Philosophy Now Forum

Hi there, Voice I don't see where anything you said nullifies what I argued for in the original post of this thread. How is it working out that belligerent means are being used in Afghanistan? We call the rebels "insurgents." Would we behave any differently if the United States was invaded...

Here are some further ethical principles that will help you discover the meaning of life: Treasure your individuality. Do work you love to do. Aim for excellence. Know that we are all in this together; and keep in mind that what helps the next person, if it really helps him, also helps you. We all ...

...Use peaceful means in Afghanistan and you get shot at mostly for giving away the wrong symbol. ...you don't fight a volcanic explosion by tranquil means ... NBC news reporter, Richard Engel, learned some Afghan words; and was shown around the rubble of the major city, Kabul, that we half-constru...

I overheard a graduate student in Philosophy say “When I think of ethics, especially insofar as I have any moral intuition of it, I think of things we ought not do, like lying, cheating, stealing, or things we should do, like helping others in need, or giving them respect.” This inspired me to argue...

With regard to the relation of means to ends I would make this observation: Ends are related to means used: if you want peace, use peaceful means. If love is your end (your goal), use loving means to get to it. If you want stability, then stable means are required to reach your end-in-view. Is this ...

I can agree ... Neuroscientists have discovered mirror neurons which can help to play a role in promoting ethics. It is not a question of altruism, compassion or empathy as imperatives for ethics, but rather how the above are optimize to the specific circumstances. As such, we will have to look for...

Hullo Prof, I agree we need to be careful with our beliefs. However, I do find the universal aim of ethics interesting .... I am just wondering if Tomascik is alluding to something like the synthetic apriori? I say this in reference to the claim that we seem to have a natural impulse toward altruis...

...He is rooting a universal standard of some sort in our very biology, and he looks to scientific methods to give us guidance in applying what we inherently yearn for ...how to achieve the highest quality of life. { :idea: It may just turn out that promoting the happiness and flourishing of other ...

Yes, Dave K, it can be done. I'd like to take a stab at it. In the ethical meta-language known as Formal Axiology (theory of value employing logic), many of the words you list refer to concepts that are regarded as properly valued systemically, since they have something about them that connotes a sy...

Kevin Tomascik argues that the universal aim of ethics is the aim toward personal well-being. He claims "it is an aim that is inherent to our biological makeup, and is in our genes so to speak." Yet, he goes on to say: "it’s very unlikely that this aim alone could provide any real mor...

Yes, J Huber is correct when he says that meaning "is used to define something. It is used to say the same thing in a different manner." It is also used to describe. And it connotes as well as denotes. Alfred North Whitehead in his PROCESS AND REALITY speaks of "prehension" as a ...