Off List Re: Marxism At Yale

Kendall Clark kendall at monkeyfist.com
Tue Nov 20 12:21:18 PST 2001


On Tue, Nov 20, 2001 at 04:16:56PM +0000, Justin Schwartz wrote:
> Kant thought that ordinary peasants knew all the ethics that were knowable.
> Asa matter of fact, in terms of normative ethics, and for practical
> purposes, we all know what is the right thing to do. We just don't do as
> much as we should.

Ok, setting aside Kantian deontology and whether, as a matter of the moral life, the real problem is knowledge or will, do you take there to be any real philosophical problems in practical ethics? I mean, are there any live questions about what we should do?

I think there are at least a few, perhaps clustering around bioethics and the like. Sometimes it seems that practical ethical considerations of civil disobedience and other political acts form another cluster.

In other words, while I would tend to agree that for most people (those who aren't moral idiots, say) the moral life is more a matter of will than knowledge, I can't say that we "all know what is the right thing to do" in *every* circumstance. (This is one reason why I'm a reluctant Kantian at best and, typically, vacillate between something like Singer's Utilitarianism and Thomas Hill's reading of Kantianism.)

So, Justin, how far will your "we know what is the right thing to do" go?

Best, Kendall Clark

PS--Posted warily since the last time I talked about practical ethics on this list Carrol Cox tried to crucify me. If I'd known I'd see him ask months later "What is the Veil of Ignorance" I would have taken the threatening approach of nails and hammer much less seriously. :>



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