New answers tagged ethics
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Resource request for philosophical arguments regarding the ethics of killing animals
There are many philosophical resources and arguments that can help you understand the ethics of killing animals, but I will try to give you a brief overview of some of the main ones.
One of the most ...
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Self discipline moral or immoral?
No, controlling others infringes their personal rights; controlling oneself does not. The distinction has many parallels. For instance:
It is not considered immoral to lie in the your bath reading the ...
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Self discipline moral or immoral?
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has at least two articles that are directly pertinent to this question:
Autonomy in Moral and Political Philosophy
Personal Autonomy
And the Internet ...
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Resource request for philosophical arguments regarding the ethics of killing animals
Most vegans take more of a middle ground.
A prominent definition of veganism is to avoid causing animal exploitation or cruelty "as far as is possible and practicable".
Most vegans accept ...
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Is Ayn Rand's Objectivism practical at all?
You refer to a novel, albeit it describes a philosophy. The problem you fear is called "moral hazard" by economists. If you are all headed for a zero mark, then you will get zero. You have ...
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Resource request for philosophical arguments regarding the ethics of killing animals
The middle ground you seek comes not from inward philosophical reflection or application of the ethics of modern human to human relationships, but from anthropology and observations of the natural ...
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Resource request for philosophical arguments regarding the ethics of killing animals
Killing animals ranges from common place (I buy a dead chicken at least once a month) to abhorrent (I have two dogs I would place myself in harm's way to protect from coyotes in my neighborhood). The ...
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Aristotle's Happiness Argument
Aristotle speaks about eudaimonia ("ευδαιμονία"). Εudaimonia is not just sent by the Gods (good luck, fate etc), but is obtained by a continuous practice of virtue. Εudaimonia is an-end-in-...
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Aggregate utility and the sadistic theatre
It's a classic and very effective critique of utilitarianism. Le Guin's "The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas" has been mentioned. Along the same lines, I enjoyed reading Steven Lukes' "...
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What did Robert Nozick mean by "subjunctive information"?
I like to think of subjunctive as any claim that can be prefaced "Were it that...". Were it that slavery had been abolished before the US Constitution was ratified. Were it that women were ...
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What did Robert Nozick mean by "subjunctive information"?
The subjunctive is a mood in grammar. The subjunctive is common in Latin and in romance languages, but rare in English. It is more usual in English to use auxiliary verbs such as would, could, and ...
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What did Robert Nozick mean by "subjunctive information"?
As @Conifold points out in comments, this is basically defined in the next few words.
Subjunctive information =
what would have occurred (or a probability distribution over what might have occurred, ...
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Why are euthanasia and suicide considered inhumane?
I'm going to use this definition of humane:
A humane person is one who shows great compassion and caring for others, including animals, and who tries whenever possible to alleviate another's ...
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Why are euthanasia and suicide considered inhumane?
I am confused by the inclusion of suicide in your question. Leaving that aside, I will address euthanasia. For me, this comes down to bodily autonomy. This is guaranteed in the UN Declaration of Human ...
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Does childism influence evolution of humans?
On how youthful characters can help propel biological evolution, you may wish to check the concept of neoteny, which describes how new species can appear by retaining in adults traits previously seen ...
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Does childism influence evolution of humans?
It's really nice question.
I think Childism can be path towards Evolution.
Child
Meaning: A child is a young human being, typically one who has not yet reached the age of puberty or adulthood.
...
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Does childism influence evolution of humans?
If you mean evolution in the biological sense, then childism is far too new of an idea to have had any noticeable impact on that. Although many animals, humans included, instinctively care about ...
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On a reductionist/functionalist account of consciousness, would we have ethical obligations toward robots?
This is easy to approach with the proper definitions.
Morals are a set of rules which improve social interactions (for multiple goals, for example, survival: it is not moral to kill because it reduces ...
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On a reductionist/functionalist account of consciousness, would we have ethical obligations toward robots?
If robots achieve (human-level) consciousness, we likely wouldn't have a good differentiating criteria between human and robot for ethical consideration.
On a related note, vegans argue that we don't ...
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On a reductionist/functionalist account of consciousness, would we have ethical obligations toward robots?
Consciousness cannot arise out of a machine.
If it could we would have seen it, even in a basic level. If on the other hand you believe that a machine can be made as having consciousness by design, ...
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Do we truly own our bodies?
I am not sure what you mean by not free and taking something from our bodies. What makes you think that we are not free? Do you mean mutilation? Apart from that, I think you may be raising an ...
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Is Ethics essentially the same as Utilitarianism?
No. I agree that we evolved a code of ethics or morality as we have evolved. But ethics is not utilitarianism. Ethics is wider than that. There is an ethical aspect to utilitarianism, but it is wider ...
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Was Robin Hood's point of view ethically sound?
First, there was no free market at that time. It was a feudal society. Secondly, Robin Hood's main motivation was to restore the rightful monarch and restore his own social position. The morality of ...
