I don't think that as it is this is an answerable question. Thinking "for its own sake" implies that it cannot influence something other than itself, when obviously it influences the thinker at the very least. There has been a reasonable amount of debate over centuries as to whether anything can be done for its own sake, or if the reward at the heart of it just becomes more obfuscated.
I suppose I should restate my position. I think that thinking for the sake of thinking is its own end in that an unintended result of thinking is a sense of solace and self understanding.
Think of it in another way. Do you volunteer because it's the right thing to do (it's own end), or do you volunteer because it makes you happy (happiness being the end)? The debate comes because since volunteering will intrinsically make a person happy (a generalization, I know), it is said that a person can't volunteer for the sake of volunteering because it will always yield being happy.
Thank you! That makes much more sense to me now. Is there really a debate though? I mean, I've done a lot of dumb work in my life that I certainly didn't get any happiness out of (other than that of finally being able to do what I deem good). However, I did that work nonetheless. Or is the argument more like whenever you do something you are always doing it for at least a couple reasons, only one of which will be simply to do it?
Or is the argument more like whenever you do something you are always doing it for at least a couple reasons, only one of which will be simply to do it?
This is where the debate lies. Many people say you can't do something for the sole reason of doing it, that there are always unintentional byproducts. Because these byproducts exist, the output is more than the input as opposed to input = output (volunteering = volunteering as opposed to volunteering = volunteering + happiness).
BLOB_CASTLE nailed it. In case you have a lot of time and want to join in on the discussion/thought process, go nuts!
That's some heavy reading you just posted there.
Oh yeah. I love philosophy, but you gotta want to read it.
Oh definitely no doubt. However, I probably don't have time to fully ingest it over my bowl of cereal before work.
No way! Just thought I'd leave it here in case anyone had time. No obligation!
Dang. This is maybe the chillest of all music?
For centuries it had been argued to be the chillest of all music.