seek liberty with someone
else's liberty in mind, and never seek liberty when it leads to
someone else's loss of liberty. In this context I would
like to suggest a purpose principle: it is a higher moral
principle to pursue purposeful thought or behavior with someone
else's purposeful goals in mind, and never pursue a purpose when
it leads to someone else's loss of purpose.
Although purpose is inherent, moral purposes are learned; thus, the
highest levels of the purpose pyramid require individual volition,
personal effort and social consciousness. Morality and purpose are
inextricably interdigitated—you cannot have one without the
other. Fortunately, nature grants us the capacity for both morality
and purpose, culture affords us the liberty to reach for higher
moral purposes, and history brings us to a place where we can employ
both for the enrichment of all.
Through natural evolution and man-made culture, we have inherited
the mantle of life's caretaker on earth. Rather than crushing our
spirits, the realization that we exist together for a narrow slice
of time and space elevates us to a higher plane of humanity and
humility: a proud, albeit passing, act in the drama of the cosmos.
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