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Old 12-17-2005, 03:28 PM
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Default Re: Foundation for law

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You exercise judgement, as best you can. The original example was, as I'm sure you intended it, an extreme example, so the solution was pretty obvious.

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I thought it was obvious, and you thought it was obvious, but we both found different "obvious" answers.

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Yes and that's fine, I'm surely not saying your answer is the wrong one, I don't claim any kind of greater access to ethical certainty.

I was trying to get across the idea that you can't universalize an answer. To take your own equation, would you sacrifice the guy to save your family? to save all of humankind? - how about not sacrifice him just beat him up, break one of his nails, call him a bad name? Somewhere along this continuum everyone gets to the point where they'd commit an act that'd be in isolation wrong, but clearly prudent/right in a greater utilitarian sense. I'd go as far as to say that an individual who didn't have a tipping point along this line is ethically bankrupt.

Judging where that line should be exactly is impossible, all we can hope for is that a situation will be looked at with compassion, consideration and intelligence - and that whoever is put in a crisis decision, has the courage to do what they believe is best on balance - so we come full circle to virtue ethics. It's unfortunate that life doesn't happen in an ethical vacuum.
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