Should I stop hurting others? Why be moral when there is no purpose to life? No cliche "productive member of society" posts.

By being a nihilist, and stating your chosen purpose like you did, you're enforcing the idea that if there is no inherent purpose to life, we as humans get to chose our own purpose, yes? Yet by doing these things that you do, you're getting in the way of other people's right to self-determination.

Morally speaking, you can't have it both ways. Believing that you have the moral right to chose your own purpose, but hurting and manipulating people to try and exert your interpretations of the nature of life on them contradict each other.

Most people believe that order gives us the stability to chose our own purpose without worrying for our safety and other basic needs. If the systems that hold society together come undone, most people will have bigger concerns than self-determination, so by pursuing that path you're putting your own right to self-determination above everyone else's.

So the answer to the question of "why be moral?" is that it's a test of your beliefs. If you really do believe that there is no purpose to life, and that we chose our own purposes, then you wouldn't interfere with other peoples' right to make the same choices you've made. Otherwise, you're just telling people all that to try and justify your actions, and your entire system of "beliefs" is just an excuse to act however you want and put everyone else below you. In which case society will respond appropriately to protect people from being hurt by you.

/r/philosophy Thread Parent