Dying Well

[Jamie Boy]

So let's say that in every time and place, a person has the option to follow his society's main dogma or not. The question in the OP was: will this dogma inhibit a person's ability to live well? 

Now, the dogma may originate in different ways. People may claim that it is revealed from a higher source. Or they may argue that their beliefs are just self-evidently good, even though every set of "how to live" principles has a history, and dissenters, and will probably fade in the future. But the origin or supposed origin of the dogma doesn't determine whether or not this is a good set of principles to live by. Principles which people say come from a god might in fact be good healthy principles. 

I can see two ways in which following the accepted norms of a society would lead to a good life:

1) if the norms in question are actually helpful. That is, if our societal dogma does promote human flourishing. 

2) The second is more practical and situational: following a culture's norms helps you get ahead in that culture. 

Now, what of the current dogma, which tells us that the good life is to live however you want as long as you don't hurt anybody. This is our liberal bourgeois culture's golden rule... And a whole society of people who place their own personal happiness first may not end up being the kind of culture which encourages the flourishing of most. 

Other people may be making the argument that dogma always and only prevents us from doing what would actually make us most satisfied in life. I am skeptical that this is the case. There may be social norms in place for good reasons.

Hi, Belacqua.

I'd like to suggest that we need to be careful about using the words dogma and norms interchangeably, which is something you are doing in your most recent post. Dogmas are things asserted to be unarguably true regardless of time and place. Norms are much less formal and almost always change with the passage of time. I believe it is reasonable to suggest that dogmas can shape norms, but the two are certainly not the same. 

With that said, I fully agree with you that observing cultural/societal norms can go a very long way in making life a bit more comfortable and in increasing the odds of making a person successful. I don't believe, however, that ignoring such norms ultimately interferes with a society's ability to flourish. In some cases, those who trample norms underfoot may actually move things along for the betterment of all. 

Regarding your commentary on dogma, it seems to me that you are conflating two ideas: (1) living however you want as long as you don't hurt anybody and (2) placing your own personal happiness first. The first suggests that one of the conditions for living well is the avoidance of causing harm to others. The second lacks any such condition. The two, therefore, are not interchangeable. 

I'll say two things in closing. First, for some people (many of whom are likely part of this online community), a dogma, religious or otherwise, is garbage at best and dangerous at worst, if it is not a verifiable, accurate statement about the world in which we live. The seeming usefulness of dogma is irrelevant. It is veracity that we want.