Altruism v. Carnality

Let's delve somewhat deep into the human conscious and analyze the ideas of love, conscious, philosophy of the mind, altruism, carnality, infatuation, and lust. There are two main ideas in the Altruism v. Carnality case, Empiricism and Rationalism. Empiricism, conjured by John Locke, is the idea that all men are born with a "Blank slate" and thus all information in our minds is learned, not hardwired into us. Now, a certain branch of Rationalism (Especially the realm of Thomas Hobbes, the branch we'll deal with) states exactly the opposite. Thomas Hobbes theorized that all men are born with "Human" or "Carnal Nature" and thus we are born evil and grow evil. Locke and Hobbes are both key in our understanding of ourselves (regardless of which position we take), we must either acknowledge our nature in carnality or completely disregard it.

When we break down our own minds and the thought processes that are central to our own individuality, we begin to find that such things of carnality. Even if we don't realize we are acting selfishly, we subconsciously are. Apply Newton's Third Law of Motion, "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Charitable donations will always come back to the altruist; or he will benefit in some way. Therefore, if some action is returned or something gained in return, the altruistic act then becomes self-centered and becomes that of Carnality. This means that no matter how well we seem to think we know ourselves, we haven't even drilled passed the surface of our own complexity. Due to religious and scientific output throughout the world, people have been forced to stop and question (for the first time in recorded history) what he or she believes. When this happens, we lean towards the option that gains us more in the long run. We are reluctant to disregard previously held notions for fear of them being correct, and thus making us wrong. If we are wrong, then we lost something, and because we are all somewhat narcissistic as well carnal, we all want to gain not lose.

I won't go into political theory on this matter, but in considering and analyzing the human conscious we learn that we are only aware of what our deepest memories and thoughts wish for us to be aware. If we look objectively we can easily see it. Imagine the case of two young lovers, both madly in love with one another; each jealous of the other. When any person of the opposite sex admires their significant other, naturally they get angry. Jealousy is just another form of carnality. When we have worked hard to attain something, we do not entertain the idea of someone waltzing in and taking it. This aspect of "infatual" self-defense comes naturally to every human beings. Because we love someone, we are jealous of them; so what happens when we have no one?

Commonly, it can be understood that individuals that do not know love (or those that have a personal disregard to other's emotions) tend not to fall into happy relationships. Because happiness does not find them right off, they develop the sense of cynicism against the world, and with this cynicism comes a very ascetic lifestyle (even if temporary). Those that become ascetic often lean into a state of mind regarding envy. They desire what everyone else has, and why shouldn't they; it's only fair after all. This developed sense of ascetic envy then leads to quick and hard infatuation periods with persons they would most often not associate with. As this progresses, they begin to receive the notion that they are in love. By entertaining such thoughts coupled with the knowledge that the other person does not feel the same in return, the ascetic cynic begins to regress further into deeper states of the previous and thus begins to develop a sense of lust.

Infatuation, Love, and Lust are three things that are very loosely connected and one can easily become the other if not treated correctly. But from this analysis, we can conclude that all human beings are carnal because there is always incentive to act out of individual self-interest where we would otherwise act out of the better interest of others. As we grow, we become more and more carnal, and there is no way around it. Because everything comes back in some way, there is no way to determine a truly altruistic action, thus eliminating the ideals of altruism all together. This leaves the idea of carnality and cynicism. Two things that will surely govern the human race so long as there is action to be performed.