Morality and Sacrifice Essay

apply is the surrender of a greater value for the pastime of a littleer one or of a non value. Thus, altruism gauges a objet darts virtue by the degree to which he surrenders, renounces or betrays his values (since helper to a stranger or an enemy is regarded as more virtuous, less selfish, than help to those one loves). The rational principle of conduct is the exact opposition always act in accordance with the hierarchy of your values, and never dedicate a greater value to a lesser one. break does non mean the rejection of the worthless, unless of the precious.Sacrifice does non mean the rejection of the evil for the sake of the good, but of the good for the sake of the evil. Sacrifice is the surrender of that which you value in favor of that which you dont. If you exchange a penny for a dollar, it is not a feed if you exchange a dollar for a penny, it is. If you pass the career you wanted, after years of struggle, it is not a sacrifice if you wherefore renounce it for the sake of a rival, it is. A sacrifice is the surrender of a value.Full sacrifice is full surrender of all values. If you wish to pass full virtue, you must seek no gratitude in return for your sacrifice, no praise, no love, no admiration, no self-esteem, not even the pride of existence virtuous the faintest trace of any gain dilutes your virtue. If you pursue a work of action that does not taint your life by any joy, that brings you no value in matter, no value in spirit, no gain, no profit, no rewardif you achieve this state of total zero, you have achieved the idol of moral perfection.If you wish to save the last of your dignity, do not augur your best actions a sacrifice that term brands you as immoral. If a pay back buys food for her hungry child rather than a hat for herself, it is not a sacrifice she values the child higher than the hat but it is a sacrifice to the kind of mother whose higher value is the hat, who would take her child to starve and feeds him only fro m a sense of duty.If a man dies fighting for his own freedom, it is not a sacrifice he is not willing to live as a slave but it is a sacrifice to the kind of man whos willing. If a man refuses to administer his convictions, it is not a sacrifice, unless he is the sort of man who has no convictions. Sacrifice could be proper only for those who have nothing to sacrificeno values, no standards, no judgmentthose whose desires are irrational whims, blindly conceived and thin surrendered.For a man of moral stature, whose desires are born of rational values, sacrifice is the surrender of the right to the wrong, of the good to the evil. The creed of sacrifice is a religion for the immorala morality that declares its own bankruptcy by confessing that it understructuret impart to men any personal stake in virtues or values, and that their souls are sewers of depravity, which they must be taught to sacrifice. By its own confession, it is infertile to teach men to be good and can only lan ding field them to constant punishment.