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Thinking, thinking, thinking

Writer's picture: CroneCrone

A smorgasbord. A mezze tray. A mishmash.


  1. Recently, when I have been walking, I have realised how exceptionally likely I am to strike up conversation with complete strangers. For example, a young boy rode along on a funny coloured pony and I found out that the pair event, that the pony is needy, that it has Irish blood but that they also think it has some appaloosa in it because of its colouring. The boy called it 'asoolappa' because that's appaloosa backwards. And then, I stopped the car -blocking a road - to talk to a man I'd seen before but never so much as waved to because he had a new puppy not his old dog. Turns out the last dog was 17 and his kidneys had failed. This puppy, Bailey, is very good and already sits. He's a cocker spaniel. Of course, people might not want to talk. Sometimes, rarely, they don't. But most of the time, they seem to enjoy it as much as I do. I know that I am curious. But there's also, clearly, this assumption in me that people are approachable, friendly and open. Where does that come from? Come to think of it, my mother, brother and sisters might all have the same inclination - though I think the latter two, strangely, hold the generalised view that 'most people are out for what they can get'. Their beliefs and behaviour seem poorly aligned. My sister especially is very curious. I remember her asking my friend Sandeep, whose family are wealthy Sikhs, if he had 'lots of brothers and sisters'. She assumed that all 'Indians' would. Sandy has one sister - a top level dental surgeon and he's a high level lawyer, which might have challenged her heuristics somewhat. But I suppose if you don't ask, you never get your stereotypes challenged. Sandy, though, was rather put aback by the question.

  2. What moral reason could a couple have for having a baby? They could claim it as their procreative right. I don't like rights. They could say it's natural. So is gangrene. They could say it will make them a family, or give them someone to love or someone to look after them in their old age - all of which are treating the child as a means not an end. They could say that they are adding to the sum of happiness in the world because their baby will have a life worth living. Consider, though: if they refrained and devoted all the money and effort they would have spent on the child to approved charities, they could increase the total of happiness far, far more.

  3. Moral theories like deontology and utilitarianism (and virtue ethics, but I don't think it works in this way) try to create a FOUNDATION for right action. They are meant, in a sense, to be like the laws of geometry. If you have the right framework, faced with any situation, you can put in the variables and come out with the correct solution. I don't think morality is like this. I oppose relativism - because I think there is a grounding in that sentient beings can be harmed and experience that harm subjectively (though I also think that should lead us to consider, really, whether harm that is not experienced subjectively but is just harm - like cutting down a tree - has some salience rather than none, but I leave this for now - suffice to say, there's a grounding), so - do not harm or kill is a great rule. But I think that rightness of action is - when at an interpersonal level or just a personal level - rather than at the level of institution or state (which I think should be rule consequentialism) - is contextual, relational, particular and complicated. It's for that reason that I think there is a benefit - indeed, a consequentialist benefit - in encouraging a virtue ethicist approach. In part, I think it can 'make sense' to people and is thus more likely to influence action. Also I like it because it encourages the development of moral reasoning. Finally, there is an advantage in that it recognises that we are social animals and that relations between us matter at the personal, familial and communal level in enhancing our well-being and that of those we are connected to. Indeed, if it were to encourage a sense of responsibility toward others, it would certainly be win-win.

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