How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Should you think about your duty, or about the consequences of your actions? Or should you concentrate on becoming a good person?

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prof
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How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by prof »

How can we, working cooperatively, construct a sound Ethical Theory?

For 55 years I have been thinking about how to construct better ethical theories than those with which we are familiar. By themselves, the conventional standard theories do not seem to me to have done the job. Yes, they make you think, but do they result in more ethical people? A good Ethical theory should change lives, in my humble opinion.

During this time of reflection I also did some research and, as a result have come up with this:

http://www.myqol.com/wadeharvey/PDFs/TH ... ETHICS.pdf

I named the effort THE STRUCTURE OF ETHICS.

or, if you wish to see a preview first, read the first three pages here: https://tinyurl.com/yd6wafvm then continue on by scrolling down further.

Check it out and let me know what you think. Did I succeed in the project of creating a better ethical theory?

Can you offer an ethical theory that is superior to the one linked to above, and tell us why it is superior? I am curious to study your alternative.
You may wish to print out the document (at the above link) before you read it. Their might be something in this essay that you can use in class. If you are a student, you can teach it to the professor. If you are a mentor, or a coach, or are an instructor, you can teach it to your students

:arrow: After you look the essay over, let's hear your views :!: Okay?
.
Last edited by prof on Sun Feb 03, 2019 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

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I can't read anything longer in essay format than three sentences strung together end-to-end.

Yours is just too formidable a size to read. Can you summarize it in five words or fewer?
prof
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by prof »

You write: " Can you summarize it in five words or fewer?

If I could I wouldn't have put in the effort to create that whole book :!: :!:


BTW, why can't you read a book? If you went to school you would have to do so.....

Couldn't you at least skim it - until you maybe found five words that were interesting?
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by -1- »

prof wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 2:47 am You write: " Can you summarize it in five words or fewer?

If I could I wouldn't have put in the effort to create that whole book :!: :!:


BTW, why can't you read a book? If you went to school you would have to do so.....

Couldn't you at least skim it - until you maybe found five words that were interesting?
I went through the entire 4 years at Ryerson without opening a textbook. I did all my lab work, home assignments and I attended all the lectures and listened intently. Never took a word of notes.

I wasn't the best achieving guy in the class, but I finished with a C+ average.
Logik
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by Logik »

I scanned over the links and I think the premise frames the discussion in the entirely wrong direction.

Yes, ethics is a system. But it is a system that functions at the collective (social), not individual scale.

It is incredibly dynamic. It is the product of many inter-subjective negotiations. It is always in flux.

To turn it into a theory would be to model the process by which morality emerges, and the process by which the system itself evolves.

We are not very good at modeling complex systems... Because they are too complex.

Any theory that we may produce would be descriptive, not normative. The utility of such a theory would diminish as ethics evolves and the theory is no longer representative.

Any theory would be as good as documentation of the system design. Until the system evolves rendering the documentation stale.

To solve ethics is to solve a much more general class of problem. Self-documenting dynamic systems.
Last edited by Logik on Fri Feb 01, 2019 7:16 am, edited 3 times in total.
Age
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by Age »

-1- wrote: Thu Jan 31, 2019 9:49 pm I can't read anything longer in essay format than three sentences strung together end-to-end.

Yours is just too formidable a size to read. Can you summarize it in five words or fewer?
I will not summarize prof's words, but to summarize ethics in five words or fewer: Do not abuse anything?
surreptitious57
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by surreptitious57 »


The Golden Rule / Silver Rule is the foundation for all morality and is a truly universal rule all should live by
Age
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by Age »

surreptitious57 wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 7:26 am
The Golden Rule / Silver Rule is the foundation for all morality and is a truly universal rule all should live by
What is that rule?
Logik
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by Logik »

surreptitious57 wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 7:26 am
The Golden Rule / Silver Rule is the foundation for all morality and is a truly universal rule all should live by
And I would say the Silver rule trumps the Gold rule.

Primum non nocere.
prof
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by prof »

I can phrase it in three words:

DO NO HARM

in the book I explain how this follows from the axiom: Make things morally better! -- as does all the rest of the system. It's all derived from that axiom and from the careful definitions of "Ethics" and "Morality." Ethics is defined in a formal manner based on one of the dimensions of value that we learn about from Formal Axiology - based on Logic.

"Morality" has an analogous structure to "value" itself. This is only natural since morality is moral value. Both morality and value are matters of degree. The objective is to earn a high morality score. Ethics is not merely negative, as your three words suggest; ethics in practice is nearly the same as good human relations. My treatise discusses how to make ethical decisions, how to resolve ethical dilemmas, discusses whether babies can tell right from wrong, how to avoid corrupting oneself, and how to avoid getting in one's own way.

It also takes up how to attain peace-of-mind, how to lead a trouble-free life, a Quality Life. It offers the properties that comprise "well-being." It discusses heroism and cosmopolitanism. The key terms it employs are well-defined. It presents several moral principles - which are not rules, but are guidelines for living the good life. And also four norms, one of which is mentioned early in this post, namely: Do no harm. And how this can be applied in practical, real-life situations. It ranks businesses and corporations for honorable mention.

