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How often do you face moral dilemmas in your life? (pg. 3)
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
I have a few simple moral rules that I live by in my day to day existence, such as:
Don't lie.
Don't kill anybody.
Don't hurt anybody except in self-defense.
Don't break promises.
Don't cheat.
The funny thing is, I almost never do any of these things, nor do I even want to do any of them most of the time. Conflict between my desires and my moral convictions is very rare. It seems like I almost never face any real "moral dilemmas."
Now, I don't believe that there is an objective morality written into the nature of the universe, but sometimes it strikes me as suspicious how neatly my desires coincide with what my practical moral code allows me to do.
Any thoughts? |
Quite a few, actually :p
It's not at all surprising that you don't find yourself having moral dillemas that often. You probably live in a rather cultural homogenous area, I suppose, in the sense that there are few (if any) cultures around that condone any of those acts your refrain from.
Japanese culture, for example, tolerates lies quite openly, as long as you're lying in order to be polite. Those of us coming from a Christian background, in which lying is seen as a bad thing, probably see that both as wrong and inevitable: Don't our parents teach us to thank for a gift even if we hate it? Some of us may not even consider that to be a lie (although I wonder what else it could be).
As for killing, we probably don't realise how often we need to kill othjer living beings in order to live. Some hardcore vegetarians do realise it, and Buddhists often remind us that we will not get an extra life every time we stomp a hundred bugs. Most likely, you apply this rule only to human beings and pets (probably because we tend to "humanise" them), but because this belief often goes unchallenged (?), there's little need to revise it.
Finally, I've read claims about there being some biological foundations to morality, but I know too little about this subject.
My point is: If you abide by these rules, and you feel you're helping yourself (and others) this way, it is unlikely that you will face a moral dilemma anytime soon. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by spanglo
It was not cheating because you and friend A were not exclusive, and friend A had a great reason to keep it quiet which you agreed. Friend B comes around sometime later and asks if u and friend A slept together. What is your answer? |
I wouldn't say either way.
Which would probably be interpreted as "yes," of course -- but I still would not have broken the promise, since I never promised to lie about it. |
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| Zild |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
I wouldn't say either way.
Which would probably be interpreted as "yes," of course -- but I still would not have broken the promise, since I never promised to lie about it. |
If you refuse to answer and that is interpreted as a yes then you did break the promise. You should have said no. |
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| spanglo |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
I wouldn't say either way.
Which would probably be interpreted as "yes," of course -- but I still would not have broken the promise, since I never promised to lie about it. |
You fail |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zild
If you refuse to answer and that is interpreted as a yes then you did break the promise. |
But I didn't, since I never told B whether A and I slept together. |
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| spanglo |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
But I didn't, since I never told B whether A and I slept together. |
It was a yes or no question. You fail. |
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| UmmiE |
I am fasting right now and I have to go through it for 30 days and then Im free LOL.
:o |
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| Zild |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
But I didn't, since I never told B whether A and I slept together. |
I guess that works if you're a lawyer. But for normal applications you've failed to keep the promise. Keeping promises includes lying if you know that silence will be interpreted in a certain way. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by spanglo
It was a yes or no question. You fail. |
Have you stopped butting homeless men?
You can only answer "yes" or "no." |
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| Silky Johnson |
Of course you lie to friend B to keep the secret. The correct answer is "That's not my information to tell, you'll have to ask friend A yourself."
I ing hate when people put me in that position, which is why I tell my friends never to ask me to lie for them, or get me involved in their drama. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by jennypie
I ing hate when people put me in that position, which is why I tell my friends never to ask me to lie for them, or get me involved in their drama. |
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| spanglo |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zild
I guess that works if you're a lawyer. But for normal applications you've failed to keep the promise. Keeping promises includes lying if you know that silence will be interpreted in a certain way. |
Correct, but then you lied.
The moral dilemma I presented MrJiveBoJingles was simple... lie or break a promise. There was no third alternative although he tried hard to find one. That's why he failed. I was just curious which way he would go. |
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