Recent Responses
Is it wrong to do a good deed in order to alleviate your unease about a different bad deed? I support making animal slaughter more humane. But perhaps this is inconsistent of me, because (as a vegetarian) I still think it's wrong to slaughter an animal humanely -- and if animals had to be slaughtered cruelly, maybe people would confront the problem and the practice of slaughtering would end.
Matthew Silverstein
November 6, 2008
(changed November 6, 2008)
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I don't see any inconsistency here. Even if one believes that it is wrong to slaughter animals humanely, one might also believe that to slaughter them inhumanely is to commit a far greater and more serious wrong. So, if you believe that people are not going to stop slaughtering animal... Read more
Are animals self aware?
Gabriel Segal
November 6, 2008
(changed November 6, 2008)
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It is true that a number of psychologists treat intelligent use of mirrors as evidence of self awareness. But I am not convinced. Animals can gather information about their own bodies via various forms of perception, including, of course, vision. Some can also use a mirror - extending t... Read more
Does the phrase "Go Jayhawks!" express a proposition?
Allen Stairs
November 5, 2008
(changed November 5, 2008)
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Does the phrase "Does the phrase 'Go Jayhawks!' express a proposition?" express a proposition?
No. Lots of bits of language don't express propositions. Questions don't express propositions, though answers to them usually do. Commands (like "Get out of my office!") don't express propositions... Read more
A common moral argument made against sex or sexual relationships between adults and minors is that there will always an imbalance of power between the adult and the minor involved. Because of this, such relationships are said to be exploitative, even if there is informed consent and the minor is not harmed either physically or psychologically by the experience. Assuming that such a scenario is possible - a minor gives informed consent to a sex act or a sexual relationship with an adult, and is not physically or psychologically damaged by what follows - is the imbalance of power between the adult and the minor really enough to render the adult's behaviour morally wrong or exploitative?
Alan Soble
November 1, 2008
(changed November 1, 2008)
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Lorraine ends with "which is why most people think sexual relationships between minors and adults are exploitive." Yes, but it is also the reason that some philosophers, legal scholars, and feminists think that heterosexual relations are also coerced and exploitative. Men have power, woman hav... Read more
Is it immoral to convince someone of some true proposition P, by exposing them to what you know to be an unsound or invalid argument? For example if I told my friend: "If it rains, the grass will be wet. The grass is wet, therefore, it rained." Now supposing it really did rain, would it be immoral to use this invalid argument to convince her? If we answer in the affirmative, it would seem to lead to some unpleasant conclusions. For instance, it would be immoral to put a sign in my yard that says "Candidate X for City Commission", because the sign might convince people without offering them a sound argument. But we answer negatively, it would seem to justify deception. Using unsound arguments to convince people would give them at best an unjustified true belief, not knowledge. Is there a middle ground here?
Lorraine Besser...
October 31, 2008
(changed October 31, 2008)
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Your question raises some fascinating issues. I think it will help to separate your question into two distinct concerns: (1) Is it immoral to use faulty reasoning to convince someone to believe something? (2) Is it immoral to place people in a situation where they might believe somethi... Read more
Being a transvestite all my life I have wrestled with the reasons why I have this need and, essentially, compulsion. Some seem to argue that transvestism has a organic origin while others say it is developmental in some way. I would appreciate constructive views on this.
Alan Soble
October 30, 2008
(changed October 30, 2008)
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I'm not sure that the questioner is seeking an excuse or explanation to "explain away" the condition. The words "wrestled" and "compulsion" suggest some psychic pain about the questioner's transvestism. If that is so, the pop-psychological advice to "be who you are," to accept yourself in the... Read more
Hume showed that belief in induction has no rational basis, yet everyone believes it and in fact one can't help believing it. How then can one criticize religious belief, the person who says "I know my belief in God has no rational basis, but I believe it anyway"?
Allen Stairs
October 30, 2008
(changed October 30, 2008)
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At least part of the answer to your question is hidden in the way you phrased it. Suppose that I'm wired so that there's really nothing I can do about the fact that I think inductively. As soon as I put my copy of Hume down, I revert straightaway and irresistibly to making inductive inferenc... Read more
Can we differentiate, in ethics, between the morality/immorality of an action and that of a person? For example, it seems a lot of people would have trouble making up their minds about the following scenario: I help a friend study for her upcoming math exam. Unknowingly, and through no fault of my own, I teach her the wrong material, and she ends up failing. To solve the issue of whether my action was moral or not, can we not say that though my action itself was immoral, (assuming we're following utilitarianism here) I cannot myself be blamed, for my intentions were best and I was acting in a way that I believed would help her. Can I make this distinction? Is it common for philosophers to do this?
Nicholas D. Smith
October 30, 2008
(changed October 30, 2008)
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Yes, philosophers do make the distinction you are looking for here, but it gets a little complicated.
On the one hand, even philosophers interested in consequences can talk about character traits in the way you want--because it is obviously arguable that some character traits are more l... Read more
Being a transvestite all my life I have wrestled with the reasons why I have this need and, essentially, compulsion. Some seem to argue that transvestism has a organic origin while others say it is developmental in some way. I would appreciate constructive views on this.
Alan Soble
October 30, 2008
(changed October 30, 2008)
Permalink
I'm not sure that the questioner is seeking an excuse or explanation to "explain away" the condition. The words "wrestled" and "compulsion" suggest some psychic pain about the questioner's transvestism. If that is so, the pop-psychological advice to "be who you are," to accept yourself in the... Read more
Is it immoral to convince someone of some true proposition P, by exposing them to what you know to be an unsound or invalid argument? For example if I told my friend: "If it rains, the grass will be wet. The grass is wet, therefore, it rained." Now supposing it really did rain, would it be immoral to use this invalid argument to convince her? If we answer in the affirmative, it would seem to lead to some unpleasant conclusions. For instance, it would be immoral to put a sign in my yard that says "Candidate X for City Commission", because the sign might convince people without offering them a sound argument. But we answer negatively, it would seem to justify deception. Using unsound arguments to convince people would give them at best an unjustified true belief, not knowledge. Is there a middle ground here?
Lorraine Besser...
October 31, 2008
(changed October 31, 2008)
Permalink
Your question raises some fascinating issues. I think it will help to separate your question into two distinct concerns: (1) Is it immoral to use faulty reasoning to convince someone to believe something? (2) Is it immoral to place people in a situation where they might believe somethi... Read more