Do you have to know the reason an act is good in order to perform the act?

Question

i asked b/c ppl said that in order for animals to ethical they have to have reason. That is why I asked?

Answer 1

You must be thinking of something specific, no?

In general, I'd say it's good to know reason an act is good. But of course there are exceptions. My physician tells me to take certain medicines, make certain lifestyle changes. In some cases, I don't know how or why the medicine works. Sometimes he doesn't know either. Occasionally we have to trust the experts.



We give a baby some milk, and he drinks it, then digests it, then eliminates it. Does the baby know how or why these actions are good?

ADDENDUM: Okay, now that you added your explanation.. I think that they did not mean that you have to know the *reasons.* Rather, they were talking about the concept of "reason" --- which means something like, "the ability to think rationally." So they are saying that, unless a being can think rationally, it cannot be ethical.

Now is that really true? Well, it makes sense to me. Animals may sometimes act for the good of the group, rather than based on self-interest. But if they are doing so purely by instinct, and not because they have thought the situation through, I would not call that behavior "ethical," would you?

Answer 2

Not me. I've done a few things that I didn't know was good or not. I did them because I hadn't done them before and wanted to know what they were like.

Answer 3

yes. why would a person do something if he does not know what it is for...