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Nozick-like argument for property rights?
Under Scots Law, the de jure position is that ownership of heritable property (land) depends on holding title. This has long since been codified. But originally, title was established by occupation of ...
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Does every nation on Earth have a right to exist or do only peaceful nations have a right to exist?
Technically a nation is just a large collective of people that agree that their they are in a group relationship with each other due to their common, language, heritage, culture, customs, tradition or ...
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Does every nation on Earth have a right to exist or do only peaceful nations have a right to exist?
For the sake of argument, I'll assume you hold to a moral principle that respects a human's right to life, with the caveat that this right is suspended if you point a gun at someone. This could come ...
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Does every nation on Earth have a right to exist or do only peaceful nations have a right to exist?
The United Nations is still considering whether or waging aggressive war should be declared a war crime. That being so, it seems that current international law does not require nations to be peaceful. ...
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Is Ethics essentially the same as Utilitarianism?
Every attempt to define "good" leads inevitably in a restriction of its meaning, of its value, by containing it in a box of an ideological construct.
History and humans decided in favor of ...
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Is Ethics essentially the same as Utilitarianism?
I think the thrust of your thinking is right- we have inherited a sense of what is ethical or moral through evolution, so presumably it helped increase our chances of survival. Perhaps there are two ...
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Is Ethics essentially the same as Utilitarianism?
How could all ethical questions be reduced to subquestions of, "What makes for the greatest good for the greatest number?" or, "What maximizes the sum of intrinsic value now and through ...
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Does every nation on Earth have a right to exist or do only peaceful nations have a right to exist?
"Nation" has multiple meanings. One meaning is something like a tribe or clan, a group of related people. I'll assume you don't mean that, because then your question would amount to whether ...
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Does every nation on Earth have a right to exist or do only peaceful nations have a right to exist?
The expression “to have a right” can be misleading. Because juridical obligations and juridical rights are not discovered like a law of nature or like a treasure in the earth. Juridical obligations ...
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Does every nation on Earth have a right to exist or do only peaceful nations have a right to exist?
Self-determination, is what gives every nation on Earth the right to exist.
Conflicts and wars between nations arise in history as part of their evolution. Saying that a nation does not have the right ...
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How can I maintain integrity when requested to use gender pronouns yet still be loving?
Let's generalise the problem. It boils down to the following: your friend would like you to behave in a way that conflicts with your personal values. You have a number of choices about how to respond. ...
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How can I maintain integrity when requested to use gender pronouns yet still be loving?
Let's look at the possibilities here:
You're just resistant to change. I have a close friend who changed his name. I didn't like his new name, I had trouble pronouncing it, I constantly forgot it, I ...
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How can one reconcile moral objection to wage slavery with the societial need for money?
I would like to point out that a small but significant minority of people do not fit your description. There are people who live entirely on the income of inherited or invested wealth. There are ...
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Am I morally obligated to campaign for a cause I believe in?
No. utilitarianism might suggest yes. But it is better to realise your full potential. Utilitarianism would recognise this as well. Better to be a good physicist than a mediocre physician. Leaving ...
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Is there a nation in the history who has valued hypocrisy?
It seems to me that most individuals value harmony over truth. A soft lie is preferable to a hard truth. As to hypocrisy and lies, it is abundant in politics, advertising, and diplomacy. So our ...
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Ethics of involuntary participation in an unethical hegemony
You cite some good examples. If you look at Das Kapital by Karl Marx, you can see that it is implicit that the worker is forced to participate in the capitalist system. They are metaphorically in ...
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Is there any idea of goodness which is absolute?
If by absolute, you mean universal, I think that is possible. I like the comparison of goodness with value or meaning. Evil is disvalue or meaninglessness. I am pulling this moral conception into a ...
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Is there any idea of goodness which is absolute?
Goodness is a quality ascribed by humans, so what one person considers good another might not. Lenient treatment of slaves, for example, with only token thrashings, might have been considered good at ...
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Is there any idea of goodness which is absolute?
In the context of European philosophy the first answer which comes to mind is Plato’s concept of the Form of the Good. In his work “The Republic (politeia)”, Plato does not give a definion but ...
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Should I respect other people's religions?
No. We do not need to respect religions in the sense of accepting their propositions. It is necessary to respect freedom of religion. This allows tolerance of all religions and lack of religion. The ...
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When should a state have a right to prohibit abortion?
Never. It violates the right to bodily autonomy and is state interference in private and family life. Evidence-based regulation of abortion is justified. As to religious beliefs about conception, ...
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What is the moral difference between saving a life and creating a life?
Read this Quora answer to a question about regret. A doctor, an army surgeon, answered. It seems he saved a man who had been injured by an explosive. 10 or so hours of surgery later the man was in a ...
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What is the moral difference between saving a life and creating a life?
To begin, the prevailing attitudes to abortion and other social issues are cultural, which means that you can expect them to be determined by a large number of factors, at least some of which may be ...
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