your maxims are your actions.

Welcome to my first philosophy post!

If you took a philosophy course in school or have a rudimentary knowledge of philosophers, you may remember hearing the word “maxim” thrown around. German philosopher Immanuel Kant introduced the famous concept of the “Categorical Imperative”. The CI states that we should act only according to the maxims that can be regarded as universal laws”, meaning 'if you would not be okay with everyone else doing this, you should not do this'. (You shouldn’t abstain from stealing because of some abstract ideal that ‘stealing is wrong'; the CI says ‘you shouldn’t steal because if everyone in the world stole, every store would go out of business which would crash the economy’)

But, let's clarify- what are maxims? Simply put, maxims are moral rules and principles, usually said in short statements. These rules are directly linked to your actions. For example, if you deeply hold the maxim- “Eating meat is wrong”, you are going to abstain from eating meat, not because of some supernatural force, but because you are not going to act in contradiction to your maxims.

I believe that people always act in perfect accordance with their maxims. If you contradict your maxims, you don’t hold them as firmly as you thought. If you genuinely believe that rape is wrong, you won’t rape. Sure, you can have beliefs in varying degrees of strength. But when you truly hold a moral conviction as fact, you won’t contradict it.

Here is an example-

Maxims:

1. Pornography is bad
2. Child Pornography is bad.

Following actions:

1. Because pornography is bad, you won’t watch it
2. Because child pornography is bad, you won’t watch it.

Many people believe they hold both maxims. But, many people will act in accordance with only the second one. (They would watch porn, but would never watch child porn) Why?

Most likely, it’s because your maxims are actually:

1. Pornography is kind of bad?
2. Child Pornography is bad.

So, even when somebody claims they “never want to watch porn again,” they may slip up. I think that this may be because they don’t really think that pornography is bad-bad. Just sort of bad. In their heads, they can justify it. Their maxim gives them the leeway to do so. The moral weight of contradicting the first maxim and watching pornography is incomparable to the moral weight of contradicting the second maxim and watching child pornography. (side note- I am aware that there can be an addictive nature to pornography! This example ignores the psychology and legality; we are just focusing on our moral basis.)

“Whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.” -Ayn Rand.

When attempting to change, we must dig a bit deeper. Examine your surface-level beliefs. If we could root our beliefs deeper, creating new habits or breaking old ones will become far easier. For our pornography example, search for proof that pornography is entirely morally reprehensible. e.g: How the industry is altogether exploitative, how pornography viewership leads to shifts in sexual interests, which can lead to watching child pornography. Reinforce your convictions with facts.

When you find yourself doing something you do not like, have the courage to dig a bit deeper. Evaluate your premises and be honest about the degrees to which you hold your beliefs. Keep learning; soon, your actions will conform to your values.

Have a lovely day,

Maria:)