Ethics (Moral Philosophy) - Armchair Opinions

Would introducing genetic engineering of humans as a medical practice be that bad?

By Jędrzej Maliński / 13 May 2020 / Ethics (Moral Philosophy), Philosophy of human nature, Philosophy of science / Disability, Disease, Genetic engineering, Medicine, Race, Sexual orientation

Thank you, Amir Ayazbayev, for a great question! This question concerns two important philosophical problems: What does it mean to be human? And, what should be the limits of medical intervention? In the case of genetic engineering, we can distinguish three main perspectives. The first, called bioconservatism, suggests that there is an undefined ‘X factor’ somewhere […]

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Is stretching the truth ever really okay?

By Dustin Zozaya / 12 May 2020 / Epistemology, Ethics (Moral Philosophy), Philosophy of human nature, Philosophy of language / Good, Lying, Truth

Thank you, Lewis Cornelius, for a great question! In response to your question (and it’s key to remember that philosophy often offers responses and not answers), I thought we could break it down a bit and see what it is we’re really looking for. This is certainly a question of ethics and morality, yet I

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Would the world be a better place if sharing fake news/misinformation on social media was made a criminal offence?

By Giacomo Figà Talamanca / 10 May 2020 / Epistemology, Ethics (Moral Philosophy), Philosophy of human nature, Philosophy of language, Philosophy of law, Political philosophy / Crime, Deception, Democracy, Fake news, Gentrification, Reality, Social media

Thank you, Ela Özcan, for such a tough question! I’ll do my best to break it down and give you the best answer I can. Online misinformation is a pretty hot topic: it intoxicates political debate, radicalizes people with different opinions against each other, and distracts them from what is actually going on in the world.

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If I committed a crime but then travelled back in time to before the crime, could I still be convicted?

By Beşir Özgür Nayır / 8 May 2020 / Ethics (Moral Philosophy), Metaphysics, Philosophy of law / Blame, Crime, Paradox, Time travel

Thank you, Robin Pickering, for a great question! Hopefully this helps… This question seems to have three major dimensions. The first is mainly about what would happen if you went back in time regardless of your wrongdoing. The second is about how we define your responsibility for your wrongdoing – what we need in order

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Would a vegan eat a chicken if they were told two chickens would get killed if they didn’t?

By Jędrzej Maliński / 7 May 2020 / Ethics (Moral Philosophy), Philosophy of human nature / Animals, Consequentialism, Deontology, Dilemma, Happiness, Trolley Problem, Utilitarianism, Veganism

Thank you, Elle Flinn-Shephard, for such a dilemma! This question touches many important ethical issues. It looks a lot like the famous trolley problem: Imagine that you are the driver of a runaway train. Up ahead you see 5 people tied to the track. If you do nothing, the train will kill them all. But

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Is it wrong to be child-free by choice?

By Laetitia Ramelet / 6 May 2020 / Ethics (Moral Philosophy), Feminist philosophy, Political philosophy / Children, Culture, Freedom, Happiness, Parenting, Society, Sustainability

Thank you, Angus Nimmo, for such a productive question! Philosophers like questioning questions as a start, and this might well be a helpful method here. Why think that it is wrong not to have children? One answer, perhaps familiar from social pressure, would be to see parenting as a life accomplishment. But, for someone who

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Is it okay to be happy in lockdown given that it is caused by a pandemic?

By Johan Heemskerk / 22 April 2020 / Ethics (Moral Philosophy), Philosophy of human nature / Emotion, Happiness, Lockdown, Pandemic, Suffering

Thank you, Dave Groves, for such a topical question! Yes, it is okay; don’t worry about it, enjoy your isolation in peace – that’s the short answer. Here is the long answer: It is important to recognise, first, that a great deal of happiness is built on the suffering of others. Were it not for

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