Thank you,Meno.
Here are some other points to think about:
Takers of surveys and pollsters often ask citizens “Is this country on the right track?”
Awareness of this led me to reflect: When are individuals, or countries, on the right track? As I thought about it, I asked myself: What would my Ethics theory suggest as responses to this query? The following is the result I came up with?
We are on the right track when we look for ways to be more:
democratic
decentralized
responsible
empowering
respectful of one another
honest
open and transparent
authentic rather than hypocritical
of good will
cooperative
helpful toward the less fortunate
generous
loving
healthy
peaceful.
I also came to the conclusion that people like to have confirmation that they actually are on the right track - and that feedback at teach step along the way is a desideratum.
In that list of values that was offered, note the word "empowering…” The concept referred to is empowering the powerless, the miserable and destitute, from the ‘bottom up’ rather than waiting for something, some benefit or opportunity, to trickle down on them. The “Trickle-Down Economy” is to be rejected as counterproductive for the majority of the citizens. For us, the common people, it has NOT been helpful
The Greeks have a word for it
Are you acquainted with the Greek word philotimo?
If not, let me explain:
Philotimo [pronounced phil-`lot-tee-moe] is a concept that permeates Greek culture.
It connotes: generosity, good will, honesty, deep and wide respectfulness, living honorably. It is taught by mothers to their children. {Admittedly some teachers educate more effectively than others .}
Too bad we, in the USA, aren’t taught such a concept in our early formative years. It could perhaps aid in making the world a little more ethical.
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The Question is often asked by students: Can morality be objective?
Let us make these observations on the theme of objective morality .
It is predictable that if one jumps off the edge of a 10-story building roof, one is likely to go in a down direction and will likely experience a hard landing.
It is also predictable that if one, in the realm of human interaction, and human relations (including to oneself), inverts, in his or her life, the Hierarchy of Value - explained in BASIC ETHICS - (discovered, not invented, by Robert S. Hartman), by placing Systemic value above Extrinsic value, or either of those above Intrinsic value, then it is likely that the individual who does that - or the loved ones he cares about - will suffer. The suffering may consist in living in a confused world, dysfunctional, and in varying states of dissolution and chaos, a world that could be so much better than it currently is. In such a world people;s lives tend to be in turmoil – and it is so needless!
These are objective facts.
In the same way as a text teaching Euclid’s plane geometry is objective - in the sense that it can be studied universally on this planet - a text teaching what is widely-agreed about Ethics is also objective. I take the concepr “objective” to mean: inter-subjective.
The so-called definition “happens independent of human perception” is questionable …since how do we know of it? For any histoical “fact” we take someone’s subjective word for it.
myqol.com/wadeharvey/PDFs/BASIC%20ETHICS.pdf
hartmaninstitute.org/axiologyasascience/
The formulas in Ethics as science can be displayed on chalkboards all over the planet, and in this sense they are objective; at the same time, since they are about human value-judgments they are, as you say, subjective.
Thus they are both at once.
So let us be careful to avoid dys-systemic thinking, i.e., black-or-white thinking, insisting that it’s got to be this or that! Let’s be aware of all the shades of grey, and even of the colors in this world and this universe.
There are (at least) two more ways for an individual to know if he or she is on the right track.
One is Do no harm. As Confucious put it - in a word roughly translated as “reciprocity” - Don’t do to anyone else what you don’t want them to do to you.
The second way to be on the right track is:
Continuous self-improvement! This implies the concepts that one would keep on growing in knowledge and in moral development throughout life. …the thought being that there is always room for further expression of ethics in one’s life.
As I thought about it, I asked myself: What would my Ethics theory suggest as responses to the question: When are individuals on the right track? Considering that Ethics is the kind of discipline where the practice of it is worth far more to us than the theory of it - where ethics applied in life is superior to ethics on paper - the set of values (personal ideals) listed in the original post were offered to the reader since these were derived by deduction from the R. S. Hartman/Katz ethical theory taken as a whole.
Those who want to be ethical may seriously consider adopting this cluster of values. Then, as you become a role model, see what happens both with regard to your social interactions and with respect to the kind of world you now live in after forming some new habits in your quest for moral growth.
Let’s take Peace …just as an example.
If there were more peace in the world, you’d know it without requiring an exact measurement of it. [Stephen Pinker, though ,in a recent book, presented actual statistics on the prevalence of war today, and also compared with earlier centuries.] The issue - from the point of view of Applied Ethics, as practice relevant to a life well-lived -is: are you working to make it more of a viable possibility? There are nonprofit organizations one could cooperate with that every day teach about world peace, and how to get it. See the resources available at this link: worldwithoutwar.com/
As you may know, a “meme” is a cultural item that is transmitted by repetition and replication in a manner analogous to the biological transmission of genes. The values mentioned earlier can, with your help, become memes, that can be taught, and spread via the internet. They can gain prominence in the culture. The question is, do you agree with these values? And if you do, are you living by them? (For ethics are principles that are to be lived and practiced, if they are not to be mere intellectual exercises) Assuming you do agree, the questions arise: Are you mentoring others in those values? Are you voting only for candidates who share these values? Are you volunteering your time and energy toward implementing these values to any degree? The “Ultimate Purpose” of a good discipline of Ethics (a body of useful knowledge) is to provide a Quality Life for all …not for just an elite few.
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