Life without a Code
How does a man live without a code? What else defines a man but his faithfulness to the beliefs of his heart? This code is the core of a man. It gives his devotion to andreia (manly valor) and arete (excellence) teeth and allows him to transcend those whose stock in trade are clever words hidden in hot breath. The code and his devotion to it must come before anything else- even before God and Country. The code is the muscle, sinew and bone of actions that started in the head and heart.
When a man has no code, he does whatever makes him happy at any point, doing whatever he can to gain advantage for himself. I do not have a problem with self interest but in this case, self-devotion leads only to self-deception. Voltaire once said that if all men were philosophers, religion would not be necessary but since all men are not philosophers, religion is necessary so his wife, cobbler and banker cheat him less. If all men had infallible clarity of sight, we wouldn't need religion either but things in the world are unclear. Nevermind the fog of war. I'm mostly concerned with the thick mist of my daily life.
A code is a man's beacon. It is his lantern. When confronted with a situation, a code allows a man to act in accordance with his beliefs allowing him to remain in integrity. Without a code, a man simply responds to the challenges of the day with pragmatism. He acts according to what he can live with now, not in the future.
Somebody once told me that integrity was consistency in thought, word and action. Somebody else said that integrity is what you do when nobody's looking. I think thy're both true. Integrity is the key to living a fulfilling life and the key to integrity is having a code. The particulars of the code are important but not nearly as important following it faithfully. A code isn't written in stone. It can be modified but only after great thought and never in the moment.
I suppose it would be possible to live without a code but I've seen those who do and that life just isn't for me.
posted by Kahuna6 at 2:18 AM
3 Comments:
You know me well enough, Kahuna, to have guessed that I couldn't resist asking a couple of questions on this post.
If ones code precedes "God and Country," and religion itself is merely a socially useful convenience, just where does ones code come from? And what makes any code better or worse than any other code? Why should ones code not be to do whatever gives one the most physical pleasure at any given moment, for instance?
Hope you are doing well, friend.
Happy Independence Day!
D. Ox
9:25 PM
My Dear Friend-
I am always grateful for your questions. Thank you for taking the time to engage me. It makes my day to hear from you in this way.
My code precedes God and Country. I don't know if my code is any better than any other man's code. I just know that those of us who chose to live by a code move through the world differently. I think it can encompass a great deal of components but it cannot hold personal pleasure as its highest virtue. Why? I'm not sure. I could come up with all manner of explanations and justifications but the truth is that it just feels wrong. I'm not saying that it feel badly- just wrong. Hell, most things that are wrong seem to feel pretty good. That should be a pretty significant red flag.
I'm going to write more about this in a piece I'm working on about Decartes whom I consider my nemesis. To preview, I will expound on my belief that cogito ergo sum is just plain wrong and a lot of the problems we experience in our intellectual and emotional lives as Americans occurs because we have bought into this. My experience with the Eastern traditions have taught me that there is a place you can inhabit before conscious thought. It's the same place athletes and musicians go to when they enter the "Zone."
It is because of this place that I sometimes inhabit that I can accept my Country for all her flaws and still love her with all my heart. It's why I find myself defending religion to those who would eradicate it. Religion is part and parcel of being human. Living without it would be like living without breath. But that's not to say that I understand it either.
The bottom line I guess is that I have a lot of honest questions and I believe I ask them better when I'm in touch with my personal code. My code is actually quite simple:
1. It's not about me.
2. Work on viewing events as clearly as possible.
3. Accept the truth whether I like it or not.
I don't know where it came from. From growing up I would guess. Earlier in my life I was adding to it. The last 10 years I've been working on distilling it to its essence.
I don't know if this made any sense. I'm happy to clarify as much as my ability allows.
Happy Independence Day to you too, my friend. I am grateful for you presence in my life.
Aloha,
Kahuna6
4:00 AM
In case you haven't read it, C.S. Lewis' "Abolition of Man" is all about the code that is the source of all other codes... and the rejection of which (i.e. what modern philosophy tries to do) results in Nietzsche...
Someday we'll have to have dinner!
9:59 PM
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