ThoughtsMy condensed thoughts on specific topics. Always well-considered but never final.
My condensed thoughts on specific topics. Always well-considered but never final.
Ethics
What a silly subject of study.
When I studied ethics as part of my philosophy Bachelor, and then later as part of my Applied Ethics Master, there was an idea that this was somehow less of a purely theoretical field then, say, ontology (the study of what is) or epistemology (the study of what is knowledge). At least, I had that idea.
Largely though, students of ethics were either already set on improving the world, and looking for ways to structure and justify this activity; or equally set on carrying on about their day and ignoring any potential real-world applications of it. I still don't know which group had the right of it, but I do see ethics more and more as exactly as theoretical a field as ontology or epistemology.
We may find that a certain strand of ethics appeals to us. We may follow it to the letter. We may follow it when implementing or even shaping policy, law of other activities that affect large groups of people. But I think that the theoretical activity of creating a system about what is right to do immediately crosses into political philosophy, if not actual politics. I suspect ethics is no more than a theoretical frame of reference to inform us when conducting politics. It does affect how we think, but we certainly cannot "use" ethics to affect the world.
That does not mean it is any less important. Ethical theories have influenced the world, and will continue to do so. But we should not hold ethicists in a higher regard than other experts. We should not speak of "the ethics" of a subject as any more than a field of theoretical study. And when conducting ethical study, we should acknowledge that it is largely detached from the real world. And that if we want to "improve" the world, perhaps studying ethics is among the last things we should do.