hey can you please give me what you think on it and some dot points on reasons why!? thanks :)Www@QuestionHome@Com
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Position:Home>Philosophy> You have to be cunning and ruthless to do well in life. Agree or disagree?Question: You have to be cunning and ruthless to do well in life!. Agree or disagree!? hey can you please give me what you think on it and some dot points on reasons why!? thanks :)Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: This would depend on your definition of 'doing well in life'!.!.!. If you feel 'making money' is equivalent to 'doing well', then I agree! In many professions people step on others back to rise up!. In business!.!.!.well, they are 'mostly' manipulative, smart people!. A simple honest being's business will fold up sooner than he bid bye to his first client!. Other sharks will see to it!. But if it is 'relationships' you talking about, then I disagree! A loving, honest and kind soul will never be a loser, s/her will always have people caring for him/her!.!.!.life couldn't be called a failure!.Www@QuestionHome@Com You can be cunning and ruthless in business, but only to a point!. If you treat your clients and business partner's badly then they will remember you for it!. Such a thing as business ethics does not exist for no reason at all!. Most people in business would prefer to be respected and trusted than just pile on the wealth since money can come and go, but business opportunities will always be there and no one can do it all by themselves!. To use this rule to get on in life is very dangerous and an over simplification of life!. Life is far too vast an ocean not to see other rules to live by, unless you have had a hard life to begin with anyway!.Www@QuestionHome@Com It depends on what kind of job you are after!. If you go into politics, yes, being a total treacherous love child will enable you to go far if you have sufficient intelligence or mix with the right people!. In a proper job, you are likely to get a bad rep and be treated with hatred, unless you are the boss!. Unless you are born a piece of dog muck you can't be cunning and ruthless, it has to be inbred not learned!.Www@QuestionHome@Com I agree some successful people are cunning and ruthless, but I like to think the majority are simply more driven to succeed and determined than the rest of us, who are happy coasting along waiting to win Lotto!. Its too easy to imagine them all being Bond Villians, carelessly ruining and destroying lives for their own gain!. Then again, perhaps I'm wrong and they really are heartless b*stards!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Cunning and ruthless people nearly always get caught out in the end and inevitably they live very unsatisfactory lives!. To do well in life you must work at something you really enjoy and do it to the best of your ability!. Rewards will come naturally and not always in the form of a pay-packet!.Www@QuestionHome@Com I will use Hobbes account for justice, and Gauthier's Neo-Hobbesian social contract to show that ruthless and cunning, although appealing, is not the best way to success in life!. We will begin with Hobbes's account for the state of nature which he famously describes as "nasty, brutish, and short!." Hobbes defines power as a means to obtain our desires!. It follows that everyone desires power, because everyone has desires!. Even if you don't image people to be selfish, hoarding, take more than they need people, you must give the point that eventually everyone will have desire (if only desire for water and bread) - so they need power!. From this we get three for a war of all against all in the state of nature: competition, diffidence, and glory!. Competition is a struggle to gain power!. You may believe that there is enough to go around for everyone to live a successful, comfortable life!. However, power is relative- if you become more powerful, I become less powerful!. Say we are all fighting with sticks!. I get a sword - making me more powerful, but you, at the same time, get a pistol!. Though we both gained, I actually lost power because you are now relatively more powerful than me!. It follows that there is a constant struggle to grow your power!. Next is the struggle due to diffidence!. This can be viewed solely as the need to stay alive!. Since you know that others are going to try to build their power, you know that you too must build your power - in order to maintain you power (and life!.) This can be viewed as a struggle of future competition!. Finally, glory also causes struggle, but is more difficult to define!. Since glory is a form of power (if you think that I am really strong you will not attack me, even with your pistol, so I have gained from glory!.) It follows that any assault on glory - even a minor insult, must be returned in order to maintain the balance of power!. Thus any show of glory or attack on glory will lead to the war in the state of nature!. Hobbes, even with such a dark state of nature, still wishes to defend justice!. He asserts that we as people do not want to die, and it is in our, and our societies best interest to keep us alive!. Thus, we contract in order to preserve our lives!. We give some of our freedom and rights in order to maintain our safety: we create laws!. Now that laws, and a powerful government is in place, people will be afraid of entering into the state of natural war - or even actions similar to it (such as robbery, murder, rape ect!.!.!.) This is all and good, that we should have and follow laws, but you are probably concerned that it doesn't answer the question!. For we can certainly be cunning and ruthless while following all of our laws!. To address this concern I will use Hobbes problem with the fool!. The argument is that if we are able to get away with something, there is no defense of justice!. If we are able to steal a Ferrari, and frame that annoying person in class, or at work, then in this system we most definitely should!. If we are able to defend justice (or non-cunning and non-ruthless in the terms of the question) in this system then we can certainly show that it is actually beneficial to maintain contracts and uphold honesty, fairness, and even kindness!. I think David Gauthier has a wonderful defense against the argument of the fool!. He follows Hobbes's attempted defense (which we will start with) but adds one crucial piece!. Hobbes defense against the fool is essentially one that asserts that there is no perfect crime!. Although you may get away with it this one, you eventually will get caught!. So while your fun is going - you are getting cool things (your desires fulfilled!.) Maybe the first crime gets you a new car, and the second gets you a really cool computer, the third a mansion, on the fourth - oops, you get caught, off to jail or the guillotine with you and all of a sudden you can't enjoy all those cool things you got!. The problem here with Hobbes is that it assumes that there is no perfect crime!. Say you had Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, or even better Glaucon's (Plato) ring of power - there is no defense of justice here!. Gauthier shores up the argument with a clever notion of long term maximization!. Where acting out these crimes (though it doesn't have to be this severe e!.g!. cunning and ruthlessness) you will in the short run gain more!. However, if you are not cunning and ruthless he asserts that you will gain more in the long run!. The people who are moral, and keep their contracts can form somewhat of a "moral club" and only contract with each other!. They could contract with complete confidence!. Think about the efficiency gains - there would be no worry of lawsuit, no need to cover you backside!. Prices would fall, quantity would increase!. There would be more (both material and otherwise) to go around for everyone!. Furthermore, the gains would compound!. Instead of using this new power to beat each other down we could use it fWww@QuestionHome@Com no, because, people value honest and helpful and selfless people!. how many people remember saddam hussain as a good man!. he was " successful", !. it all depends on your definition of successful!. ultimately, when u die, u have only one question to ask - did i love well !? the life u live, will soon be past but the things u do for others will last!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!. that is why, we remember saints and and not the very successful businessmen!. success is not the amount of money u have but the amount of peace in your heart!. what use is that wealth, which you can't share with anyone, because you were too ruthless and cunning and too hungry for success , that you forgot to make friends!. remember ebenezer scrooge (protagnist of 'a christmas carol' - by charles dickens )Www@QuestionHome@Com There's a saying which goes, be kind to the people you meet on the way up!. You may meet them again coming down!. Cunning and ruthlessness is the 'old' school of business, and whilst it is still out there, it is dying off bit by bit!. Www@QuestionHome@Com Disagree!. In a short run maybe it works!. But you have a whole life to liveWww@QuestionHome@Com this is cynical but correct like they say nice guys finish last!. Www@QuestionHome@Com |