Questions tagged [ethics]
For questions about ethics, a branch of philosophy dealing with morality, justice, virtue, vice, good and evil.
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Would it be ethical to prolong the suffering of other beings?
Before, I begin, I go over some pre-existing discussions related to feeding strays on this website. We have here, a discussion on ethics of feeding vs neutring, and here on ethics of supporting of ...
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Is Kantian ethics silent on most complex moral questions?
The examples Kant gives for the application of the CI (categorical imperative) are relatively simple and unproblematic.
Of course, it's contentious to regard lying for the greater good as immoral, but ...
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Can moral dilemmas be resolved in an amoral way?
By a moral dilemma I mean a situation in which there are multiple possible courses of action (or inaction) each of which leads to different outcomes and the agent has to choose which one to take. The ...
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Moral Error Theory questions
The following is a quote taken from:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-anti-realism/#Nonc
The error theorist doesn’t think that torturing innocent people is morally wrong, but doesn’t think ...
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If you save someone's life several times over, then have you only saved one life? [closed]
If you save someone's life several times over, then have you only saved one life? Likewise with groups of people, can you times it by the number of times you have done this or does the number of the ...
user65994
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Do we have an obligation to our family members outside parental responsibility and filial piety?
Do we have an obligation to our family members outside parental responsibility and filial piety? So siblings, cousins, etc., can we reasonably expect them to have different sorts of moral agency for ...
user65994
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Besides state punishment, are there any other reasons why one should not do crimes?
Committing crime can result in punishment by the judiciary.
Assuming extreme skepticism and that there is no flawless proof of an absolute goodness, are there any reasons that why one should not do ...
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Virtue Ethics approach to the Trolley Problem
What would virtue ethics have to say about the Trolley Problem?
The famous Trolley Problem is as follows:
You are riding in a trolley without functioning brakes, headed toward a switch in the tracks. ...
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To which philosophical direction, theory or philosopher does this panel from comic named "the allegory of the trolley problem paradox" refer to?
I figured out the rest of panels, but stuck on this one. I think it's related to philosophy of language, but I can't pin down more specific answer for this one.
As far as I understand it's about a ...
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Is it possible get good things back in life, by doing bad things to others?
It is often claimed that doing good things for others will result in good things happening for the giver in return, but can the following statement be true?:
Do bad things to others and good things ...
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(For Christian Moral Theologians) What is the third moral principle that forbids gender change? [closed]
Shortly after the beginning, Cain kills Abel. (Genesis 4:8) In light of this, God sees it fit to create a new moral rule for all of humanity.
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.&...
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Did any philosophers defend Slave Morality?
I think slave morality creates a peaceful society and Master morality would be negative for most people. To restrain ambition and desire is one of the reasons mankind have survived so long.
But slave ...
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For St. Thomas Aquinas, is speaking what is true with the intent to deceive a immoral?
For Saint Thomas Aquinas, the essence of lying (lying is always immoral for him) has nothing to do with the intention to deceive (Summa Theologica II-II q. 110 a. 1 co.):
Accordingly if these three ...
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Are there any stoic suggestions around dealing with unneeded hard truths and happy unknowing minds?
Say I really liked sausage, one day decided to learn how it was made, and came out disgusted though not morally opposed.
Later, someone is telling me they really like sausage. They are happy liking ...
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The Ethics of Finding Comfort in Religion: Balancing Personal Benefits and Societal Harm
Is it morally justifiable for individuals to continue practicing a religion solely for the psychological comfort it provides, while turning a blind eye to the potential dangers of the religion's power ...
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What are the consequeces of using mimicry in AI for a more comfortable human interface? [closed]
I found this from a Wikipedia article on Animal Deception:
One of the most common levels of deception is the first level of deception: mimicry is the similarity of one species to another which ...
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who or what has the proper role of deciding the proportionality of a criminal sanction or criminalising a conduct?
is proportionality of a punishment decided by society itself ? if proportionality is basically "whatever society deems fit" then isn't the whole concept of proportionality undermined ? since ...
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Can beliefs be immoral?
Suppose a white supremacist to whom non-white races are inferior. Do they commit an immoral act insofar as they verbally or physically act on what they believe? Or is the belief itself immoral?
What’s ...
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What are the ramifications of an AI Bot passing a legal competency test?
The criteria for judging competence to stand trial was articulated in
the 1960 Supreme Court decision Dusky v. United States. Dusky states
that to be competent to stand trial, a defendant must have a “...
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Is the ideal agent the ideal observer?
Is the ideal agent the ideal observer?
Without googling it, I mean the former is the best moral agent, and the latter some meta-ethical (can't recall what meta-ethics) abstraction that judges everyone'...
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Why would a God (who can bring back or look after the dead) have a reason to think murder is wrong? [closed]
Apologists for various religions often say murder is obviously wrong. That often tracks if you imagine from the perspective of a human. However, I don't see how that could possibly be what a God would ...
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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?
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What are the ethics of limiting another's agency in the name of protection?
What are the ethics, if any, of limiting another person's agency and personal freedom in the name of mutual protection?
Consider the following example:
Alice and Bob are partners and both adults.
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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 ...
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What are the arguments against libertarianism?
Libertarians "prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery" (Thomas Jefferson). All forms of libertarianism endorse full self-ownership and freedom. To them, each human has the absolute ...
