MetaFilter posts tagged with morality

"a certain... moral flexibility would be the only way to describe it"

the man of twists and turns — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:08:21 -0800

We like to believe that the principled side of the equation is rooted in deep, reasoned conviction. But a growing wealth of research shows that those values often prove to be finicky, inconsistent intuitions, swayed by ethically irrelevant factors. What you say now you might disagree with in five minutes. And such wavering has implications for both public policy and our personal lives.

Some Objective Moral Truths?

It also doesn’t show that our grasp of moral truth is tenuous. Lots of moral truths are completely obvious, and people have no problem with them. The point of varying the trolley problems is precisely to elicit confusion and inconsistency, by emphasizing different of the (very real) values that are at stake in the problems, which conflict in the circumstances described (as values do in many actual choices situations).

Moral Matter

Transduction induces both veridical representation and editorializing on the biological value of events and objects, such as fright at the apprehension of threat. Morality, perhaps counterintuitively, begins with editorialized sensation. To echo Locke, we curiously annex feelings of anger and disgust to the transgressive behavior of others.

How Your Moral Decisions are Shaped by a Bad Mood

These findings raise some further questions, some of which psychologists have been attempting to answer for a long time. Emotions and logical thought are frequently portrayed as competing processes, with emotions depicted as getting in the way of effective decision-making. The results here are another demonstration that instead of competing, our emotions and our cognitions interact and work closely to determine our behaviors.

Cooperation comes easily but thinking makes us selfish - "A set of ten studies suggests that intuition promotes cooperation, but rational thought turns us selfish." Thinking Of Science Strengthens Moral Fiber Science [paywalled]: Morals and Markets

In the experiment, subjects decide between either saving the life of a mouse or receiving money. We compare individual decisions to those made in a bilateral and a multilateral market. In both markets, the willingness to kill the mouse is substantially higher than in individual decisions. Furthermore, in the multilateral market, prices for life deteriorate tremendously.

Is that the answer you had in mind? The effect of perspective on unethical behavior some via A Basis For Ethics, Bookforum

“Thinking about science leads to [endorsing] more stringent moral norms”

jeffburdges — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:25:16 -0800

Christine Ma-Kellams and Jim Blascovich. Does “Science” Make You Moral? The Effects of Priming Science on Moral Judgments and Behavior. PLOS One, 6 March 2013. (Salon) “The notion of science contains in it the broader moral vision of a society in which rationality is used for the mutual benefit of all.”

The myth of universal love

mrgrimm — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:32:17 -0800

"All people are not equally entitled to my time, affection, resources or moral duties." In his book "Against Fairness," (trailer) Stephen T. Asma argues in defense of favoritism and against universal love. "Whence then do we find morality and justice in an unfair world?" * Aristotle vs. Rawls and the meaning of fairness (part 2) * Rawls' Original Position, i.e. "justice as fairness" * Justice as fairness: all gender and no class?

‘Wonderful how one loses track of the days up here in the mountains.’

sendai sleep master — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:32:45 -0800

Megan Phelps-Roper, formerly one of the Westboro Baptist Church's most vocal members, has left the church.

Essay: Moral Shortcomings in the Technology Debate

infini — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 01:56:59 -0800

Digital and genetic techniques increasingly influence life. Our belief in progress through technology stands in the way of a moral debate on this development. ~ by Rinie van Est

"once aroused, it seeks out its object, as hatred does, in its entire"

the man of twists and turns — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 01:56:59 -0800

The Delights Of Disgust

I confess I am disgusted by a great many things about people (and about myself, but let's put that aside). I do not believe it is particularly urgent for me to overcome my disgust, even if I recognize that this emotion must remain entirely separate from my thinking about which laws would be most just. I am disgusted by other people's dandruff, facial moles, food stuck in their beards, yet I do not accept that in feeling this way I am judging those people to be subhuman. I take it rather that humanity, while endearing, is also capable of appearing disgusting.

