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Is guilt ever a useful concept?

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marieclaire
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26 Jul 2008, 2:24 am

corroonb wrote:
I like common sense and you have that in abundance. I don't really. I really on reason to guide my decisions.

Saying guilt has good and bad qualities is very sensible and is probably a very reasonable view to take.


You are young, people learn from experiences.(-:



tweety_fan
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26 Jul 2008, 2:37 am

guilt can be useful but when taken too far it is poisonous.



slowmutant
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26 Jul 2008, 2:46 am

tweety_fan wrote:
guilt can be useful but when taken too far it is poisonous.


Of course. Anything becomes pathological when there's an overabundance of it.



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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26 Jul 2008, 6:49 am

marieclaire wrote:
marieclaire wrote:
Guilt is an emotion that guides us to live within our moral values.

Guilt can be an emotion that is imposed on us by our parents, taken too far it can become self defeating.



My thoughts on guilt. Most things are good in balance.

My cats seem to be able to think rationally when it comes to organising an escape route from my backyard.
But I agree - their ability to rationalise is not as advanced as humans.


Marieclaire, do you think your cat ever feels guilty?



marieclaire
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26 Jul 2008, 3:37 pm

I would say yes. When my cat scratches my sofa - he knows he isn't meant to, I just need to say his name and he stops.

But... I am not really sure.



corroonb
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26 Jul 2008, 3:59 pm

marieclaire wrote:
I would say yes. When my cat scratches my sofa - he knows he isn't meant to, I just need to say his name and he stops.

But... I am not really sure.


Does it stop him doing it next time? Probably not?

He's likely afraid of you shouting at him so he sulks and you think he's guilty. Animals don't have guilt because they are emotionally pure. Guilt is our specific invention.

Animals have anger, joy, fear, love and what other emotions?