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Nov. 19th, 2004 01:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnpalmerSo, I think I have my brilliant philosophical contribution taking shape.
It comes down to drunk driving and peanut butter sandwiches.
Drunk driving is evil, even if no one gets hurt. The risk of causing harm is too great, even if no harm is actually done.
And, at some point in time, a person who keeps giving random hungry children peanut butter sandwiches is obligated to ask "Can you eat peanut butter?" after a few children go into anaphylaxis.
There's still a little bit more to be written filling in the gaps and tying it all together... but really, that's the essence.
You're responsible for what might happen as a result of your actions, and you're responsible for noticing what happens when you perform an action, and change your behavior accordingly.
Past that, it comes down to my fundamental theorem, you have to make the best moral decision you can (which might include listening to the advice of another, following a set of guidelines, etc.), since it'd be silly to make a decision other than the one that's the best you can make.
Oh, yeah, and it's good to make things better for people, and not good to make things worse for people. What's better and worse? Well, some of those are obvious; the rest comes down to noticing what happens, and doing your best to figure out what that means.
It comes down to drunk driving and peanut butter sandwiches.
Drunk driving is evil, even if no one gets hurt. The risk of causing harm is too great, even if no harm is actually done.
And, at some point in time, a person who keeps giving random hungry children peanut butter sandwiches is obligated to ask "Can you eat peanut butter?" after a few children go into anaphylaxis.
There's still a little bit more to be written filling in the gaps and tying it all together... but really, that's the essence.
You're responsible for what might happen as a result of your actions, and you're responsible for noticing what happens when you perform an action, and change your behavior accordingly.
Past that, it comes down to my fundamental theorem, you have to make the best moral decision you can (which might include listening to the advice of another, following a set of guidelines, etc.), since it'd be silly to make a decision other than the one that's the best you can make.
Oh, yeah, and it's good to make things better for people, and not good to make things worse for people. What's better and worse? Well, some of those are obvious; the rest comes down to noticing what happens, and doing your best to figure out what that means.
