Ethics

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Prof Michael Sandel presents the first in a series of lectures from his Harvard undergraduate course in Political Philosophy. He explores the morality of murder and asks whether there can ever be a case for killing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/ Ethics

In addition, find arguments for and against War, Animal Rights, Male Circumcision, Euthanasia, Abortion, Forced Marriage, and Slavery.

21 thoughts on “Ethics”

  1. Is it moral to stop one of your best friends from doing what they see necessary to do (something that could hurt them)?

  2. Please reply.

    How reliable are mental institutions in helping with “mental” patients in recovering to sanity?
    Is it moral to allow mental institutions to exist?
    What constitutes as sanity and insanity?

  3. The chapter “Ethics” in the Theory of Knowledge book has topics about “Moral reasoning, Moral relativism, Self-Interest Theory, Theories of Ethics, Duty Ethics and Ultilitarianism.” The topic that I want to specifically focus in on is the “Self-Interest Theory.” The Self-Interest Theory suggests that “human beings are always and everywhere selfish.” Which is also and idea that I believe is to be true. There are the four theories to discuss this claim and also to criticize it; the definitional argument, evolutionary argument, hidden benefits argument and the fear of punishment argument.
    The first theory which is the “Definitional argument” argues that no matter what you do, it is always selfish. An important example from the text uses Mother Teresa and Donald Trump. Mother Teresa does what she wants, which is to help the poor people, now to respond to your own desires that gives you pleasure is being selfish. However Mother Teresa is responding to her own desires as a means to help the poor, so is she being selfish? Donald Trump makes off millions of dollars, however it’s his interest to make money, so does that mean that he’s being selfish? They, Mother Teresa and Donald Trump are both responding to their desires, the criticism however is that we should always distinguish the differences between “self regarding desires and other regarding desires.”
    The Evolutionary Argument states that we as human beings are selfish because it is in human nature to fight for survival, thus it is in the best of every humans interest to respond to our natural instinct of selfish desires. The criticism explains that there is also evidence that we also inherit feelings of empathy and altruism besides our selfish instincts. An experiment with monkeys show that monkeys will sacrifice food if it means that another monkey doesn’t get hurt.
    The Hidden Benefits Argument states that we are kind to others because it will gain us praise, gratitude and a”positive image of ourselves.” There are also those kind actions that cannot be repaid such as donating an organ. However there are also those who jump into extremely life threatening situations to earn such praise and etc… Such as samurai soldiers who would die with honor after defeat by seppuku. The major criticism for this theory is that even though we people sometimes act in kindness or bravery towards others because we expect some gratitude in return, however there are also those who do so because they take pleasure in helping others.
    The last argument for the Self-Interest Theory is the Fear of Punishment Argument. This argument states that we human beings are uncivilized and like animals it takes fear to tame us. The government is a great example because they keep track of us domestic people and enforce laws so that we may learn to obey through fear of punishment. Although we cannot assume this about everyone, we can never judge a persons’ motivation to obey the laws because there are people out there in the world who do obey the law because they respect the law.
    After having read so much knowledge this far, I have made a theory that knowledge is nothing more than claims with limitations that we decide if we should value or not depending on how much the knowledge affects directly and indirectly.
    I for one do many things that earn me praise and gratitude, however I perform kind actions not only out of hidden benefits but because it also pleasures me to see others happy. A long long while ago, when I was still young I had met a girl, she was very nice and had a bright personality. I liked her a lot. After a year of being friends with her I finally admitted my crush to her, however I was too late, as usual, and she had already gotten into a relationship. I sincerely apologized and let her be, but stayed friends with her for another year until we lost contact over the summer. I don’t know if that’s really personal experience that would apply to this area of knowledge, but it was a “selfish” act of me. However the motive was innocent.

  4. In the group discussion with the class at the tree of knowledge regarding the moral dilemma involving the best friend, the secret which makes you nervous, and his/her safety, Coey and Yer pointed out that by not telling anyone about the secret, you are being selfish by avoiding guilt. If that wasn’t what they were implying, they could restate their answers here. xD Because my memory isn’t as reliable as I would want it to be.

    However, because my mind takes some time and concentration to process information, I forgot the reason why I would keep the secret for my friend.

    The way Coey and Yer perceived the action of the dilemma is reasonable in my opinion, because there are times I want to avoid having a guilty conscience too. However, I would keep my friend’s secret, even though it could put him to death, because I, myself, resent betrayal (this means I’m assuming that if I give away the secret that he told me to not tell anyone, then he would take it in as betrayal). It’s kind of like that Golden-rule, “do unto others as you would have them do to you,” or something like that. I don’t like to be played, cheated on, or feel betrayed in anyway, so I don’t do any of that to others.

