No matter how sincerely or intensely we polish bronze, we will never get gold. We have to know the original nature we are working with if we are to have success in our choices and rejections.

You may enjoy my essays on Taoist sage Yang Chu (hiramcrespo.substack.co…), especially the one against non-violence where I evaluate the relationship of our ultimate ontology ("we are bodies") with the practice of non-violence. This is a good case study for how apparently egoistic ethics produce virtuous action: hiramcrespo.substack.co…

Yang Chu refers to his selfish ethics as "wei wo" (acting for oneself). The bottom line in my meleta on this is: "If the voluptuary wants pleasure for others too, then he is moral, even if he is not a moralist".