Ethics

I have separated this post into two portions. The first portion is a philosophical argument for the soundness of utilitarian ethics. The second portion just discusses some interesting utilitarian considerations that I couldn't find a place for within the major argument. Utilitarianism is as Rational as Empiricism When one thinks analytically, they reach conclusions via linguistic and mathematical definitions. These definitions are outlined by criteria. Without criteria, there would be no definitions or language, and no truth; it's an easily justifiable system. However, analytical thought alone won't lead to ethical formulations. A famous example of this deifici…

To promote the discussion of issues of privacy--especially as concerns privacy in the use of digitally-networked communications media--and to provide readers with referernces and links to sites and organizations which present information on these issues, this thread is dedicated to posting such links and to discussing the issues and the information and the sites linked. The presence or absence of a link should not be interpreted as necessarily an endorsement of the site or its views or claims. In some cases, I expect to include links to sites as examples of abuse or violations of public users' privacy. As a start, a link from the site "ZeroKnowledgePrivac…

What should be the laws for reporduction on extraterrestrial bodies such as Mars during early colonization? Correction... I meant *Reproduction

I noticed that there was already a topic on eugenics, but it seemed to focus on the negative effect that unregulated birthing has on the human species. This topic will focus on the negative effect that unregulated birthing has on the individual. Let us assume that a couple is considering having a child. There is a considerable chance that the child will inherit a disease that will cause him or her significant pain over the course of his or her life. Let us say that one of the parents has the disease. Despite great suffering, the parent is glad to be alive and feels that life is worth living. Is it ethical to take this chance? It is realistic to say that there…

i have always heard stories of some countries which have seperate roads and so on for men and women. is this considered sexist? if both sexs are equal why cant they walk down the same road or same hallway... I heard someone say this was to 'protect' them (females). I would like to hear your opinions and would like more information on the whole 'seperate facilities' thing and its link with sexism. It's a debate so i need a few pointers (and i'm honestly outraged)

I have been in graduate school for almost two years, and I have been working on my thesis for the past 6 months. Today I definitely lost some respect for my advisor (who shall hereafter be referred to as Dr. X). This morning I got an email from Dr. X, which said: "I did what you are proposing for a thesis and published it in [a scientific journal] 23 years ago." (by the way, I've been speaking about my thesis frequently with Dr. X, but Dr. X randomly tells me this NOW?) The email, continued: "[You] need to find a thesis topic that is new unless the goal is to disprove what has been done before. I will give 100 per cent support to a project that would d…

Okay so hypothetically speaking, if we could make it so animals become poisonous for human consumption via editing its DNA / feeding it specific molecules that make it un-edible but perfectly safe otherwise (I.E some harmful bacteria / virus for humans but totally safe for the animal). For the humans with philosophical idioms such as "what you dont know wont hurt you", is it ethically sound to take choice away from humans that dont have the will power, curiosity or empathy to care for animal cruelty? Based on the ethics that killing animals, caging animals, injecting artificial hormones and pure cruelty from stupid individuals etc etc is ethically bad? is forcing …

As we are now on the brink of creating advanced biotechnology, I think some of the ethical issues surrounding the topic need clarification and also laws and regulations creating prematurely preventing any potential side effects from arising. This is what biotech has the potential to do: Keep track of bodily functions and ensure the user is healthy by repairing the function as required. Enhance the users physical capabilities allowing "iron man" style abilities. Infinitely improve cognition allowing us to store every bit of information indefinitely and automating mathematical and lingual problems. Okay so the main 3 issues which essentially give way to all…

With the recent news of cloning a Neanderthal man, I pondered the possibility of one day being able to clone an Erectus. Neanderthal is a much easier subject to debate, given he was probably fully intelligent on our level and closely resembled modern man. Erectus would be a whole other beast though, more intelligent than any ape on Earth, yet clearly not on the same level as humans. Would Erectus be given a normal life? Would he be kept in a Zoo or lab? I for one would love to study a real living Erectus as I am fascinated with Human origins. What are your thoughts?

The advancement in genetics is obvious and it is exponentially going further and further. IMO, genetic superhumans might be be very possible. But will it be ethical and will it cause more problems, rather than solving them? Here is an article I wrote for genetic perfection of our species on my own: http://scifi-real.com/playing-god-genetic-superhumans/

i have always seen ethics, morality, and environmental concerns as a hindrance to human development many of the great discoveries, and advances were made by "unethical" means nuclear power, vaccination, space flight (the Russian space program was fun), rockets, supersonic flight, most of early medicine, and gunpowder to name a few "ethical" methods have given us many things as well, but most of those things were funded because they would lead to better ways to kill the guy next to us also ethics prevents us from producing "what has science done!!" type experiments in the name of curiosity and we learn far more from our failures then we do from success(as long as yo…

We seem to get lots of threads about abortion, sex education, birth control and other ways women seem to be "special" in our society. I ask is our obsession with and or the high value we place on female virginity and sexual innocence at the heart of our apparent need to if not subjugate at least infantilize women at the root of our male dominated society and it's approach to women. We praise the virgin, demonize the slut when it come to women but men are ridiculed as immature or praised as studs... I think it says a lot about our culture...