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What are the limits to artistic freedom?
There is no branch of work amongst the arts so free as that of fiction. Fiction authors imagine and distribute offensive expressions free of governmental censorship and interference. At the present ...
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How do we forgive our debtors?
Lord's prayer says:
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
In this sentence it seems assumed that we are capable to forgive "our debtors". I do not understand how we ...
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Is there such a thing as sexual morality?
People hold ambivalent feelings about sexual activity. Libertarians rank "sexuality" alongside morally neutral activities the significance of which would be determined in terms of their ...
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When do we blame someone for their foolhardiness?
When do we blame someone for their foolhardiness? We might think that someone whose intentions are good are excused from its excesses. But take someone (and I hope this isn't offensive) who volunteers ...
user65174
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Does a suicide understand what he is doing? [closed]
In the answer to the question on what religion is, I wrote
We, each of us individually, feel a sense of self worth, a sense that something of great value will be lost if we cease to be.
This led to ...
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Brain states, morality and free will: What can we discern from the case of the schoolteacher who became a pedophile post-brain tumor?
Roughly 20 years ago, a disturbing story hit the news media: Nightmare experience for man whose cancer turned him into a pedophile.
The presence of an egg-sized brain tumour is claimed to have ...
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Can moral truths be known a priori or are they based on experience?
I am currently working on an essay that explores the concept of a priori knowledge and whether or not it can exist. I would love to hear any thoughts or opinions on this topic that anyone may have.
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Justice and moral relativism?
Is there any framework of justice which accomodates moral relativism?
Consider, Rawls theory of justice, the viel of ignorance is difficult to justify when there are multiple definitions of informed ...
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What should be the primary focus of the criminal justice system?
The main theories of motives for punishment are retribution, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and deterrence. Which should be hierarchically the primary focuses of punishment? and which views have the ...
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Is it logical to seek revenge?
People believe revenge or "violence" to be illogical, impractical and immoral; illogical because the "violence" is executed in impulsive rage, impractical because the wheel of &...
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what are the arguments against general and broad application of law?
Ethical arguments against it basically , for example laws that limit or outright abolish affirmative defences for breaking them or are clearly intended to be applied broadly to every literal case of ...
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What is the value of maintaining an interest in catastrophe? [closed]
If i can't help the people I see suffering in the news, what is the value in watching it, given how bad it makes me feel?
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According to Dustin Locke, when can we be "practically certain"?
Dustin Locke
argues that assuming that p is (rather than engage in probabilistic
reasoning regarding p) is rationally permissible when it is
practically certain. So understood, moral or practical ...
user65174
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What are the arguments for pornography?
It is believed that pornography "violates" the humanity of those involved; that sexually explicit materials reduce people to objects or bodies used primarily for the sexual gratification of ...
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Is there any record that Darwin's book, "The Origin of Species ... or the Preservation of Favored Races " has had an effect on racial justice?
Is there any historical record that Darwin's book, The Origin of Species by Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle of Life has instigated actions by men, societies, or ...
user64825
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What justifies "virtue ethics" or other forms of ethics emphasizing "virtues"?
I don't see what justifies naturalistic virtue ethics, or other forms of ethics that put forward virtues, for instance non-naturalistic command ethics.
To me, implementing an ethics that emphasizes ...
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Given I have no moral knowledge, can I still know what the best course of action is?
Given I have no moral knowledge, can I still know what the best course of action is? Do moral non-cognitivists or error theorists know that they shouldn't steal the car, that they should go buy milk, ...
user65174
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Epistemic failure and blaming others [closed]
It seems we have epistemic responsibilities
To be responsible is to be the proper object of one or more of the
normative rather than evaluative attitudes, namely praise, blame, or
neutral appraisal. ...
user65174
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Were Caesar's murderers more powerful than him?
Nietzsche seems to think that power is the greatest virtue
Only as image of the highest virtue came gold to the highest value.
Goldlike, beameth the glance of the bestower. Gold-lustre maketh peace
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user65174
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Question regarding extrapolating Peter Singer's 1972 paper--"Famine, Affluence and Morality."
"Famine, Affluence and Morality" by Peter Singer's conclusion-- Donating to charity is morally obligatory and not supererogatory.
When further asked how much to donate-- as much as we ...
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When and by whom was the Strawsonian Framework extended to forward looking responsibility?
As I understand it, theories concerning forward-looking responsibility existed before Strawsons 1962 "Freedom and Resentment".
The Categorization of it as backward-looking and the ...
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Ethical naturalism and moral naturalism
This article (Shook, 2015) makes a distinction between "ethical naturalism" and "moral naturalism":
Moral naturalism as defined at the conclusion of the previous section
is ...
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What is the ethical philosophy of European Romanticism?
The ethics of (secular) humanism is consequentialist 1, arguably epicurean 2 . I believe the ethics of the European Enlightenment could be said epicureanism also.
But what is the ethics of European ...
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Are choices that lead to harm if required by duty or executed with consent still ethical?
If people carried out actions which could potentially harm others, and others consented to the person carrying out the action, is carrying out such an action still ethical? If I were to judge this ...
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Social norms and Ethics (also called moral philosophy)
Are the discussions over social norms such as "manliness" (or what we might call gender identity), the tolerance or not on homosexuality, polygamy vs monogamy, the obligation or not for ...
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