WIRED: Sexual Arousal May Help Women Ignore the Yuck Factor

According to the study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, humans have somehow managed to strike a successful balance between two important evolutionary functions — sex and disgust. The latter is considered by some psychologists to be a natural defence mechanism against disease — other peoples’ mouths, for instance, pose a higher risk of contamination and are therefore considered an external threat perceived as highly disgusting. When it comes to the nitty gritty of sex, there are plenty of “disgust elicitors” that we relate to contamination says the paper, namely saliva, sweat and semen

PLOS ONE: Feelings of Disgust and Disgust-Induced Avoidance Weaken following Induced Sexual Arousal in Women Language Log: Hydrated And Delicious: - "A food writer recently tried to find an effective euphemism for moist, in order to avoid the associated word-aversion problems" Disgust as Embodied Moral Judgment:

In this paper we cannot say whether people ought to follow their feelings of disgust; we are concerned with whether they actually do use such feelings to guide their judgments, and the limiting conditions upon such use. However, philosophers who argue for the importance of “psychological realism” in ethics say that philosophers must know the psychological facts before they can issue normative guidance (Flanagan, 1991). There are several good reasons for supposing that disgust does in fact shape moral judgments, even when it is extraneous to the action being judged.

This post inspired by this post: DO NOT CLICK: Trust Me, You Do Not Want to See This Video of a Giant Parasitic Worm Slithering Out of a Dead Spider’s Stomach Previously: Little Holes The Worms Make

Ethics++

Obscure Reference — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:16:21 -0800

Building machines with a conscience is a big job, and one that will require the coordinated efforts of philosophers, computer scientists, legislators, and lawyers.

Menace(s) to Society

zarq — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:27:26 -0800

During the Golden Age of Hollywood and until 1967, mainstream movie studios were banned by the Production Code from depicting taboo topics like drug addiction, explicit murder and venereal disease, or even showing explicit nudity. But in the 1930's and 1940's, films marketed as "educational" could and did fly under the radar, and three of the best known 'educational' propaganda exploitation films are: Sex Madness (1935), Reefer Madness (1936) and The Cocaine Fiends (1938). Each is a morality tale: Sex Madness warns teens of the dangers of syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases. Among the forms of "madness" it warns against: wild parties, lesbianism, and premarital sex. Directed by Dwain Esper, whose other exploitation movies include: Narcotic (1933), Maniac (1934), Marihuana: The Devil's Weed! (alt link) (1936) and How to Undress in Front of your Husband (1938). (Some of these may be NSFW.) Reefer Madness dramatizes the dangers of marijuana use, depicting it leading to car accidents, manslaughter, suicide, attempted rape, etc. (Wikipedia) Directed by Louis J. Gasnier, who also directed non-exploitation films such as The Perils of Pauline (1914), The Gold Racket (1937), The Sunset Murder Case (1938) and Stolen Paradise (1940). The Cocaine Fiends has the grandest headache medicine in the world, which will also destroy your life and soul. Like most of the exploitation movies of that era The Cocaine Fiends sheds interesting light on the anxieties engendered by the modern world. Modern life is seen as threatening and dangerous. And like most such films it faces the fascinating contradiction of condemning the very things on which it relies for its chance of commercial success, which for such movies depended entirely on the thrill of the forbidden and the illicit.
* Reviews of all three movies, Joe Bob Briggs-style. * NPR: Remembering Hollywood's Hays Code, 40 years on: A year after Some Like It Hot was released, the head of the MPA began suggesting that some sort of classification system might work better than a censorship system that no one was paying attention to. In 1968, his organization finally shifted from restricting filmmakers to alerting audiences, using the film-ratings system we know today.

Grape Apes: The Origins of Morality

kliuless — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 07:41:59 -0800

Chimp Fights and Trolley Rides from Radiolab's morality episode: "try to answer tough moral quandaries. The questions--which force you to decide between homicidal scenarios--are the same ones being asked by Dr. Joshua Greene. He'll tell us about using modern brain scanning techniques to take snapshots of the brain as it struggles to resolve these moral conflicts. And he'll describe what he sees in these images: quite literally, a battle taking place in the brain. It's 'inner chimp' versus a calculator-wielding rationale."

Paul Ryan as Romney's running-mate

Rhaomi — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 05:18:26 -0800

Paul Ryan. Seven-term congressman for Wisconsin's 1st District. Chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee. Architect of the controversial Ryan Budget -- a "Path to Prosperity" [PDF - video - CBO] that would slash trillions from the federal budget, sharply curtail taxes on the wealthy, and transform Medicare into a private voucher system. Proponent (vid) -- and renouncer -- of Ayn Rand 's Objectivism. Social Security beneficiary. Hunter. Weinermobile driver. And as of this morning, the 2012 Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States of America. Romney's selection of Ryan, widely seen as an overture to his disaffected conservative base, promises an election framed by titanic questions of economic and social equity. President Obama has already declared his vehement opposition to Ryan's policies, saying in April:

"It is a Trojan Horse. Disguised as deficit reduction plans, it is really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. It is thinly veiled social Darwinism. It is antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everybody who’s willing to work for it; a place where prosperity doesn’t trickle down from the top, but grows outward from the heart of the middle class. And by gutting the very things we need to grow an economy that’s built to last -- education and training, research and development, our infrastructure -- it is a prescription for decline."

