Questions tagged [ethics]
For questions about ethics, a branch of philosophy dealing with morality, justice, virtue, vice, good and evil.
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What is that phenomenon when to defend an ideal one has to do the opposite of that ideal?
I'll give you an example.There is a person who believes in nonviolence. He believes it so much that he paints a board which says "nonviolence is the best way, violence is sin." And he is ...
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Were the common people in Germany ("good germans") morally co-responsible of the war crimes of their government? [closed]
I'm relatively new to philosophy and just dipping my toes into moral philosophy (ethics). I'd be interested in finding answers to this question:
Were the common people in WW2 Germany morally co-...
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Is ethics anything other than hand waving and sophistry? [closed]
Philosophy deals with the universal. Even postmodernist philosophers like Derrida would agree that all texts are deconstructible, and that all meaning di(e)ffers itself etc.
Ethics, on the other hand, ...
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Reference on Nicomachean vs Eudemian
Is there an edition that puts both side by side in two columns, or something like it?
Is it even possible or desirable?
I believe they are both lecture notes of a single course Aristotle repeated a ...
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What is an overview of utilitarian arguments in support of exclusive relationships?
In light of the lack of success with my previous question Is exclusivity optimal from a utilitarian perspective? What's wrong with being non-exclusive?, I’d like to vindicate the topic by asking, ...
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Is exclusivity optimal from a utilitarian perspective? What's wrong with being non-exclusive? [closed]
Infidelity is typically regarded as a moral transgression, but it cannot exist without a prior promise of exclusivity.
This prompts the question: why is exclusivity so highly valued in the first place?...
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Can the conflict between morality and amorality be resolved? [closed]
Question inspired by another question: How can moral disagreements be resolved when the conflicting parties are guided by fundamentally different value systems?
In the spirit of the aforelinked ...
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If the existence of a spiritual realm were proven, how would that reshape our understanding of morality? [closed]
If spirituality were proven to be genuinely meaningful and irreducible to mere brain chemistry—if the existence of a spiritual realm were confirmed—how would this discovery affect our understanding of ...
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It is best humans don't destroy each other, because then there is less humanity to them: what might be the missing assumption?
It is best humans don't destroy each other, because then there is less humanity to them: what might be the missing assumption? It sounds a little Aristotelian, but also fairly reasonable and intuitive,...
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How can moral disagreements be resolved when the conflicting parties are guided by fundamentally different value systems?
Consider the following scenarios:
Person A holds a belief system that regards human life as inherently sacred, leading them to oppose abortion in all circumstances, without exception. In contrast, ...
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Does friendship bring further obligation?
I was talking to someone about 'gifts' in exchange culture (universal capitalist relations), which I said could be "free", not necessarily in the sense of not involving any reciprocity, and ...
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Is there an ethics term for adjudicating for the least total violent outrage, at the expense of fairness?
Let's say two people are in a disagreement. Everyone knows the first is generally peaceable, and even when treated unfairly, will usually take it and move on. The second is a bully, and whenever he ...
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Are there any virtues in virtue ethics that cannot be plausibly grounded in more fundamental utilitarian principles?
I will go over several virtues and explore potential ways they might be derived from or justified within a utilitarian ethical framework:
Courage:
Virtue Ethics: Courage is valued as the ability to ...
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Can objective morality be derived as a corollary from the assumption of God's existence?
For the sake of argument, let’s assume that a God does exist. From this premise/axiom, how would it logically follow that objective morality exists?
Even if it’s objectively true that God can punish ...
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Why is deontological ethics the opposite of teleological ethics and not "ontological" ethics
A beginner question here, and perhaps its just a question of nomenclature, but:
if teleological ethics (consequentialism and utilitarianism etc) are the opposite of deontological ethics, why are they ...
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How does Nietzsche's Übermensch actually behaves?
Newbie in philosophy here.
In understand that the Nietzchean Übermensch is strong enough to build his own morality.
My question is : how does a Nietzchean Übermensch actually behaves ?
Some examples ...
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What is the history of the idea of conscience as a homunculus?
What is the historical origin of the mental categorization or anthropomorphization of conscience as a kind of semi-person distinct from, subordinate to, and constitutive of the self?
To clarify: as ...
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Could Nietzsche's love of fate be utopian?
Amor fati—the love of fate—is one of many Nietzschean terms which seem
to point towards a positive ethics, but which appear infrequently and
are seldom defined. On a traditional understanding, ...
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Doesn't a lack of free will provide a framework for an ethical model?
Without free will, I struggle to see the noteable difference between humans and animals. The only difference is the way they manifest themselves in the world. I do not feel it follows logically that ...
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Justification for the Moral Ought
For this question, I would like to take the axiom of moral realism, as defined by SEP:
moral claims do purport to report facts and are true if they get the facts right. Moreover, they hold, at least ...
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Isn't an appeal to emotions in fact necessary to validate our ethical decisions?
Isn't an appeal to emotions in fact necessary to validate our ethical decisions? On the one hand, it is an informal fallacy to appeal to emotion, but on the other hand ethics seems permanently ...
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Sam Harris' Moral Landscape objection
I know that Harris' book, "The Moral Landscape" has been widely criticized by philosophers. And after listening to him talk with Alex O'Connor relatively recently here, I came to feel that ...
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Are we becoming better over time? [closed]
Does our moral sense evolve over time as Pinker contends? It seems that history bears this out.
However, the popular view of "O tempora, O mores!" still seems prevalent. So, are we becoming ...
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A basic question about morality in the present day
I'm 18 years old, and as would be expected, I'm heavily influenced by the people around me. I mean literally persuaded by things like, "That is the correct way to think."
I don't even need ...
