Philosophy Now Forum

Globalised Ethics We still largely treat Ethics as if the values apply to individuals and personal relationships. It served well enough when we all lived locally, and the market place was a place in town. Today we have technology thrusting globalisation onto us, and blaming us for its outcome. Ethic...

Animal Rights To answer this question directly is absurd, to do so merely invites personal whimsy. The question as to whether the animal kingdom has rights, is perfectly easy to answer, although the specific nature of each right is a matter for debate. ‘God’ naturally accords rights and duties that ...

Reith Lecture 3 June 2019 The speaker at last hit the buffers of ethical-political practicality. It is not presently possible to treat the whole world as a unity while it is in social chaos. Until tyrannies are overthrown, and democracy is not libertine but altruistic, human rights cannot be made un...

Open Minded To be open minded is to be open to new ideas and study their holistic and altruistic ethical validity. It is not to accept anything in a state of mental vacuity and social anomie. It is a mark of the latter that anyone who disagrees with an ultra-liberal person is automatically described...

Ethical Ambiguity As has been said often enough there is an unfortunate linear ethic in this country and generally, that divides people and nations into bigoted opposition. Where values are based on broad categories of stable society, set against chaos, more reality and a proper ambiguity can be int...

Reith Lectures The current series with Jonathan Sumption, is a breath of fresh air amidst all the crass nonsense that is heard from populist politicians and the media. The first two parts at least. England has long had case-law, and that judges are interpreting and expanding human rights today is to...

Christian Church The established churches have always been mindful of their own assumed authority. It colours the way they portray the ‘Christian’ ethic as being based on outright obedience to an emporer ‘God’. An ethic that plays into the hands of bigots and well known extremists, past and present....

Rights and Equality and Love It is patently obvious that every citizen of an altruist democracy has an equality of rights, and corresponding duties. That means all saints, sinners, murderers, gay,and ambiguous. To say that every citizen is ethically equal does not follow from that. It does implicitl...

Ethical values have no purpose other than in respect of the society created. Freedom is one of the populist values of today. But for the past geneation the very opposite of freedom for Society or the Individual or both has been evolving. With modern technology and the computer it was envisaged that ...

Healthy Society If Ethics is not employed so as to define types of society then it serves little or no purpose. Taking it for granted that it is shown that Altruist Society is dissociated from a Market Society. Altruist Society provides people with rights and expects reciprocal duties. If we have a ...

Religion The Human Rights Act with regard to freedom of religion is so hedged about by provisions, that it has little actual meaning. We may say we are Christian, Moslem, Buddhist, or whatever, but that merely signifies using a different name and concept for ‘god’. We may believe in any god that doe...

Inclusion “Inclusion is seen as a universal human right. The aim of inclusion is to embrace all people irrespective of race, gender, disability, medical or other need. It is about giving equal access and opportunities and getting rid of discrimination and intolerance (removal of barriers). It affect...

Ownership [Nationalisation?] Political life is littered with archaic terms and behaviour that can only confuse reality. There may and must be legal definitions for varieties of ownership, most of which have a long tradition turned to stone. But the essential meaning of ownership, must centre around ...

Freedom of Religion There may be a fundamental flaw in this ethic as it is presently used. What we understand by this is that every person has the right to choose his own religion. But this right must be predicated on the basis that everyone has the right to his own private religion. For in choosing...

Liberalism Liberalism is a simple value that can easily be corrupted. It is seen as a democratic value opposed to tyranny and bigotry. But in use it is and must be related to other values that define it positively. Self-interested egoism is a simple value in opposition to altruism. Responsibility an...