RE: before you go.....

WRIGHT, Reuben (wrightr@oup.co.uk)
Mon, 14 Sep 1998 15:55:25 +0100

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sarah Marr [SMTP:skm4@dial.pipex.com]
> Sent: Monday, September 14, 1998 3:17 PM
> To: extropians@extropy.com
> Subject: Re: before you go.....
>
> Ethics and morality are different, Max. Whereas we can claim that the
> laws
> of physics etc. are the same everywhere, even if interpreted
> differently by
> differently cultures, that does not hold true for ethics and morality.
> Saying something is 'morally wrong' is only to apply a subjective
> assessment which is culturally developed and may be culturally
> normative.
> Morals and ethics cannot be disproved, merely disagreed with.
>
> Sarah
>

[Reuben: ]

The only problem with that paragraph is that it mixes 'you can't judge any morality to be wrong - it's subjective' together with a moral judgement - 'don't judge other's morality'.

It's a paradox I've never really figured out. 

	Going back to 'concrete ethics vs plastic ethics'...
	I reckon that most ethical decisions have to be open for
question because new experiences often call for new judgements - we simply don't figure out every last detail before we get to it. If there are areas we haven't considered ethically then there are ethics to be formed 'on the fly' and so revision is pretty much guaranteed.

However - it's going to be a matter of discussion and individual decision rather than a 'group' morality emerging (unless someone starts using some very clever subliminals on the rest of us).

keep smilin'

Reuben