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What will be the moral and social consequences of knowing that the universe is deterministic? [duplicate]
A deterministic universe in theory where observing every interaction between particles in the universe would allow you to predict the future. A deterministic universe will be the one without any free ...
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Is there a name for this aspect of Christian moral epistemology?
I would like to know more about the idea that "the law is written on our hearts", but I'm not sure what this idea is called within Christian doctrine or within the tradition of Western ...
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The Euthyphro and Natural Law
I'm interested in the Euthyphro dilemma and its treatment by various Christian thinkers. I'm familiar with Divine Command Theory and I was wondering: Is there a distinctive response from the tradition ...
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Can an ethical understanding based on evolved instincts be considered objective instead of relativistic?
Let's assume that humans have an in-built instinct to care for other humans, and that this helped us to survive in a harsh and dangerous environment, hence it was selected for. Small bands of homo ...
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Can sociobiology be used as foundation of ethics?
A primatologist or sociobiologist may claim that humans share a basic sense of (distributional) fairness with certain other primates. This claim has in fact been made and is based on rather simple ...
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Is it reasonable to request a justification for the moral axioms of an ethical system?
Suppose I am a utilitarian consequentialist who bases my morality on the axiom that we ought to maximize happiness and minimize suffering for as many living creatures as possible. Is it reasonable for ...
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What does Levinas' encounter with the Other mean/imply?
Levinas writes about ethics as the 'first' (most fundamental) philosophy - rather than ontology, epistemology or logic. He grounds ethics in our encounter with the Other (with capital 'O'). Ethical ...
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What are examples of moral principles in religions that secular ethical systems find hard to accept or justify and why?
Love and compassion are arguably universally accepted by all religions and secular ethical systems. Not murdering or torturing people randomly is also probably highly uncontested by everyone.
However, ...
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What are the key differences, with respect to meta-ethics and philosophical method, between P. F. Strawson and Alasdair Macintyre?
There seem to be some similarities. Macintyre argues that the virtues are internal to social practices and traditions while Strawson argues for a method of 'descriptive metaphysics' whereby ...
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Does the notion of "moral progress" presuppose the existence of an objective moral standard?
Consider two societies: Society A, which rejects homosexuality, opposes abortion, and endorses slavery, and Society B, which embraces sexual diversity, supports women's right to choose, and rejects ...
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On atheism, is it possible to establish that certain things have natural purposes, and that any deviation from those purposes is immoral or evil? [closed]
Consider the following quotes that motivate my question:
Quote 1:
If a philosophical framework can't objectively say, with relative ease, "This cat is injured," or, "This cat is ill,&...
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Are there non-religious variants of moral realism that defend the existence of objectively evil thoughts, intentions, and desires?
In many religions, not only actions but also thoughts, intentions, and desires can be considered evil, even if no action is taken. For instance, Jesus said that lustful thoughts count as adultery, and ...
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Why is love esteemed and lust condemned in the teachings of most world religions, and does this asymmetry also hold in secular humanism?
In many world religions, love is often regarded as a virtuous and noble emotion, while lust is frequently viewed as sinful or morally wrong. This asymmetry appears consistently across diverse ...
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Has Ayn Rand's/Objectivist ethics mutated into a self-defeating form?
Some segments from John Galt's speech (in no particular order, with emphasis added):
You have cried that man’s sins are destroying the world and you have cursed human nature for its unwillingness to ...
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What is more important upholding justice or protecting interest of few people?
To begin with let me give some background of myself. I am a student of an open university in India (distance education) and at the same time a student of another university (regular course). The ...
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Spinoza's Ethics. He didn't explain why substance has infinite attributes
My point of reference is up to Proposition 11:
God is defined as a substance of infinite attributes, yet in Ethics, Spinoza didn't prove that substance necessarily has infinite substances. He proved ...
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How to save oneself from this particular angst?
This question relates to the angst depicted in the movie Annie Hall, when the younger version of Woody Allen's character feels demotivated about life when he realizes that the universe is expanding.
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Implementing stoicism in daily life
In the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius there is a quote:
"Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and ...
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Normative ethics from a non-realist
I'm having some trouble understanding exactly what position a non-realist takes when they present a normative ethical theory.
Definition: Normative ethics is the study of ethical behaviour and is the ...
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Most Widely Held Theories of How "Moral Sense" Arises in a Culture [duplicate]
I am the kind of person who is slow to really "get" some of my fellow citizens moral sense (often codified in rules of thumb in proverbial sayings). I almost prefer the hard way of a ...
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Julia Kristeva's Black Sun/exteriorless passion
I am not a professional philosopher. Can you please explain this sentence or the idea that a writer or an artist is locked in an exteriorless passion? It is from Julia Kristeva's Black Sun in relation ...
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In moral philosophy, how do researchers perceive what is right and wrong (and why)? (For humanity, as a whole) [closed]
My question considers what our definition of right and wrong is (i.e. what's the basis of deciding what right and wrong), along with the origin of right and wrong.
In other words, what is the most ...
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Arguments against "The good life is a happy one"?
In a previous question I have referred to eudaimonia and mentioned that, I guess at least in hellenistic tradition the good life is a happy one.
However, now I wonder whether there is a counter to ...
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To what degree are we expected to identify/fix others' mistakes?
If someone makes a mistake and they appear to be unaware of it, it seems that there are some situations where we would be expected to point it out, or even directly intercede to fix it.
Example 1
I'm ...
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Is the good life a happy one?
I am curious whether the good life is also, somewhat by necessity, a happy one? I am basing this off of the concept that happiness is not merely feeling good all the time, but rather in the sense of ...
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Was Nietzsche an amoralist?
Was Friedrich Nietzsche against morality, or at least in favor of not giving it importance? For example, what would Nietzsche think of someone who qualifies for what he considers the Ubermensch or ‘...
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