It was not the first run-in between the president and the congressman, as the two exchanged sharp words in Obama's visit to the House GOP retreat and the 2010 healthcare roundtable. Ryan also delivered the Republican response to Obama's 2011 State of the Union address. Though Ryan's plans are celebrated as bold and necessary steps in conservative circles, not all agree with his aims. A wide swath of Georgetown faculty concurred with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in their moral criticism of the Ryan budget, writing:

In short, your budget appears to reflect the values of your favorite philosopher, Ayn Rand, rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her call to selfishness and her antagonism toward religion are antithetical to the Gospel values of compassion and love.

Ryan argues his support of Rand is limited to broad individualist ideals, but the implications of the Path to Prosperity echo the harsher rhetoric of the political right in recent years. After today's VP rollout on the deck of the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va., comes a swing-state bus tour, the Republican National Convention in Tampa on August 27th, and a looming debate with current veep Joe Biden in September. The race? It is on. More: Paul Ryan - On The Issues Interest group scores PolitiFact profile A Reddit-backed effort to defeat Ryan at home TDS on the Ryan budget (part two)

Gyges and his magic ring

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 04:24:20 -0800

"Assassination and targeted killings have always been in the repertoires of military planners, but never in the history of warfare have they been so cheap and easy. The relatively low number of troop casualties for a military that has turned to drones means that there is relatively little domestic blowback against these wars. The United States and its allies have created the material conditions whereby these wars can carry on indefinitely. The non-combatant casualty rates in populations that are attacked by drones are slow and steady, but they add up. That the casualty rates are relatively low by historical standards — this is no Dresden — is undoubtedly a good thing, but it may allow the international media to overlook pesky little facts like the slow accretion of foreign casualties." -NYT Opinionator: The Moral Hazard of Drones

Chocolate cake and taxes

Zarkonnen — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 22:44:17 -0800

Tax avoidance isn't a left or right issue, it's a cancer eating our democracy - but why do people cheat in the first place?

How Markets Crowd Out Morals: A Forum On The Corrupting Effects Of Markets

jhandey — Wed, 30 May 2012 12:16:30 -0800

How Markets Crowd Out Morals: A Forum On The Corrupting Effects Of Markets Michael J. Sandel - Some economists think markets can benefit all spheres of human activity. But they’re wrong: markets can erode important goods and social norms. Not only are there some things money can’t buy, but there are also many things it shouldn’t. Responses: Richard Sennett - When the market is everywhere, we lead a socially impoverished existence. Matt Welch - Because Sandel disagrees with people’s choices, he wants to take those choices away. Anita L. Allen - Financial incentives are improperly used to induce African Americans to embrace “good” behaviors. Debra Satz - Debating the place of the market is less about the value of goods than about inequality. Herbert Gintis - Tolerance, equality, and democracy have only flourished in market societies. Lew Daly - Making money, formerly an exclusive realm of cosmic evil, is now “doing God’s work.” Samuel Bowles - Even market enthusiasts know that society can’t function if people are the amoral, self-interested calculators of blackboard economics. Elizabeth Anderson - The profit motive is corrupting the justice system. John Tomasi - Free markets are a kind of fairness. Michael J. Sandel replies - By keeping markets in their place, we can avoid their corrosive effects.

From SIN to HEL in 11 hours

infini — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:35:20 -0800

How Creativity Connects with Immorality Are creative types more likely to cross moral boundaries?

Is Procreation Immoral?

Kitty Stardust — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:30:28 -0800

Elizabeth Kolbert explores the case against kids. Drawing from the work of philosophy professors David Benatar, Christine Overall and economist Bryan Caplan, Kolbert examines the justifications for reproducing.

The Conservative Teen

reenum — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:38:11 -0800

Presenting for your perusal: "The Conservative Teen", a new magazine designed to instill the right values in today's youth.

You can't kill me without becoming like me! I can't kill you without losing the only human being who can keep up with me! Isn't it IRONIC?

BitterOldPunk — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:24:49 -0800

Batman should kill the Joker. No, he shouldn't. Yes, he should. No really, he shouldn't. What would Kant, Mill, Hobbes, Nietzsche, and Rawls think? Via the tweetstream of @TalkPhilosophy. Post title from Batman #663, "The Clown at Midnight" by Grant Morrison and John Van Fleet.

