In class today, we discussed Kant. He believes that philosophy can be divided into three areas: physics, logic, and ethics. He also believes that all three of these areas are exactly the same. I absolutely disagree. You can gain the knowledge of logic and physics by learning and studying the factual evidence and information that are provided for them. Because the information is factual, it is the universal truth. A person can not debate factual evidence or have their separate opinion against it. However, a person can do this when it comes to ethics. Everyone doesn’t have the same morals or ethics. What’s important to one person might not be important to somebody else. We all were not raised with the same values and beliefs. Therefore, logic, physics, and ethics are not the same. Ethics are not a universal truth. Culture can reflect a person’s ethical belief, and everyone doesn’t have the same culture. For example, cheating on your significant other can be considered morally wrong. Everyone doesn’t believe this. A person who believes that cheating is wrong, most likely values their relationship. They believe in the virtue of loyalty. Everyone is not loyal and does not believe that loyalty is important. It all depends on a person’s standard. That’s why ethics are not a universal truth because everyone is not similar. A person’s ethics comes from their own moral beliefs and moral conduct. Physics and logic are not debatable. Physics and logic has laws and factual evidence to prove that it is true. A person can read a textbook and gain information about these two areas. For ethics, that’s not the case. A personal gains their ethics from their upbringing or personal experiences. It is not something that can be obtained from a textbook because it doesn’t have any factual evidence on this subject. Who’s to say what’s right, and what’s wrong?
I have to disagree with you, Kelsey. As humans, we are born with a sense of right and wrong. We see the consequences of actions. and the effect they can have. When we do something that we are not supposed to, we get the feeling of guilt. That itself tells us when we are doing something morally wrong. When we act on our duties, we do it because it is right. We know in ourselves when something is morally just. And that's what the Good Will is all about. Knowing what is right and wrong, and when you do the duty for the good in itself, you are being rational. So in that way. us humans are connected by ethics to an extent, because we are born with the understanding of what is right and wrong. We have common sense.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand what you are saying Brittany. However, what's necessarily right and wrong? Different cultures believe in different things. For example, some countries allow young girls to get married to older men. That's considered wrong in America, but it's right to them. Just like humans can feel guilty about something, we can also think of things to make us feel not guilty. For example, lying to a friend about something. You might feel guilty about lying to them, but in order to lessen the guilt, you might think of ways to might it seem like you're not guilty. I don't believe everybody feels guilty about something. Psychopaths might be an example.
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ReplyDeleteKelsey, I do not agree with you when you state that Physics and Ethics are not connected (though I get a sense of what your argument is). The reason why they are both connected (or related) is that they both are empirical and a prior (pure) knowledge. In other words, they are both the universal knowledge we have independent from experience. Mathematics is a good example because we all know, for example, that 2+2=4. Likewise, ethics (morality) is also universal because, as Brittany stated, we have a common sense of what is right and wrong. We do not need to have experience in order to distinguish between the two. For example, I know that committing a homicide is wrong. I do not have to actually kill someone in order for me to have concluded that homicide is wrong.
DeleteShakayla, I understand what you are saying. I believe that our ethics are based on our society. Who's to say what is right and what is wrong? In some countries, executions happens on a daily basis, which is looked at as homicide. So because you and others believe homicide is wrong, are they wrong for committing these executions? That's why I believe ethics are not a universal truth. Every society is not similar. Physics are facts. Ethics deals with a person's morals, which are like opinions.Everybody has one.
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