"I believe that whatever degree of talent I possess is a gift and must be treated as such. To misuse one's talent, to be cavalier about it, to set it aside because of fear or sloth is unpardonable."
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Normative Ethics: Making a Personal Statement
During today’s meeting, I asked member to describe their own normative ethics, what they personally consider determines right and wrong. Here is a thoughtful example (that strays into applied ethics) from the novelist James Lee Burke, who happens to have a birthday today:
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4 comments:
What if you're particularly good at killing people without leaving a trace?
yes, anonymous has a point. I have a particular flair for being nasty, but it's difficult to justify my behavior that way. luckily I never really bother to try.
ps I'm coming to visit philosophy club, when is your christmas break?
anon- 'good' point... but what would it mean to be paricularly 'good' at killing people without leaving a trace? Are you implying that it would be 'good' to escape responsibility and/or punishment?
amanda- yeah, it's difficult to justify my behaviors in kind. PS: P-Club is Thursdays, 10-11am in room A-11. Break starts this Saturday, through January 1st... we look forward to your visit :)
Not that it's good to escape responsibility, it's just you have an incredible gift for killing people without other people finding out that it was you. Having that talent isn't really a good or bad thing, either way. Then you decide to use it... is it good or bad? According to Lee B., it's "unpardonable" not to use it, or to misuse it. But how do you avoid misusing it? Do you only use it for a good cause? How do you tell if the cause is good?
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