Painting or the Cat

Quote: bluefire

Does "I'm selfish and generally feel a stronger emotional connection to cats than rembrandt" count? :P

That's kind of the problem, though, isn't it? Our emotional connections/biases should have, ideally, no influence on our ethical decisions. It's sort of like the ACLU defending Nazis--they feel that free speech is free speech, even if that speech disgusts us. That's one of the reasons I LOVED the movie, "The Dark Knight"--there were so many questions of moral ambiguity. The upshot is that APPLIED ethics is a whole different animal than ethics per se. That concept often gets misrespresented via the term "situational ethics", which is a self-canceling phrase if ever I heard one.

That said, if I was that fireman, and the choice was between the Rembrandt and my ex-wife, not only would I unhesitatingly grab the painting, but I would trip her as she tried to escape. (Too bad this is only another exercise in the hypothetical.)

Quote: mkl654321

That's kind of the problem, though, isn't it? Our emotional connections/biases should have, ideally, no influence on our ethical decisions. It's sort of like the ACLU defending Nazis--they feel that free speech is free speech, even if that speech disgusts us. That's one of the reasons I LOVED the movie, "The Dark Knight"--there were so many questions of moral ambiguity. The upshot is that APPLIED ethics is a whole different animal than ethics per se. That concept often gets misrespresented via the term "situational ethics", which is a self-canceling phrase if ever I heard one.

That said, if I was that fireman, and the choice was between the Rembrandt and my ex-wife, not only would I unhesitatingly grab the painting, but I would trip her as she tried to escape. (Too bad this is only another exercise in the hypothetical.)

lol @ ex-wife.

Yeah, I agree that my statement was taking the easy way out and shouldn't really play any part in the decision. If I was to be completely unbiased about it, I think I'd have to choose the Rembrandt, as it would have the potential to bring joy to thousands of people whereas the Cat would never have that much of an impact.

Still, I like being selfish. ;)

"Situational Ethics"? Most of my philosophy background is political, and the first thing that comes to mind when you say that is Nietzsche.

Quote: bluefire

"Situational Ethics"? Most of my philosophy background is political, and the first thing that comes to mind when you say that is Nietzsche.

And the first thing that comes to mind when you say "Nietzche" is (besides "Gesundheit!") is Otto in "A Fish Called Wanda":

Otto: Don't call me stupid!

Wendy: Why on earth not?

(Otto was a student of Nietzsche.)

Quote: mkl654321

And the first thing that comes to mind when you say "Nietzche" is (besides "Gesundheit!") is Otto in "A Fish Called Wanda":

Otto: Don't call me stupid!

Wendy: Why on earth not?

(Otto was a student of Nietzsche.)

I've never seen that movie, but after looking it up since that comment, it looks absolutely hilarious. Just added to the netflix queue.

IMHO, the three funniest movies ever made:

1. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (no contest)
2. Life of Brian (also Monty Python)
3. A Fish Called Wanda (featuring most of the Monty Python cast)