Questions tagged [social-ethics]
117 questions
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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, regardless of how he redistributes wealth, a disparity…
Adam Ledger
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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 (they usually aren't).
My question is more…
Alexander S King
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Why should almost extinct animals be protected from going extinct?
The feeling that it's "sad" if a species dies out seems to be coming from an aesthetic point of view how the world should be. But is there a rationality behind it?
The only rational reason I was able to come up with is that more variety gives more…
Nikolaj-K
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Should I vote for what is best for me or what is best for others?
I live and vote in a constituency where the policies of Party A are better for the long-term success of my business, which determines the material conditions of my well-being and that of my family. Yet, I believe the policies of Party A damage the…
luchonacho
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Can the act of having certain thoughts be unethical?
On the basis of Western morality, the Greco-Roman Judeo-Christian one, behaviors like killing, betraying, cursing are considered immoral. Christianity imposes that thoughts can be corrupt, therefore immoral; and there is logic, since thought…
user31740
11
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Is it possible that evolution brought human kind morality?
I've heard this (rather odd imho) statement that evolution, by the need of survival, dictated humans to uphold moral codes in order to survive, thus gaining a moral system.
Now, to my understanding, the need to survive wouldn't dictate how to…
Yechiam Weiss
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What are reasonable basic obligations of citizens in democratic societies?
Theorists (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel) have often discussed the state's obligations to its citizens, but nowadays it seems we need a definitive-but-succinctly articulated account of citizens' obligations to sustaining healthy, functioning…
Mavaddat Javid
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Where is the line drawn between immoral inactivity and a simple lack of action?
I've heard a lot about the supposed evils about not voting/voting for a 3rd party in recent political discussion here in the States. The reasoning seems to posit that (e.g.) in the Trump/Hillary race, refusing to vote for either party seems to…
Quirky Trombone
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What is the philosophical value of cultural diversity?
A personal question:
As an Arab-American, I try to maintain my children's ties to Arab culture and the Arabic language, going out of my way to make sure that they speak Arabic fluently, and sending them to Arabic class and attending various…
Alexander S King
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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 tally upvotes only; it's not like the US president,…
Kristian Berry
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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 want to discount that intuition; but we need to…
Chris Rogers
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Discerning among ethics, morality, principles, virtues, and etiquette
Although I have studied these terms in my own language, could anyone possibly explain them in such a way that I could differentiate between them better. I have not gotten their basic difference in a vivid…
nima
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Is it moral to lie to the populace for their own good?
There is a discussion in the History arm of StackExchange that got sidetracked into the merit of brainwashing society for their own good, as advocated in Plato's Republic. IMO that side track deserves a separate discussion in the Philosophy arm of…
Michael
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How should the fair distribution of some goods depend on other-regarding preferences?
I am a welfare economist, working on fairness in economics, and I would like your opinion on some distributional dilemma.
Suppose we have the following situation:
A country is endowed with some resources. For instance, the government conceded the…
Martin Van der Linden
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Should uncontacted peoples have a right to privacy?
I've been reading some of the wikis about the uncontacted peoples of the world and the often repeated attempts to establish contact with a a number of them even after being rebuffed (sometimes violently). Should these peoples have a right to…
coleopterist
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