Questions tagged [social-ethics]

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Is there something "morally weird" about social media sites with downvote functions?

I was thinking of the democracy-theoretic reason for the function here or on Reddit (the main examples I can think of at the moment), but then I remembered: When we vote for political officers, we ...
Kristian Berry's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
62 views

Is there a moral dilemma in democide studies?

Accusing a regime or other political organization of mass killing can be a fairly effective way of riling people up. But a lot of the relevant statistics seem lacking in direct support; we don't often ...
Kristian Berry's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
176 views

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?
真個しんこ's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
82 views

in the event of two or more possible interpretations of a law who should the law be interpreted in favour of?

if courts have the power to use any rule of interpretation (golden rule , mischief rule , purposive rule etc) then which interpretation should be chosen ? the one in favour of the accused , the one in ...
OldAccount2005's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
67 views

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 ...
OldAccount2005's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
22 views

Is there a term that extends the Real Subsumption of Labour to society as a whole?

I am currently doing some research on Marx's concept of Real Subsumption of Labour, which refers to the process of capitalist production transforming from a formal subsumption (using pre-existing ...
cricket900's user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
1k views

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?
user avatar
3 votes
5 answers
478 views

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 ...
Futilitarian's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
27 views

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 ...
Futilitarian's user avatar
  • 3,996
3 votes
4 answers
128 views

Is an equal outcome necessary to differentiate between equity and equality?

Based on the answer provided here, it seems to me that when the word "equity" is used in relation to "equality," an equal outcome is necessary in order to differentiate between ...
OutwardThinking's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
68 views

How to act smartly so that people don't take you for granted? [closed]

In our daily life, we meet some people & friends who will make you part of their tough times (share about tough days/Seek support and help) but They don't make you part of his/her happy times (...
Satya's user avatar
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-1 votes
2 answers
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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 ...
Long Horn's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
365 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 ...
XXJoJo's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
23 views

Looking for theories/references about how social conventions are formed and followed

Social changes happen all the time. Sometimes changes lead to conventions. Certain ways of living, certain lifestyles, certain regulations become conventional. People follow them without questioning ...
Sasan's user avatar
  • 511
0 votes
2 answers
543 views

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 ...
Rony's user avatar
  • 25
1 vote
2 answers
128 views

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 ...
Roger Vadim's user avatar
  • 1,515
2 votes
3 answers
131 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 ...
Joselin Jocklingson's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
43 views

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.
Joselin Jocklingson's user avatar
1 vote
6 answers
335 views

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 ...
Sourte's user avatar
  • 27
0 votes
0 answers
49 views

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 $...
Stefanie Gauss's user avatar
6 votes
5 answers
4k views

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 ...
Chris Rogers's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
52 views

Pretending toward a cause to stave off genuine uptake

I’ve been trying to determine if there’s an actual name or phrase for such a concept. Or if there are any examples in history or literature that actually describe or make use of this concept. ...
StuyvesantBlue's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
42 views

Philosopher that highlights that identity is made by societal standards?

I'm currently writing an essay on social media and its toxic effects on our sense of identity. Would you know of any philosophers that believe that our identity is constructed by society's standards? ...
Kev's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
68 views

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)?
bob johnson's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
65 views

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 ...
sasquires's user avatar
  • 111
2 votes
3 answers
164 views

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 ...
matcheek's user avatar
  • 137
-2 votes
2 answers
141 views

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 ...
Abraham's user avatar
  • 473
4 votes
2 answers
102 views

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 ...
leventov's user avatar
  • 141
2 votes
4 answers
339 views

If Free Will Is Proven Illusory, Is There a Case for Suppressing the Finding?

NOTE: This question does not assume the existence or non-existence of free will. Dan Dennett, Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University, states that when "...neuroscientists who've been going ...
Futilitarian's user avatar
  • 3,996
2 votes
1 answer
174 views

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 ...
s137's user avatar
  • 31
1 vote
0 answers
62 views

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 ...
Ferkan Zeki's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
66 views

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 ...
jboy's user avatar
  • 109
0 votes
1 answer
207 views

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 ...
Justas's user avatar
  • 423
3 votes
2 answers
387 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 ...
TomNoook's user avatar
27 votes
12 answers
7k views

How can one argue against income inequality while defending achievement and expertise inequality - beyond invoking Rawls' difference principle?

Update: Based on some of the comments and answers, I feel like I need to clarify something. I wasn't saying that scientists and intellectuals are necessarily the ones making millions of dollars a year ...
Alexander S King's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
247 views

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 ...
brainoverflow98's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
105 views

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/...
Alex's user avatar
  • 1
-1 votes
3 answers
184 views

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 ...
Ted's user avatar
  • 158
1 vote
2 answers
2k views

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?
Pallab Behari Chaklanabis's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
193 views

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 ...
John F101's user avatar
-4 votes
1 answer
188 views

How is it possible that so many people get together, get married, have kids and *then* divorce and break up? [closed]

I have always been fundamentally baffled about this fact, as a male currently in his mid-30s who never managed to attract any female. If this had happened, and we had got so far as to get married, ...
Stavros's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
56 views

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, ...
TheMisfit's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
153 views

Should we forgive?

Religion and to some degree philosophy, may promote forgiveness. But how do you deal with: when people see that you forgive, that may give them a lesson that it is "ok" to do that to you. Another ...
nonopolarity's user avatar
31 votes
15 answers
17k views

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, ...
Adam Ledger's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
766 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, ...
Pro Q's user avatar
  • 403
1 vote
1 answer
117 views

Is there any way to gain "truth"/accuracy in social truth? How?

Is there any way to gain "truth"/accuracy in social truth? How? What seems to make it difficult is that I don't know if social truth has any generally accepted epistemologies, truth deduction ...
mavavilj's user avatar
  • 2,864
-1 votes
1 answer
192 views

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 ...
Pro Q's user avatar
  • 403
2 votes
2 answers
68 views

Ernesto Laclau: 'Any repetition that is governed by a structural law of successions is space'

There is a debate going on about Ernesto Laclau's argument that any repetition that is governed by a structural law of successions is space But what does he actually mean by that?
siwmas's user avatar
  • 23
0 votes
1 answer
265 views

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 ...
Puzzle's user avatar
  • 281
2 votes
3 answers
206 views

What is the basis of the belief that words themselves can be hurtful and verbal aggression should be weeded out?

I used to believe that verbal aggression on its own is a minor issue and that, while insults, contemptuous language, unwelcome sexual advances and the likes are far from praiseworthy, they are ...
gaazkam's user avatar
  • 947