All Questions
Tagged with ethics social-ethics
82 questions
5
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Unifying property of ethical theories?
Let’s say there are different theories for what the defining properties of “ethicality” are. Some theories think in utilitarian terms and in terms of maximizing subjective goodness or badness (...
- 4,048
6
votes
4
answers
670
views
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 ...
user77058
3
votes
1
answer
100
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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 ...
- 141
0
votes
1
answer
77
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What role should victims have in determining punishment for crimes? [closed]
If we care about retributive justice , that is the principle of proportional penalty , are victims the best judges of what penalties to hand out ? Since the goal is to cause equal suffering to the ...
1
vote
0
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62
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We live in a hypocritical society, devoid of ethics! [closed]
We meticulously groom ourselves, applying makeup before stepping out, so that everyone admires our beauty. Yet, we feel uncomfortable if someone stares at us. If we were truly dressing up for our the ...
3
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0
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114
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is there a civic and/or moral duty or obligation for one to be an 'active citizen in a democracy'? [closed]
reading a post on daily nous the other day, i saw the comment by columbia college chicago professor s. asma that
students cannot just learn about game design and digital editing, and not learn about ...
- 1,868
8
votes
12
answers
5k
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When is it ethical to be ethical towards the unethical?
Suppose there are some criminals who have no respect for ethics and will lie/cheat/steal/kill whenever they perceive it could gain them some advantage. Suppose that to treat these people with fairness ...
- 18.9k
4
votes
1
answer
167
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Ethics of involuntary participation in an unethical hegemony
If you're an anticapitalist in the West or Global North you're an unwilling participant in the prevailing hegemony (capitalism), but usually without much choice. You can't find shelter without ...
- 141
2
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3
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171
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What is the moral difference between saving a life and creating a life?
In modern society, a lot of people think that giving birth is either wrong if it leads to some suffering or at the very least non-morally optional. However, saving a life is considered good. Why is ...
- 571
4
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1
answer
469
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Who are some philosophers who explore the possibility/impossibility of the intimacy of understanding others?
Can one ever be understood? When people say “yeah, I feel you” do they really? Is language enough of an outlet to transmit feelings with enough exactitude?
- 85
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2
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82
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is not allowing mistake of law as a defence in criminal trials unjust?
the burden of proof when it comes to providing defences is up to the defendant when they make a claim. since that burden of proof exists and assuming a defendant can prove that they didn't know the ...
- 163
2
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5
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4k
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What did Dostoyevski mean with his character saying "Without God and the afterlife, all things are allowed"?
Is Dostoyevski making a socially consequential statement--or warning--about a society that turns its back on God? If so, did Russia, his homeland, pay any attention to him?
user64825
3
votes
5
answers
2k
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Violence vs Sex: Why are we typically more comfortable with graphic violence than explicit sex in gaming, television and film? [closed]
There is an apparent correlation between exposure to violence via the media and gaming, and anxiety, fear, aggression and desensitisation to violence.
My observations may be biased or unusual, but it ...
- 4,517
1
vote
0
answers
32
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Ethics: Could futurology be employed to accelerate the pace of social reform?
Social injustices tend to be addressed thanks largely to activism conducted by those who are early to identify shortcomings in social attitudes and/or government policy; those affected directly and ...
- 4,517
-1
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2
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297
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Why is human cloning so controversial while identical twins are an accepted phenomenon?
Suppose an unmarried person A wants a child B. Some theoretical possibilities are (i) adoption, (ii) in vitro fertilization, and (iii) cloning. I wonder why cloning has been universally controversial ...
0
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2
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387
views
In a love relationship, is the responsibility of adultery shared or is it individual?
If a person has sex with another engaged individual, knowing that the individual is engaged/married to another person, is the engaged individual fully moral responsible for the betrayal or is the ...
- 39
0
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2
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554
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Is it morally wrong to deny food to the mother in this specific case?
A women has two sons, A and B. The son A has denied to keep her, take care of hers and give her food. The woman strongly loves Son A but not Son B. So, she decides to stay at Son A for most of the ...