When someone is suicidal they want their life to end, are not sane, and are usually baker acted which I think should happen for their own good. What if someone is suicidal but doesn't want to kill themselves? That is how I feel although subconsciously I'm sure the will to live has a lot to do with why I am still here. Anyways when I think of death; to me it is not the end. Although I am agnostic and believe the person I am will cease to exist one day, in a way this is heaven to me. To be immortal in my eyes, is a curse. Let me give you some information as to why I view eternal life as hell. I constantly worry about the world and others well being more than…

Given that the world has an issue with its population size, and also that we understand that the biological purpose of having a child is to perpetuate our genetic information, is it more ethical to adopt a child than to have one's own? I'd perhaps even go so far as to say it's selfish to have one's own when so many children are without parents. I don't think there is any paternal or maternal yearning that cannot be fulfilled by an adopted child, as any parent of one will tell you, so although it seems fundamentally natural and proper, I consider it an indulgence with our current knowledge for people to have their own kids. Perhaps there will be issues with the age of …

Is religion an effective way of creating moral human inhabitants of a society (e.g. by lowering crime rates if it does etc)? I have heard people say in the forums that it is like a placebo which doesn't work in actuality. In your opinion what is a better way to make people become 'good' people? Is religion the only way?

I was pondering the essence of ethics relating to cows being breed for meat, and came upon a viewpoint which makes it ethically right (as far as I can see anyway). The problem is that the idea of killing cows is obviously ethically wrong at the first glance. However as I thought about it more deeply I thought that if we did not breed these cows, than that they possibly would never have lived. And isn't Living and dying young better than not living at all? Of course the major points of relevance would be: killing age, natural death age (and hence how much of their life are we cutting short), how they are killed and if we could breed them for milk instead but would their be…

I'm very supportive of woman's rights, and I'm okay with birth control. I do not think that abortion is a valid means of birth control. People justify abortion by saying fetuses aren't human. Well, Hitler justified the killing of millions of innocent people by calling them less than human. What makes abortion better than that? I'm not saying girls can't be interested in chemistry. Far from it. Is making charcoal, in your opinion, a post a man or a woman would most likely have started? I couldn't tell you how a girl talks, unless it's one of the younger generation that says "like" after every other word. But I can definitely tell. I knew hyper was a girl, before someone to…

This letter was on Auction on Ebay Since the provided translation was not complete and also changed, here a complete translation. (I hope I have the English prepositions right. I am a German native speaker) Bold: Missing from the translation of the auction Bold Italics: Corrected Translation Strikout Wrong Translation Numbers: My Comments about the translation Princeton. 3.I.54 Dear Mr Gutkind! Inspired by repeated incitation through Brouwers ... I read a great deal in the last days of your book, and thank you very much for sending it to me. What especially struck me about it was this. With regard to the factual attitude to life and to the human communit…

What are the benefits of meritocracy? What are the problems with meritocracy? http://en.wikipedia....iki/Meritocracy

The US entered WWI crying "Democracy and autocracy can not co exist". However, US industry is built on England's model of autocracy. Later, replacing liberal education with education for technology, and thinking of students as products to prepare for industry, had ramifications that are not good for democracy. Edwards Deming dealt with the problem of our autocratic industry, and his institution carries on his work. I write because I believe a return to education for democracy and replacing the autocratic model of industry with Deming's democratic model, would correct many of the problems we are experiencing, including our present economic problem. http://en.…

Those who go to this link will see that the Frankfurt School and German philosophy are related to the social upheaval of the 1960's in the US and cultural change that may not be so good. It is the author's intent to explain our modern social crisis. Our democracy was dependent on classical philosophy and was transmitted through public education. I think changes were made with good intentions, but were not wise decisions. George Friedman wrote:Auschwitz was a rational place, but it was not a reasonable one. It was rational in that it was efficient and sophisticated for its given task. It would not have been practical or even seriously conceivable except for the te…

Buddhism is the fastest growing religion in Australia. Many also claim that it is compatible with modern science. What do most people make of this? As part of a scientific community, do you think you would ever consider taking up and accepting this religion/philosophy/way of life as your own? If not, what are your reasons for rejecting it? Are your thoughts about it more or less hostile in comparison to the great Abrahamic religions? And if you had to accept one of the world's religions (for whatever reason), which one would you pick?

I did not see a science forum specifically for how our brains work, and what makes humans different from animals, so I chose the other science forum. If a mod determines another forum is better, place move it and inform me of the change. This is not the only experiment proving a chimps capacity for thinking but the most interesting to me. My argument is, some animals are capable of language and reasoning, but this is not equal to abstract thinking. I am arguing only humans are capable of abstract thinking. However, this is a skill that must be learned, and if it is not taught it can not be learned. More importantly this difference is why man c…

If nobody has done this so far, has there ever been a way to restrict logging by fencing off a wooded area, closer to the roads, from the rest of the forest, so that only that area and is used for lumber?