Questions tagged [social-ethics]
The social-ethics tag has no usage guidance.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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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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 ...
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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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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 ...
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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
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 (...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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.
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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 ...
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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 $...
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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 ...
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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.
...
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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? ...
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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)?
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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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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 ...
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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?
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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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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 ...
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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, ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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?
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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 ...
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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 ...
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