Ethics

Once capital punishment was right and fornication was wrong. Now the reverse seems generally true. Is there any way that philosophy can prepare us for future alterations in our values, perhaps by indicating where they are likely to arise?

Comments

It is not at all obvious that captial punishment used to be morally permissible. What is obvious is that most people, or some powerful people, or something along those lines thought it was morally permissible (that is, "right" or "OK"). It may well be that it was always morally impermissible (that is, "wrong"), but people didn't realize this. That would certainly be my view.

There's nothing peculiar about what I'm suggesting. People used to think the earth was at the center of the universe. It wasn't. They were wrong. People used to think it was OK to leave babies on the sides of mountains to die in the noonday sun. They too were wrong. Maybe the same goes for capital punishment. And even sex outside of marriage.

So philosophy can at least contribute that sort of clarification. And maybe a bit more: By examining our presumptions carefully, perhaps philosophy can help us realize that what we think, even what we really, firmly believe, isn't right, after all.

Read another response by Richard Heck

Read another response about Ethics