The End of the Christian Right?

reenum — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:49:05 -0800

Historian Michael Kazin says that we are witnessing the end of the Religious Right's influence in American politics. Peter Montgomery of Alternet says not to declare the Christian Right dead quite yet.

What're the profit margins on a Trojan Horse?

Keter — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:04:28 -0800

A Swarthmore College student-reporter's questioning of whether it is moral to go into banking sparks NYT columnist Nick Kristof to not only assert the affirmative, but to argue (in part) that in fact more well-educated, liberally-mined people should go into "conservative" industries like banking in order to reform it from the inside. In effect, Kristof suggests, socialist-leaning, educationally-empowered students should hunker down, swallow their disdain, and apply their ideals to change finance. Said student responds (in Slate): elite, ostensibly liberal-leaning students don't seem to be particularly discouraged from capitalism or going into banking in this climate, and probably never have been.

What is an embryo?

Skeptic — Sun, 01 May 2011 08:50:15 -0800

Art. 6(2)(c) of Directive 98/44/EC, passed by the EU Parliament and Council back in 1998, ruled that, among other things, "uses of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes" were to be considered unpatentable because of their being contrary to "ordre public" or morality. After German researcher Prof. Dr. Oliver Bruestle was granted a patent concerning a method for creating nerve precursor cells on the basis of embryonic stem cells, Greenpeace Germany (in German) filed a lawsuit for annulment of the patent. The German Federal Court of Justice then referred to the European Court of Justice the question of whether embryonic stem cell therapy constitutes such a use of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes, under Directive 98/44/EC. In a preliminary, non-binding opinion, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice proposes that the Court rules that an invention must be excluded from patentability where the application of the technical process for which the patent is filed "necessitates the prior destruction of human embryos or their use as base material, even if the description of that process does not contain any reference to the use of human embryos". While the opinions of the Advocate General are not binding on the Court, they are followed in 80% of cases. A group of leading scientists has expressed its dismay at the Advocate General's opinion in an open letter. This has received major media coverage. While these opponents concentrate on the impact of the ruling on the burgeoning European (and especially British) biotech industry, and on the danger of officially labelling embryonic stem cell therapies as "immoral", the nub of the Advocate General's opinion hinges on the not-so-straightforward question: "what is an embryo"?

"I was 100 percent deceived. One hundred percent."

zarq — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:46:56 -0800

The Truth About Race, Religion, And The Honor Code At BYU. Deadspin has released an exposé on Brigham Young University's Honor Code, which prohibits students from having sex or drinking alcohol. The article accuses the University of selectively punishing minority (and especially African American) athletes who violate the Code. Co-authored by Darron Smith, a former BYU instructor. Responses from former BYU students at Religion Dispatches, the Deseret News and the Provo Daily Herald. (Previously) Radio interview with Darron Smith

Small digital cameras, the web and the crowd.

nomadicink — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 09:18:53 -0800

With video cameras becoming increasing smaller, cheaper and ubiquitous, questions are arising about the use of them on multiple levels, from governments monitoring their citizens, to private citizens keeping an eye on government and each other. The latter issue is highlighted in videos of an altercation that occurred when an American postal worker attempted to deliver a certified letter to a woman. After signing for the letter, she attempted to get the card verifying her receipt of the letter back. The postal worker refused and a violent interaction occurred, which the postal recorded on his cell phone and posted to YouTube (1,2, news article). The video has prompted several internet communities to find out who the woman is, raising more questions about the line between public and private use of digital cameras and the wisdom of the crowd.

Whither, Canada?

Alex404 — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 12:16:30 -0800

We used to be Peacekeepers. Things don't seem like they used to be.

What will future generations condemn us for?

anotherpanacea — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 14:49:26 -0800

Kwame Anthony Appiah discusses honor, moral revolutions, and the condemnation of future generations. His new book The Honor Code chronicles how the concept of honor has been crucial in the fight against immoral practices like dueling, foot-binding, and slavery. (See also 1, 2)

The Force of liberal guilt, it is strong.

googly — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 07:09:36 -0800

Kill Whitey. It's the Right Thing to do. Cornell psychologist David Pizarro conducts experiments on the well-known trolley problem, but with a novel twist: he varies the race of the individuals in the scenarios, to determine whether subjects' responses would differ. The results, particularly the breakdown by self-identified political ideology, are fascinating, and indicate that our morality may be far more inconsistent and context-dependent than most believe. Article link here.