Dear philosophers, I have a question concerning politics and movies. Do people who boycott movies involving a certain actor/director/producer simply on the basis of the political views of that actor/director/producer acting reasonably? I wouldn't think so because a large part of how people decide whether to watch a movie or not is the history of the quality of the actor/director/producer's work and not that actor/director/producer's political views. What do you philosophers think?

Do children have duties towards their parents? If they do, do these arise as a result of the parents' efforts on the child's behalf, or are they in some way structurally required, regardless of the parents' "performance"?

You can make an argument that a particular route to Yellowstone is the best one to take; and you can make an argument that a man should give up his lover and decide to remain with his wife. But doesn't that fact that in the second case there is no map, that in the end the man himself must decide, completely change the kind of argument being made and what it can do? A philosopher couldn't give that man the correct answer, could she, by improving the argument?

Is it ethical to live a lifestyle of luxury when that lifestyle relies on exploitation and unjust inequalities?

There are those who believe that morality consists of doing what you like as long as no one gets hurt, and no one's rights are infringed upon. However where does that central idea that hurting others or infringing on others' rights is wrong come from? Isn't that also a moral judgment? What morality is it based on? Thanks.

I have a meta-dispute with my nephew about whether a dispute over a loan is a financial issue or a moral one. I would like to hear from a professional philosopher whether or not I am correct in framing that meta-dispute as a moral issue. The fundamental dispute is this: my nephew has had to file for personal bankruptcy twice, and in 2009 had got himself into deep debt again. No institution was willing to loan him money. He now needed $10,000 to avoid bankruptcy. He approached his mother and me, asking to borrow that amount from my mothers (his grandmother's) savings. My mother approved lending the money provided he agreed to pay it back in a regular manner. I was given the task of deciding what was a regular manner. He agreed to the deal that I would write checks to his creditors provided he signed a promise to begin paying the money back at an agreed-upon rate in January 2010. The checks were written, the promise written out and signed. It was not notarized. He never paid anything on the loan. He...

It appears that all ethical theories are vulnerable to the challenge that their values, whatever they are, are products of cultural relativity. Since nobody can transcend his/her culture, is the only answer to shrug our shoulders and say, "So what? In this culture X is right and Z is wrong, at least for now. So for the time being, respect our current code or risk the consequences of not doing so."?

I am a 39 year old married woman. I recently attended an adult party (a.k.a. pleasure party) hosted by one of my friends. I did not ask my husband's permission to attend, thinking it wasn't a big deal. I did not purchase any "toys" but nonetheless, my husband is furious at me for attending. He says I "violated" our relationship and socially embarrassed him by going. He has called me a liar, hypocrite (because I don't allow our children to swear, watch porn, etc. but I went to this party) and a whore. I don't understand what is happening. He says I must "admit my guilt" or live a lonely, sex-less life. He also doesn't think he will ever be able to have sex with me again. I want to stay with him but I don't know what I did wrong. Is it morally and ethically wrong to attend a party like this without my husband's consent?

Is bravery - for example risking or giving one's life to save a stranger's, while one has loved-ones and dependents - laudable, or even defensible, under any theories of ethics? There are many examples of people giving up their lives - and by consequence severely afflicting those of their immediate family - through acts of self-sacrifice. Are these acts justifiable? Sometimes the risks of this kind of uncalculating bravery are so great, it seems that no reasonable person would do it, yet some do, and most people (me included) praises them for it - is this reasonable?

Do others have the right to define what’s ethical for me?