  5. So I’ve found out that my dad’s health is plundering and at the moment, he’s getting check ups with the doctor to “blah, blah, blah,” assuming that you know what I’m talking about.

    What came to my mind was that because my dad is Christian, not only my dad, but my whole family (with the exception of me), there are going to be prayers for him IF there is ever a case he has to be hospitalized. Of the people who would pray for him, I’m one of the few that he would want to see pray for him. However, I do not believe in God, thus doing so, in my opinion, would be meaningless because it would be a prayer without heart. Sure, I want my dad to get better, but because I can’t find it in myself to believe in God, I can’t give it my all. To me, it’s kind of like someone telling you, “If you give me your bag of chips, no one will die tomorrow.” Many people, both non-believers and believers, turn to God or at least some other higher power to help them in times of need.

    The main point I’m trying to get at with this post is..

    Is it immoral to not pray to God to better a loved one’s health because you don’t believe in Him?
    Is it selfish of me to not pray to God to better a loved one’s health because I find it meaningless, even though they would want me to because they find it meaningful?
    What good are prayers without heart?
    Is it necessary to tell someone “I love you” for them to know that you love them?

    Oh, and my dad’s condition isn’t that crazy. I was just thinking ahead if this type of situation would ever occur.

  6. Students of U.S. these days are now constantly pressured not only by their parents to become great and achieve a lot in life but also by the economy of the U.S. Many jobs are being created, but not in the U.S. However they are being created in China and other foriegn countries because it is cheaper. Thus giving no options for U.S. students to become no less than a success. So what does this do to a student, you guessed the obvious, it stresses to keep students to become a success so that they can support themselves and a couple others. Although it is a direct way of getting students to become a success, meaning rich, is it also the best way for a students health?

    We all know that the majority of the U.S. population is obesed, should we add “stress” onto the plate of concerns?

  8. I actually would like to impose a question so that I may further my reply.

    In being ethical does one have to appeal to others? Does one have to do acts that will satisfy others? We all have different ethics are there right or wrong ethics? If we all all entitled to our own opinions and we all have different opinion does that mean that what ethical is is subjective?
    honest question.

    Who are we to say what is ethical or not?

  9. How does a test like social responsibility test able to figure out how we are able to view the world even though they dont know us?

  11. What is moral ambiguity? Moral relativism? Moral absolutism?

    How important are cultural and religious beliefs for establishing moral frameworks? Or are we limited by our beliefs?

  13. Can something be irrational and moral? So what relationship does reason have to ethical decisions?

    Are there good reasons to have males circumcised at birth and therefore it is a moral decision?

    Do reasons = morality?

    • To what extent does our emotions affect what we view as moral?
      ei. The mother of a 6 year old who was raped and murder would most likley not consider sentencing whoever did that to the death penalty as “inmoral” ( emotions are attached to the mother)… there might be religous figures , however,who say death penalty is inmoral, regardless of what someone did. ( emotions are not necessarly attached )

  14. “This definition says that what makes a lie a lie is that the liar intends to deceive (or at least to mislead) the person they are lying to. It says nothing about whether the information given is true or false.”

    I’ve always thought that lying meant you were telling a false statement, but according to this definition lying is when you have the intention of deceiving. However, I found in the Thorndike Barnhart advanced dictionary that lying was to tell a false statement. Which is the true definition? Is it possible to tell a true statement with all the details but still deceive the person whom we’re telling it to? How?

    • What do you mean by Deceive? Do you mean mislead? If so, yes i believe that one can be deceived by the truth, it is all of matter of how one percieves the situation. People who are mislead by the truth can actually be ones who cannot handle it, it has a lot to do with emotions. For example someone may not want to believe the fact that they might be wrong in an arhument because they are opposed to it. So their emotions cause them to stick up for what they believe. So it is ethical. For example, is making men register for selective service when they turn 18 fair? If this results in an argument then you will continue to stand up for your side right? So someone were to come up to you and tell you that what you believe in is wrong, then you may result in getting offended from that person even though it really is the truth and this is sort of misleading right? Its misleading in the sense that all the person was trying to tell you is the truth. They were in no way trying to offend you but yet you still may have perceived them in a way they did not want. I went all over the place in this explanation aha wow didin’t even get to the point sorry if it’s confusing not sure if i explained it the way i felt i wanted to

    • Should we be classify on a point scale?
      When answering the survey would we really take actions in what we choose if we were actually in that situation or we only pick the one that seem ethical to get a high score?
      When taking moral the survey, would we be more into answer ethically than truthfully?