University philosophy courses: a bucketful of ethical sh*t

Hello! 

I'm studying Philology and Linguistics, and I used to work for a company as a tutor some years ago, helping Philology students write their thesis. Philosophy is one of my favourite subjects in the field.

It's not easy to understand philosophy. Philosophers don't just assume stuff. Philosophy is the art of logical thinking which leads you to conclusions about everything!

maxlinger60 said:

Why do philosophers use so many air-headed words to say so very little

That's the process! They have to analyse every argument and every possible concept so they can make conclusions.

maxlinger60 said:

I AM NOT A TROLLEY CONDUCTOR

In real life, you are! There are decisions you must make everyday. And philosophy teaches you how to think, so you can make better decisions. 

My choice is to refuse to chose, this is a silly game and I refuse to play it, i'd ask questions about the sanity of the sort of person who engages with sort of thought experiment and certainly the sort of person who expects others to engage with it. I've been asked this question before and had some epic arguements about why I won't play.

but that in itself is still a choice. The trolly problem is mostly pointless but it's one saving grace is it renforces the message inaction is still a choice.

Iain, I'm sorry if I took your post wrongly, but in my defence you so often sound like you're trying to scold me, or even worse make me conform to some ideal of humanity. I'm far from perfect, I don't even try and be perfect and nor do I want to be. I'm a cat, if you try and herd me you'll get scratched, simple as.

I do think you and I are a bit chalk and cheese, for one thing you appear to care much more than I do about getting on with others and I really don't care that much.

TheCatWoman said:

Wow, thanks Iain, I really needed that mansplaining to to me

That was rude.

It may be your autism contributing to this but I was trying to offer you insights into why things are the way the are when you say it often results in arguements and annoyances.

I'lll leave you in peace as you seem particularly hostile to me recently and I have only ever tried to he helpful. I'm sorry if you took this as mysogeny but your gender has never been a factor in my interactions.

I can't take this regular berating.

Wow, thanks Iain, I really needed that mansplaining to to me. Has it ever occured to you that I might not want to be around people who's conversation is so binary?

Compromise, I an relate this back to my abusive relationships thread, I've noticed over the years that compromise means something different to what it's said to mean, ie I'm the one who compromises all the time and nobody else does. I thought compromise really meant that we all give up a little of what we want so as we all get most of what we want.

I'm nearly always the person who acts in a crisis, the one who runs towards trouble not away from it. I once organised what could of been a major accident, when a mini van crashed into a wall and flipped on its side. I called ambulances, police and organised turning places in both directions for oncoming traffic. I was praised by the 999 call handler and the police for my actions, which allowed the apropriate response vehicles to attend and gave a clear statement to police, the woman in the car in front, just went totally blank and couldn't even knock on a door and ask to use a phone.

TheCatWoman said:

what really bugs people is my refusal to play at all and to go off and do something else.

I think this is because you are rejecting them (in their eyes) rather than rejecting the arguement.

By walking away you are socially rejecting their presence as a protest. Rejecting the arguement would normally involve saying no and trying to change the subject to something less contentious but instead you reject both the arguement and them.

Sometimes to be socially accepted you need to change the narrative and say something like "I'll answer the question only if you make a donation to the local cat charity".

Here you are not rejecting them but making it conditional and the chances are they will back down.

Compromise is an essential part of most social interactions after all.

I agree. And clearly the choice not to engage with a hypothetical question is not the same as chosing not to act in a crisis. However its been my observation that if you leave things to the last minuet sometimes life does present you with binary choices. But they are only binary because you have to make a snap judgment to act or not. I've you'd considered it ahead of time, in say a hypothetical, other options might have been apparent.

The troly problem also invites you to think "could I derail the trolly? Would that risk more lives? Who keeps going around tying people to tracks shouldn't some one do something about that."

Of course refusing to choose is still a choice, but what really bugs people is my refusal to play at all and to go off and do something else.

I hate these questions with binary answers, real life isn't like that, very rarely do we have to make choices like that, every binary choice leads to others; tea or coffee, large or small, black or white, hot or cold and with coffee the sub menus seem endless and often so pointless I just don't engage and bring a flask.

Of course refusing to choose is still a choice, but what really bugs people is my refusal to play at all and to go off and do something else.

I hate these questions with binary answers, real life isn't like that, very rarely do we have to make choices like that, every binary choice leads to others; tea or coffee, large or small, black or white, hot or cold and with coffee the sub menus seem endless and often so pointless I just don't engage and bring a flask.

Iain, I'm sorry if I took your post wrongly, but in my defence you so often sound like you're trying to scold me, or even worse make me conform to some ideal of humanity. I'm far from perfect, I don't even try and be perfect and nor do I want to be. I'm a cat, if you try and herd me you'll get scratched, simple as.

I do think you and I are a bit chalk and cheese, for one thing you appear to care much more than I do about getting on with others and I really don't care that much.

TheCatWoman said:

Wow, thanks Iain, I really needed that mansplaining to to me

That was rude.

It may be your autism contributing to this but I was trying to offer you insights into why things are the way the are when you say it often results in arguements and annoyances.

I'lll leave you in peace as you seem particularly hostile to me recently and I have only ever tried to he helpful. I'm sorry if you took this as mysogeny but your gender has never been a factor in my interactions.

I can't take this regular berating.

Wow, thanks Iain, I really needed that mansplaining to to me. Has it ever occured to you that I might not want to be around people who's conversation is so binary?

Compromise, I an relate this back to my abusive relationships thread, I've noticed over the years that compromise means something different to what it's said to mean, ie I'm the one who compromises all the time and nobody else does. I thought compromise really meant that we all give up a little of what we want so as we all get most of what we want.

I'm nearly always the person who acts in a crisis, the one who runs towards trouble not away from it. I once organised what could of been a major accident, when a mini van crashed into a wall and flipped on its side. I called ambulances, police and organised turning places in both directions for oncoming traffic. I was praised by the 999 call handler and the police for my actions, which allowed the apropriate response vehicles to attend and gave a clear statement to police, the woman in the car in front, just went totally blank and couldn't even knock on a door and ask to use a phone.

TheCatWoman said:

what really bugs people is my refusal to play at all and to go off and do something else.

I think this is because you are rejecting them (in their eyes) rather than rejecting the arguement.

By walking away you are socially rejecting their presence as a protest. Rejecting the arguement would normally involve saying no and trying to change the subject to something less contentious but instead you reject both the arguement and them.

Sometimes to be socially accepted you need to change the narrative and say something like "I'll answer the question only if you make a donation to the local cat charity".

Here you are not rejecting them but making it conditional and the chances are they will back down.

Compromise is an essential part of most social interactions after all.

I agree. And clearly the choice not to engage with a hypothetical question is not the same as chosing not to act in a crisis. However its been my observation that if you leave things to the last minuet sometimes life does present you with binary choices. But they are only binary because you have to make a snap judgment to act or not. I've you'd considered it ahead of time, in say a hypothetical, other options might have been apparent.

The troly problem also invites you to think "could I derail the trolly? Would that risk more lives? Who keeps going around tying people to tracks shouldn't some one do something about that."