This post is part of an ongoing series exploring ethics, the first of which was, “Being Good: Refusing to Leave Moral Goodness to Chance.” My first encounter with ethics was in community college. I was pursuing a two-year degree in film, and my advisor informed me that I had to take a humanities course. The advisor set me up with “Introduction to Ethics.” I had no idea what I was in for. By the time the semester was over, I had begun to fall in love with the humanities—philosophy in particular. At the time, I would go on to be a college professor teaching the very same class.
I’ve come to see myself by what I call “pro-choice consequentialism”. Meaning that you should be allowed to do something so long as you accept the consequences of it. If you know that a crime you’re going to commit is going to get you arrested, and you do it anyway, you deserve what happens to you. Or if you know that something is legal but might make you feel terrible later and you do it, then you should be allowed to do it.
Not necessarily in a libertarian perspective since I’m not a believer in limited government in the way they often do. The government has a role to play in creating these problems and in the solutions.
Great stuff as always.
I’ve come to see myself by what I call “pro-choice consequentialism”. Meaning that you should be allowed to do something so long as you accept the consequences of it. If you know that a crime you’re going to commit is going to get you arrested, and you do it anyway, you deserve what happens to you. Or if you know that something is legal but might make you feel terrible later and you do it, then you should be allowed to do it.
Not necessarily in a libertarian perspective since I’m not a believer in limited government in the way they often do. The government has a role to play in creating these problems and in the solutions.