topic: personal philosophy seedling

It’s a weird name, I know. I’m Working on it, although honestly I kind of like it.

Chapter 1: What is an ethical imperative, and why do I care?

An ethical imperative is, in short, something that you should do (should is a tricky word, and I’ll do an article on it later). For example, if you see someone drowning, do you have an obligation to act to save him? Do you have an obligation to pick up litter from the street?

Ethical imperatives are tricky. They might exist, but it’s quite likely that we don’t act upon every single one of them. For example, although I believe that it’s ridiculously wrong that at this very moment people are starving, I am not acting upon that belief. Is an ethical imperative contingent on proximity? Or on other parameters such as personal situations? I’m not certain.

Chapter 2: What is ethical action?

My definition of an ethical action, is quite simple: any action that is directly caused by ethical thinking or beliefs. For example, recycling or participating in a march can be considered ethical actions, as it is relatively unlikely that a person would plan and participate in such activities without having ethical considerations of their effects.

It seems to be a common thought that ethical action requires inconvenience, and that it is this inconvenience which causes ethical action to be both more costly and less common. There seems to be some kernel of truth to this assertion: It is definitely harder to be a vegan, to clean up your neighborhood rather than staying home, or to participate in political activities rather than not. However, I believe that while this is true in the short term, it is wrong in the long term. Like cleaning a room, improving society through ethical action has a short-term personal cost, but it lowers long time costs such as discord or strife.

The hard part is doing it in the first place. I’m the first to admit that seeing these long term costs is quite difficult, and am often discouraged by the initial cost. Though, Like Rousseau whom I’ve lately been reading, I prefer and feel more suited towards diagnosis, treatment is a different beast.

Chapter 3: Why is ethical action an ethical imperative?

What is the difference between causing and allowing?

There is an interesting article on the basis of this question: stanford link. I believe that reading that article will give you a good understanding of why doing and allowing are more similar than you might otherwise think.