However, all the above is no summary.

:idea: Readers of the document at the following link are to formulate their own summary, abstract, or review. http://www.myqol.com/wadeharvey/PDFs/TH ... ETHICS.pdf

Let's hear your critique of this new paradigm for Ethical Theory :!:
.
Last edited by prof on Sun Feb 03, 2019 10:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
prof
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by prof »

Greeetings, surreptitious57

Aren't you going to tell the Readers what the "Silver Rule" is?

Just what do you have in mind?
Logik
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by Logik »

prof wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 8:35 am ].
I can phrase it in three words:

DO NO HARM
Indeed that is the guiding principle of Ethical discourse.

The rest is the negotiation that takes place to define and delineate what harm is or isn't.

As with all binomial/binary classification ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_classification ) a rule is required to establish the distinction between the two categories (harm vs not-harm).

The classification rules ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classification_rule ) which emerge from the negotiation/dialectic are what we call morality.

You could say that Ethics is the social process of defining harm.

But harm is always to be interpreted in a social context for any particular era. What was deemed harmful in 1800 may no longer be deemed harmful today, or it is simply no longer a matter tabled for ethical debate because it is considered solved.
prof
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by prof »

If you read the STRUCTURE book, Logik, you would know that S, E, and I, function as classifiers.

They are akin to segments of a spectrum - such as the Electro-Magnetic spectrum.

They measure value. They are dimensions of value. They are described in detail in the chapter What is Ethics? which is chapter Two.
HERE: http://www.myqol.com/wadeharvey/PDFs/TH ... ETHICS.pdf

or, if you have a Kindle, and prefer to read it on the Kindle, simply go to Amazon.com and type into the search box: marvin katz structure ethics
That will take you right to it. How do you like the cover design? I hope and trust you can swing the fee. If not, I have provided one and all with a pdf file free of charge. It is the right thing to do.


How the above-mentioned dimensions are derived, based upon set theory - and also based on the three basic types of concepts elucidated in Kant's book, Logik - is explained in the early pages of an earlier book I scribbled entItlied BASIC ETHICS. Here is a link to it:

BASIC ETHICS: a systematic approach (2014)
http://tinyurl.com/mfcgzfz

Enjoy :!:
Last edited by prof on Sun Feb 03, 2019 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Logik
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by Logik »

prof wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 9:11 am If you read the STRUCTURE book, Logik, you would know that S, E, and I, function as classifiers.

They are akin to segments of a spectrum - such as the Electro-Magnetic spectrum.

They measure value. They are dimensions of value. They are described in detail in the chapter What is Ethics? which is chapter Two.
HERE: http://myqol.com/wadeharvey/PDFs/The%20 ... Ethics.pdf

or, if you have a Kindle, and prefer to read it on the Kindle, simply go to Amazon.com and type into the search box: marvin katz structure ethics
That will take you right to it. How do you like the cover design? I hope and trust you can swing the fee. If not, I have provided one and all with a pdf file free of charge. It is the right thing to do.


How the above-mentioned dimensions are derived, based upon set theory - and also based on the three basic types of concepts elucidated in Kant's book, Logik - is explained in the early pages of an earlier book I scribbled entItlied BASIC ETHICS. Here is a link to it:

BASIC ETHICS: a systematic approach (2014)
http://tinyurl.com/mfcgzfz

Enjoy :!:
Thanks. I will scan through it.

Based on your comments only, though I already a little skeptical.

I reject set theory and 2 of the 3 "laws" of classical logic. I can find many of society's political issues stemming from the law of identity itself (given how much humans tend to appeal to logic, and in particular - consistency).

I default to type theory and constructive mathematics.
And when it comes to the law of non-contradiction - I make extensive use of para-consistent logic to the point where many people are uncomfortable with Dialethism ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialetheism ).
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Re: How construct a sound Ethical Theory?

Post by -1- »

Logik wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 8:38 am
prof wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 8:35 am ].
I can phrase it in three words:

DO NO HARM
Indeed that is the guiding principle of Ethical discourse.

The rest is the negotiation that takes place to define and delineate what harm is or isn't.

As with all binomial/binary classification ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_classification ) a rule is required to establish the distinction between the two categories (harm vs not-harm).

The classification rules ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classification_rule ) which emerge from the negotiation/dialectic are what we call morality.

You could say that Ethics is the social process of defining harm.

But harm is always to be interpreted in a social context for any particular era. What was deemed harmful in 1800 may no longer be deemed harmful today, or it is simply no longer a matter tabled for ethical debate because it is considered solved.
Logic and Prof, you two are arguing about whether ethics conforms to absolutist or relativist principles.

Both have strong points, and both can be shut down.

Ethics or morals, as they relate to humans, are both absolute and relative.

It is very nicely explained by this extremely boring, dry, and hard-to-watch Youtube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiZcgoNTz5U
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