Everyday Ethics

Positive thinking is something of a new age mantra in contemporary society. As the study of the mind becomes more sophisticated, there is an increasing awareness of our ability to control our emotions, manipulate our moods, and make choices about how happy we are as people. The merits of positive thinking are usually framed as self-interested ones, but it is worth mentioning the extent to which positive thinking has important external effects that are themselves morally preferable.

We should first note that identifying positive thinking as an effective technique for self-improvement and behavioral regulation is itself a controversial viewpoint. Someone who believes that mental states are simply the product of brain states, which are a function of human biology, is unlikely to view positive thinking as carrying much ethical weight. For our purposes, we will set aside this empirical worry and consider the extent to which, if our thoughts have the power to affect our actions, we are ethically mandated to keep our thinking positive.

First, positive thinking produces happier people who tend to engage the world with a positive attitude. Such individuals are more likely to help others, or at least to consider how their actions will make an impact upon other people. If morality requires that we consider the interests of others, and positive thinking makes us more likely to do that, one could rightly defend the claim that morality also requires us to think positively.

In addition, positive thinking leads to optimism. Optimistic people are more likely to act in a way that benefits other people, and even to place the needs of others before their own. Optimists tend to have a worldview that sees life as mostly having good consequences, where negative situations are temporary and immanently workable. Such people are more likely to opt out of immediate need fulfillment because they are secure in the notion that their needs will also be met. This creates an attitude of self-sacrifice that counterbalances the social predations of the pessimist.

Finally, positive thinking has a desirable affect upon interpersonal relationships. Positive people are easier to get along with and more enjoyable to be around. Further, their positive attitudes tend to be contagious; it is difficult to mope and sulk when surrounded by people who insist of keeping things positive. Strong interpersonal relations among people make it more likely that such people will consider one another’s interests and treat people as they might want to be treated themselves. Positive thinking opens the door to strong relationships that make it easier to do what is morally right.

Positive thinking is easily dismissed as mystical “foo-foo” that has little do with being a successful human. Further, depending upon one’s scientific views, one might dismiss such notions as empirically ridiculous. However, if we assume that positive thinking is efficacious on our own mental states, the idea that we morally ought to be positive is not so far-fetched. Considering the interests of others, forgoing immediate gratification in favor of long-term reward, and forming strong social relationships are all important supportive mechanisms for the morally upstanding person. If positive thinking helps us to do what morality says we ought to, perhaps we morally ought to thinking positively.

About the Author

Elijah Weber is a graduate student at Bowling Green State University. He holds a Master's degree in philosophy from Colorado State University, and Bachelor’s degrees in sociology and philosophy from Chapman Univerity. He currently lives in Bowling Green, Ohio with his wife Laura, his newborn son Brandon, and his feline life-partner Monte.