The End of Happiness – A Secular Approach

According to the RKC Theory, there are four fundamental moral duties and a number of subsidiary duties. According to this theory, the first is your duty to your fellow man, which is your fellow human beings. Your moral duties are determined by your aptitude for that virtue or vocation. Your aptitude may be wisdom, integrity, power, humanity, cleverness, etc. The secondary duty is your duty to yourself, and your aptitude for self-esteem, self-respect, self-confidence, and self-direction are determinants of your secondary moral duties.

The second is your principal moral obligation, and this is your obligation to act in accordance with the principle of justice that is your ethical principle, which also includes your principle of civic duty and your principle of national honor. The third is your secondary moral obligation, which is your duty to your domestic society or group, and your duty to obey the law and to respect the rights of others, and your obligation to respect the dignity of others. Your fourth and last duty is your financial responsibility, and this is your commitment to contribute to the well-being of society. Your aptitude for these duties is your aptitude for the particular virtue or vocation to which you belong, your membership in the social group or community to which you belong, and your aptitude for the financial discipline necessary to meet those necessities.

The RKC Theory is not inconsistent with the other ethical theories, such as utilitarianism and theistic religion. The key difference between these other moral theories and the End of Happiness as the ultimate aim of human life is that the former do not advocate any interference with the spontaneity of moral choices, while the latter, being a commitment to achieve happiness through a balance of right ends (symmetrical), does advocate the use of force as a means of attaining happiness. However, the RKC Theory differs from utilitarianism in its view of motivation. For utilitarianism, motivation is primarily desire satisfaction, whereas the End of Happiness motivates you to use your power as a means of achieving its objective. In other words, the RKC Theory places happiness within the realm of choice rather than control, although it does acknowledge a role for divine intervention.