Can one's ethics ever really be open to debate?

Question

I mean, doesn't everyone believe In how they think it ought to be?

Answer 1

Absolutely!!! If you've got the balls to put your true feelings and ethics out there for all to see, then your ethics are certainly and completely open to debate. After all, why would you even consider offering up your true feelings if you weren't looking to debate... ? The simple fact that I (or anyone) would respond to this message is literal proof that our ethics are always open to debate. Otherwise, we'd all simply shut up and wither away.... debate is life. Silence is stupid. The idea that you would speak your mind and ask what might appear to be a simple and innocent question is amazingly profound all by itself. Ethics... debate.... isn't this how we've managed to form ideas, theories, and wondered how life itself has come about, and why it might even have a purpose???? Ethics????? Debate???? You, my friend, have entered a most amazing query... wow!!!!!

No, talk is NOT cheap. It separates us and teaches each and everyone of us that we all have, and are entitled to our own ideology. Without "talk" we may as well be a legion of idiots who share the very same grunting noises of cavemen.

And that also goes for ethics. No, we certainly can't all share the same ethics... sadly, we don't and never will. If were the case, then individuals with names like Charles Manson, or Ted Bundy (et al) would have never existed.

Answer 2

Wouldn't this mean we are somehow born with our ethical views on the world?

Everything we believe at a given time is the result of many influences over the course of our lives, from our families to our friends, as well as our education ,interests, experiences and difficulties. Most people have a number of different beliefs about the world as they go through life, although the fact that we constantly experience our own existence and beliefs leads us to the illusion that we are constant.

Usually nobody's mind will be changed about an issue during a debate, but it is plenty possible that the issues discussed and words said during a discussion will stick with someone, and continue to pop up from time to time, which will guide their thinking in certain directions and perhaps cause them to take a different view on the world.

Answer 3

Lai Sho hit it on the head, though not tasteful, yet true. Our ethics are show by strong empirical support to be evolved and under a normally distributed curve of expression and behavior. On the philosophical side, " the golden rule ", or some variant thereof, is upheld by the overwhelming majority of ethical philosophers. Your ethics are open to debate every time the are opened to action. To escape that, you could try a Hermitage, somewhere.

PS Read " Moral Minds ", by Mark Hauser, for the scientific position on this issue.

Answer 4

No. My sense of right & wrong are non-negotiable. I have a strong sense of ethics. The only thing open to debate would be if it was a complex issue where there is no really right or wrong answer and good arguments for both sides. Sometimes it's a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils, or choosing what's right for the greater good (hurting one person rather than many). My conscience doesn't let me compromise my morals. It would take a great deal of very persuasive arguing to sway me even slightly from my belief systems...I've met some very convincing people who gave up trying. Usually I wind up changing their minds!

Answer 5

Ethics can always be open to debate because they're defined differently by different people. Everyone knows how they think it ought to be, but who can really know the real definition of that besides God? It's just like trying to interpret the Bible; many people try, but not many of them do it correctly because we have a tendency to define it for ourselves instead of for God. I know I've been guilty of this myself as well.

Now that I think about it, this sort of thing is where I walk a fine line between what I know is right and what I am simply unsure of. I second-guess myself way too often.....

Answer 6

Anything can be up for debate,but debating someone else's ethics is usually a losing battle.

Answer 7

Yes, I think so. In the sense that anyone can disagree with your point of view and offer reasons why. This doesn't mean that you will actually HAVE a debate with this person about what your differing points of view are but yes, any idea is always open to a differing opinion.

Answer 8

Actually ethics may not even exist. I'm afraid to say debating about ethics would be like mindless theological quibbles about whether angels have navels.

Try this. When you think about ethics, you are actually recalling what your parents said to you, what you read in books and what your teachers taught you on it. And they are actually teaching you what their elders taught to themselves.

So ethics isn't really an unwritten law. It is just like its greek root, "ethikos", meaning... (surprise!) "arising from habit"

So what you heard about what is right would make you perceive it to be right. And that is how we have murderers and rapists. These people are usually loners or from broken families with no one to tell them what their ethics should be, and thus, they follow their desire.

Of course there are exceptions which I haven't thought out of how to explain. But this is the general outline.

Answer 9

Please define ethics!

For most it is a case of right vs. wrong. Correct vs. Incorrect!

IMHO, everyone's ethics are open to debate! "Why would someone do this or that"? All to often for personal gain.

Those in the political light are (IMHO) the most offensive. They speak from the sides of their mouths! They speak neither truths nor falsehoods, but only what will please the listening ear!

So, to answer your question ... Yes! A resounding Yes!

All human ethics are open to debate! But not that of the one true God.

The Ol' Sasquatch Ü

Answer 10

Apparently Saddam Hussein's ethics were open to debate. LOL

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