- 25
2
votes
2
answers
270
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Is it ethical to impose ethical values on others? [closed]
The question is motivated by reading the discussions on veganism:
Is 'veganism' a settled issue in Philosophy and Ethics?
Why is it okay to eat meat but not to be cruel to animals?
While these threads ...
- 2,032
2
votes
3
answers
139
views
Mixing of people and peace [closed]
I would like to know people's opinions on the following philosophical question.
Is It necessary for people belonging to different populations to mix in order to ensure peace among them?
What is ...
0
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1
answer
46
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Consequences of thinking nobody is like one's self [closed]
I was wondering if anyone has pondered what the consequences might be of thinking that nobody is like one's self?
Thanks.
1
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6
answers
395
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What is the difference between a threat and a contract?
Here are a few social situations:
Situation A: A hungry person goes into a shop. The shopkeeper offers to give him food, but on condition that he receives money.
Situation B: An unemployed person ...
- 27
0
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0
answers
52
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When a person deserves US$120,000 as a salary, is using some technique to pay him $100,000 ethical?
I wonder what "ethical" or "moral" definition or meaning can be used here.
Sometimes, we know that for a new graduate or senior software engineer, the market rate should be about $...
- 403
12
votes
7
answers
8k
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Why do we prohibit consensual incestuous relationships?
When talking about sexual relationships between brothers and sisters, our initial intuition might be, “Well that’s just wrong. There’s something immoral about that”. Now, to examine the logic, I ...
- 361
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0
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74
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Could ethics be grounded in a law of nature?
Assuming that morality is objective, is it possible that the reason there are moral truths (i.e it is wrong to harm children) is because of an undiscovered law of nature (like gravity)?
- 11
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3
answers
121
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Reference for a particular anecdote about the cultural basis of the ethics of homicide
I originally posted this on psychology SE but received no response, so I am cross-posting here. It seems appropriate for philosophy SE because the cultural dependence of ethics is generally a subject ...
- 151
2
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3
answers
181
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Are different conception of morality just new terms for science-friendly versions of religions?
Note: religion is herein defined as "a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith".
Given that there are multiple mutually exclusive conceptions of morality, both ...
- 137
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2
answers
192
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Are moral standards unchanging?
I've recently read a manga closely related to ethics here.
In this manga, the old teacher mentions how our definition of "justice" seems to change from time to time.
After afew re-reads, it ...
- 503
4
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2
answers
158
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Morality of perpetuating a "bad" system by doing something "good" within it
I could live and marginally improve other people's lives in a country with an authoritarian, oppressive regime. While doing so, I will pay taxes and will generally increase the chances that this ...
- 141
2
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1
answer
388
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Is it ethically OK to read letters of a dead person, that were not addressed to you?
I hope, this stackexchange site, is the right one for this topic, because I have more of a morality/ethics question than plain philosophy.
I've been researching my family history for quite some time ...
- 31
1
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0
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68
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According to contemporary philosophical theoreies, from what is morality derived and what is it for in the context of society?
In Arabic, we have the concept 'ahlak' which is often translated into english as 'moral', but in fact they are not the same, and so following the principle of exegetical neutrality, I shall simply use ...
- 63
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0
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75
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Arguments on censorship of the internet
I'm looking for philosophical or ethical takes on the question of whether government/companies should intervene/"censor" the internet.
Given that today, social networking sites such as ...
- 109
0
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1
answer
248
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Are Borat-style pranks ethical?
In Borat and related works, pranks tend to follow the following course.
An impersonator will pretend to be a bigoted (e.g. racist, sexist, or anti-Semitic) character.
The impersonator will then ...
- 443
3
votes
2
answers
723
views
What are some arguments for judging historical figures by contemporary standards?
I've seen quite a lot of arguments against judging historical figures by modern standards, most representatively by the principle of moral relativism. Is there any argument for it though? The only ...
- 37
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0
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263
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What kind of sexual act is moral?
As far as I know if someone doesn't believe in a divine entity that is the source of morality he/she considers morality to be subjective. He/she believes morality exists to minimize the pain and ...
