Is the study of ethics a joke?

@Razzleg,

Razzleg;147470 wrote:

I am a little confused by the apparent hostility in this thread. The original question seems a straightforward request for opinions.

To ask whether something that people take seriously is a joke is not a straightforward request for opinions.

@reasoning logic,

reasoning logic;147250 wrote:

As the title reads, Is it a joke to study ethics? if so please explain why. be honest even if you could give a $hit less.:poke-eye:

Noting the date of your OP, I wonder, "could this post be a sort of intellectual April Fools day prank?"

@1CellOfMany,

This is not meant to be hateful but only to share a point of view with you. Smile

The reason that I made this post was because I thought that most of you do not take ethics as seriously as you could. [I am also guilty of this.]

I have been reading many of your post [all of you] in many parts of this forum, even the people that may seem to come across a little harsh at times. I was not surprised to see that all of you are very smart [In my opinion] but at times you seem that you could not careless, to be hateful or some times just jokeing.

My question to you is, Is the study of ethics any less important than any other field of philosophy? Do you give as much of your time to it, as you would other fields of philosophy?

The main thing that led me to making this post was seeing all the replies to Deepthot's threads that he created. He does seem to have the strongest interest among us all in trying to get ethics right.
Look at all of the research that he has done and the books that he has writen, Then go back and review how serious you were toward his work and the replies that you have given and also the ratings that you have given his threads.:detective:

@reasoning logic,

Well this depends. The study of what is "right and wrong" is by no means a joke. If you define ethics as the study of what society has deemed "accepted", the yes it's a complete joke.

@Yogi DMT,

Yogi DMT;147700 wrote:

Well this depends. The study of what is "right and wrong" is by no means a joke. If you define ethics as the study of what society has deemed "accepted", the yes it's a complete joke.

Why would that be a complete joke?

@reasoning logic,

What we as a society says is acceptable and is not acceptable has nothing to do with what is morally right or wrong. A common mindset might say that this is unacceptable, but does that mean it is morally wrong? Opinion is no substitute for a conscious awareness of your good or bad deeds. There's a fine line between the two and you'd have to give me some time to think of some examples.

@Yogi DMT,

Yogi DMT;147708 wrote:

What we as a society says is acceptable and is not acceptable has nothing to do with what is morally right or wrong. A common mindset might say that this is unacceptable, but does that mean it is morally wrong? Opinion is no substitute for a conscious awareness of your good or bad deeds. There's a fine line between the two and you'd have to give me some time to think of some examples.

You are right, of course. But why would that make the study of the actual morality of a group a joke? Of course, such a study should not be confused with ethics, as you point out. It would be sociology. But sociology is not a joke, is it?

@reasoning logic,

Sociology is not a joke, morality is not a joke. What society says is acceptable and unacceptable is a complete joke. As long as you know your right from wrong, who cares what society says about you.

@Yogi DMT,

Yogi DMT;147719 wrote:

Sociology is not a joke, morality is not a joke. What society says is acceptable and unacceptable is a complete joke. As long as you know your right from wrong, who cares what society says about you.

But one can surely study what society says is acceptable or unacceptable. And that is not a joke. And neither is it ethics. By studying it we are not approving of it, are we? It is only a matter of sociological interest. No one says that anyone should follow societies precepts, but there is nothing wrong with knowing what they are, is there?

@reasoning logic,

Why even care what these precepts are, other than curiosity? They mean nothing anyway.

@Yogi DMT,

Yogi DMT;147728 wrote:

Why even care what these precepts are, other than curiosity? They mean nothing anyway.

Well, sociologists like to compare the moral systems among societies. We can learn much about these different societies by doing so. And it is interesting.

@reasoning logic,

Yes these finding could be interesting i'm not arguing that. The study of either areas isn't a joke. Societal ethics is a joke not the study thereof.

@Yogi DMT,

Yogi DMT;147733 wrote:

Yes these finding could be interesting i'm not arguing that. The study of either areas isn't a joke. Societal ethics is a joke not the study thereof.

I guess I don't know what you mean by, "Societal ethics".

@reasoning logic,

Ethics as defined by a society. The right and wrong that a society defines.

@Yogi DMT,

Yogi DMT;147738 wrote:

Ethics as defined by a society. The right and wrong that a society defines.

Well, I thought you said it was all right for sociologists to study that. Didn't you?

@reasoning logic,

Study away as long as you don't actually believe in what you study. Study for the purpose of interest or for the purpose of conclusive connections. Don't study because you'd actually like to know what society thinks is right and wrong and then afterwards go on to follow the nonsense.

@Yogi DMT,

Yogi DMT;147747 wrote:

Study away as long as you don't actually believe in what you study. Study for the purpose of interest or for the purpose of conclusive connections. Don't study because you'd actually like to know what society thinks is right and wrong and then afterwards go on to follow the nonsense.

But suppose you think that what society believes is right or wrong. My society believes that rape is wrong, and so do I. Don't you?

@reasoning logic,

Of course i do. There will be many mutual agreement on both parts. There will also be many disagreements for which you have to look internally to find the answers you need. Just because society say it's not acceptable to walk around naked doesn't mean it's wrong.

@Yogi DMT,

Yogi DMT;147749 wrote:

Of course i do. There will be many mutual agreement on both parts. There will also be many disagreements for which you have to look internally to find the answers you need. Just because society say it's not acceptable to walk around naked doesn't mean it's wrong.

Not just because society says so. But there may be good reasons for society saying so, don't you think? And if we think about those reasons we might very well agree with society.

@Yogi DMT,

Yogi DMT;147738 wrote:

Ethics as defined by a society. The right and wrong that a society defines.

Let us make a distinction between two concepts "mores" and "moral principles as derived from a coherent theory of ethics."

The former are what you were speaking about: a society's mores.

In contrast, the latter - moral principles - are what we deduce from the models of a good system, say from the Unified Theory. Of course this theory needs vastly-more development before it can account for more of the many data of ethics.

{Eventually the internal structure of I-value (of Intrinsic valuation) will be spelled out by an advanced formal system of Relevance Logic, Relevance Logic (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) or by some appropriate branch of math. When applied to Ethics it will generate many useful theorems. These will serve as hypotheses to be tested empirically. Discovering that logic is a job that Philosophy professors are working on now. They can use your help, readers, if you know math or logic. Just send me a private message, and I'll put you in touch with them.}

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Is the study of ethics a joke?

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