Sílvio Lôbo interviews Carolina Damasceno on the topic: "Being and Ought to Be"
CAROLINA DAMASCENO: Since childhood, we have the notion of Being and Ought to Be; if we are aware that something is not correct and hesitate to act, even for a few seconds, we reflect on right and wrong. Because when we want something and that something is allowed, there is no reflection. When you have the notion that what ought to be is wrong, you know it is and you hesitate (you think)...
the difficult part is when you don't know what is more correct: Being or Ought to Be. Being encompasses all aspirations that arise spontaneously, without questioning. Ought to Be is reflection combined with: morality, convention, and even imposition. The problem arises when one cannot distinguish what should prevail: being or ought to be. Then the ego takes over and being prevails.
SÍLVIO LÔBO: Is saying that the ego prevails the same as assuming a savage attitude?
CAROLINA DAMASCENO: No, because if there is no conception that what ought to be is correct, then being is not wrong.
SÍLVIO LÔBO: But if there is?
CAROLINA DAMASCENO: Can you give an example?
SÍLVIO LÔBO: Until recently, stealing a kiss was not classified as a crime, until after several complaints during off-season Carnivals, in 2006, a STJ summary classified it under Art. 146, Illegal Coercion.
CAROLINA DAMASCENO: Regardless of whether it was before or after the summary, the fact is that if a person feels coerced by a kiss, they can assert their right in a relevant manner and achieve the desired judgment. However, even in the circumstances of an off-season Carnival, if it is proven and the judge understands that such an act did not constitute coercion in a way that the "aggressor" intended, it falls under the rule of confusion between being and ought to be. Where one's being, the ego, prevails. However, everyone has an ought to be and a being, both the judge and the defendant.
SÍLVIO LÔBO: But consciously, if such an action is a crime, or rather illegal, wouldn't the act of kissing be an aggression towards what ought to be? And to be more direct, I ask: is stealing a kiss transgressing what ought to be?
CAROLINA DAMASCENO: It depends on the ego/being of the individual who kissed.
SÍLVIO LÔBO: So I would be correct in stating that... the individual who steals a kiss, believing it to be wrong, would be infringing what ought to be, but without this conception, they would not be going against it.
CAROLINA DAMASCENO: Yes.
SÍLVIO LÔBO: To conclude, can you define what ought to be would be, applied to everyday life?
CAROLINA DAMASCENO: Ought to Be is everything that confuses you from acting according to your being. If you thought about doing something and didn't do it, it's because you have fear; if you agree with what ought to be, it is your being, and vice versa.
