[IShark]

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Ethics is the study of choosing to perform acts which one should perform, and avoiding those acts which one should not perform. And who defines this "ought-ness"? Ones self defines what one ought to do and judges it accordingly, by his OWN internal system of values and morals. (As opposed to the law, which is not a matter of what one ought to do, but of what one is required to do. There is a major distinction between "illegal" and "unethical.")


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By that definition Stalin and Hitler could well have been perfectly ethical beings. Do you really beleive that?

You say you are retired now so it's kind of hard to beleive that you have not thought up such a trivial counter example to your definition during your lifetime so far, so I guess I will have to assume you are being serious and literal here. In that case, is a professional poker player really fulfilling his or her "ought"ness to him or herself? Seems unlikely to me since even the average human should be capable of doing so much more (as in challenging) with their minds and so much more real (as in a real problem (e.g. make cars safer) as opposed to a completely artificial one: assemble some dumb people and figure out how to get money out of them.)