- 117
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0
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115
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Is there a philosophical framework for deciding on exposing humanity changing technology?
Let us assume, there is an inventor who thinks he/she is possess a humanity altering technology. For example, an artificial intelligence. He/she is also concerned, with possible adverse effects, his/...
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-1
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3
answers
207
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Victim blaming in violent crimes
After a recent court case where two men were convicted of torturing, raping and eventually killing a young woman, a lot of victim blaming went on in the media and in many private conversations.
I ...
- 158
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2
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2k
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Who were the famous moral nihilists (philosophers) of 20th and 19th century?
If existential nihilism claims nothing has meaning does it also take moral values in to account?
2
votes
3
answers
196
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Should we place our own good before our nation's good? [closed]
I'm currently writing a screenplay, and one of the philosophical themes arises out of a very specific conflict, with I call:
INDIVIDUAL BENEFIT vs STATE BENEFIT.
One of the characters sacrifices ...
- 143
1
vote
0
answers
60
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What is the idea that a moral system is ethical if it can function when everyone in a community adheres to it?
What is the ethical paradigm from the title called?
To restate the concept in the negative, a moral system would be considered unethical if, when universally adhered to by everyone in a community, ...
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33
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16
answers
18k
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Was Robin Hood's point of view ethically sound?
The story of Robin Hood was a favourite of mine as a child.
But as an adult, I am beginning to change my mind for a couple of reasons.
The first being that if we assume a free market exists, ...
- 515
1
vote
3
answers
973
views
When is it okay to criticize someone?
Both in my family life and in politics, I see people running into the following dilemma.
Some entity (a person, or an organization, or a country) is doing something that someone sees as wrong. So, ...
- 423
-1
votes
1
answer
212
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Is having a “type” ethical?
Some people have a particular “type”, a person with particular physical aspects that they look for in a partner.
What ethical frameworks can be used to evaluate this phenomena? Do those frameworks ...
- 423
0
votes
1
answer
341
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What will future generations condemn us for? [closed]
I can think of the following:
Human-created mass extinctions
Industrial meat production
Institutionalisation and isolation of the elderly
Environment destruction
What are other contemporary ...
- 281
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3
answers
205
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It is oppressive for youths to have laws that prohibit something exclusive to them? [closed]
I don't belong to the group of youths, but one does not need to belong to the particular group in order to defend their interests, like in the case of animal rights movements. Also, I belonged to it, ...
- 2,764
-1
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1
answer
72
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Deterrent effect of nuclear weapons in comparison with carrying Firearms?
Would it be feasible to to compare the deterrent effect of nuclear weapons between nuclear armed countries (if such exist),
with the deterrent effect of a majority of citizen carrying firearms, inside ...
- 103
13
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5
answers
3k
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Can the act of having certain thoughts be unethical? [duplicate]
On the basis of Western morality, the Greco-Roman Judeo-Christian one, behaviors like killing, betraying, cursing are considered immoral. Christianity imposes that thoughts can be corrupt, therefore ...
user31740
1
vote
1
answer
4k
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What are the facts and what is the truth? [duplicate]
As I ask this know;
I purely ask this from a social point of view. As in conversations with others.
It's a random thought and kinda funny when I started thinking about it.
What's a fact?
Something ...
- 32
2
votes
1
answer
160
views
Who else has explored the ‘cad problem’?
Is there anything in philosophy (presumably ethics) that specifically explores what I’ve called the “cad problem”.
Simply put, how should an individual (or a distinct group) that focuses on self ...
- 129
4
votes
3
answers
778
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Is evolutionary "morality" really the same thing as human morality?
In a different question I asked, Chris Johns' answer pinpointed exactly why all of the answers didn't satisfy me, so I'd like to ask a follow-up question which will further focus my question - would ...
- 4,144
3
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5
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417
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Evolution - how (epistemologically) an instinctive moral is possible?
I've asked a question about how evolution would explain morality, which lead me to a more basic question - if an instinct would tell the group members to act altruistically, where would that instinct ...
- 4,144