Philosophy Now Forum

Democracy and Survival Our world today is in a social condition of Survivalism. In reality that is an anti-social condition. Environmental destruction and global warming are together at a peak that bodes ill for our survival at anything but a minimalist level. The extinction of agriculture in many p...

In my scheme of ethics/politics there are three 'tracks' so to speak. The individual has priority The state or authority has priority The community of society has priority. Not that those categories are entirely separate or contradictory They cannot be so in a tripartite or triangular relationship E...

Economy or Ecology Economics is a human artifice. The world we have is not an economy, it is a global and localised ecology. The only credit and debit of significance is ecological. An airliner spewing CO2 is a debit. Trees are a credit in their ecological niches. Offsetting one against the other is...

Eqauality in a alruist society is about giving aid according to need and nature. It not about everyone having the same.

National Health It is a question for philosophers-economists to determine how we pay for our health service. It may be through taxes or by insurance payments. The question then is whether we are an egalitarian society or otherwise. If egalitarian then we will all get an equal share of the care avail...

The term. Cancelling, as it is employed today must be unethical in an altruist democracy. It is entirely applicable to a tyranny or authoritarian state and society. But is also employed by ultra-liberals who wish to stifle criticism, in their anarchistic society. Altruist democracy must naturally op...

Nobody can speak of virtue and vice - right and wrong - except within their own inbred philosophy It has to be wondered if people in this country know what they mean by ‘free speech’. It is nonsense if there are no values attached to the term. This country needs to decide first whether it is an altr...

Benign Ethics We live in a world in which every country does at least protest its concern for individual welfare. Benign ethics such as this may not be all it seems. In the usual tripartite way this applies to all three fundamental forms of society. What may be named as authoritarian society, even a...

Suicide A radio programme with several philosophers and others, recently discussed the virtues and vices of Suicide, with no great consensus. Naturally someone took the binary route of right and wrong, with no rationale other than the mandate of his pseudo-god. This placing him in the bigoted and au...

The obvious application in practical term may be illustrated by a current debate on National Health. This can either serve the authoritarian state, with the population maintained in health so as to serve their purpose for the state, and perhaps some being discarded. For the purely individualistic so...

Ethics has Wings The egocentric societal ethic has two wings. One is that of society and community based on individualism. The other wing is society under a megalomaniac, at the worst, or simply authoritarian rule. The libertarian and egalitarian ethic has two wings. One that of autonomous individua...

Avoiding all the fluff. Making binary statements is almost inevitable. The question is as to context. Things may well be right or wrong, within that context or set of beliefs. As long as we know where the author is coming from and where he stands then all should be clear. It is when people try to or...

Article 18 [ARTICLE 18 Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worshi...

Society If we live in a responsible society, and not a free for all. The only question about gambling is whether it is good for society. If not it should be largely removed. It is for Society to decide and not an authoritarian government. But then we appear to be living in a kleptocracy and not a de...

The idea that everything ever done is either ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ can be employed to destroy history. To apologise for the past as being archaic is crass. Britain banned institutional slavery, which is a source of pride. It had been a norm throughout history at some level. Are we to apologise and pay ...