Are you now obligated to act?: Philosophy Forums

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Are you now obligated to act?
Real life ethics question. Don't read this unless you want to make a choice.

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Are you now obligated to act?

xzJoel
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Posted 09/04/09 - 03:14 PM: Subject: Are you now obligated to act?	#1
http://shop.thehungersite.com/stor...ss=RecommendedItem&index=2 Let's pretend like what is being sold is true. $50 of your money is all that it takes to free a young girl from virtual slavery. Tell me, why shouldn't you max out all of your credit cards and free as many girls as you can?
Make a joyous noise onto the lord... Not a good one, just a joyous one.

Cadrache
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Posted 09/04/09 - 03:26 PM:	#2
The term virtual to start. What do they mean by 'virtual'? The next is " There is grass outside." I save that girl, which girl will they then choose? I don't see any reason to take responsibility for their actions. How much does the webiste cost? Ie. I normally take the precept of locality when I do attempt to help people. The further away they are, the less help mere money actually becomes. The whole idea of 'throw money at them' to me is somewhat distasteful. I'm like keda in this case. To me - this makes the human being I try to help an object. In another way you could claim that for the sake of the child - I will only work a single day in my life. If it weren't for taxes, it would be only 2/3rd a work day.
"...There was a writer who asked why it was that when we find positive experiences we say that only the physical facts are real, but in negative experiences we believe that reality is subjective. He made an example of those who say that in birth only the pain is real, the joy a subjective point of view, but that in death it is the emotional loss that is the reality." - Tony Ballantyne, Recursion. _____________________________________________ Truth is want. - The internal state of matters. Truth is Need. - The external state of affairs.

Cadrache
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Posted 09/04/09 - 03:29 PM:	#3
Mmm... let me re-write it diffferently. Why should I bother saving another child when saving them is derived from the basis of gluttony? I produce in 1 day, what they require to live in their lifetime. I de-value them to such a state that what I do in 1 day is what their entire life is worth.
"...There was a writer who asked why it was that when we find positive experiences we say that only the physical facts are real, but in negative experiences we believe that reality is subjective. He made an example of those who say that in birth only the pain is real, the joy a subjective point of view, but that in death it is the emotional loss that is the reality." - Tony Ballantyne, Recursion. _____________________________________________ Truth is want. - The internal state of matters. Truth is Need. - The external state of affairs.

mutemaler
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1 of 1 people found this post helpful Posted 09/04/09 - 03:31 PM:	#4
xzJoel wrote: Let's pretend like what is being sold is true. $50 of your money is all that it takes to free a young girl from virtual slavery. Tell me, why shouldn't you max out all of your credit cards and free as many girls as you can? You ask why shouldn't I do this, but don't say why I should.

Cadrache
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Posted 09/04/09 - 03:32 PM:	#5
Now... the other version: A monk is walking and he enters a place where no life exists. What does the monk do? Let's change this question to: A monk is walking and he enters an area which will not support the amount of living beings that currently live there. What does the monk do?
"...There was a writer who asked why it was that when we find positive experiences we say that only the physical facts are real, but in negative experiences we believe that reality is subjective. He made an example of those who say that in birth only the pain is real, the joy a subjective point of view, but that in death it is the emotional loss that is the reality." - Tony Ballantyne, Recursion. _____________________________________________ Truth is want. - The internal state of matters. Truth is Need. - The external state of affairs.

Mako
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Posted 09/04/09 - 07:31 PM:	#6
The most direct obligations to rectify this situation accrue to the people who are perpetrating it and, from a social/political perspective, the government which allows it. Morally, the obligations are located at those points. To overlook that and to somehow infer from this situation that a specific 'duty to act' in a specific manner disperses out to others who are not connected to it is wrong. Flip the question around. Does the blame fall on any particular person (not connected directly to the situation) if said person fails to act in this situation? Can American Joe blame Australian Mary if she doesn't do anything and vice versa? EDIT: Can a moral duty be generated unilaterally (in this case by the non-profit organization) merely by pointing-out an unjust situation to which one is not causally connected (through one's intentions or directly from one's actions/policies)? I caution that my point here is not that we in other countries (or individuals otherwise not directly connected) don't have some obligation, but I would disagree that specific obligations can be created unilaterally and delegated-out in such a manner. Think about the implications if unilateral obligations could be created in such ways*. Edited by Mako on 09/04/09 - 08:41 PM
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unenlightened
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Posted 09/04/09 - 07:37 PM:	#7
xzJoel wrote: Let's pretend like what is being sold is true. $50 of your money is all that it takes to free a young girl from virtual slavery. Tell me, why shouldn't you max out all of your credit cards and free as many girls as you can? Of course you should. Do it immediately. Unless you can free even more by working and saving.
...most of our actions are the result of the past, or according to a future ideal. That's not action, that is just conformity. J Krishnamurti "Philosophy, to the Philistine, is an evolutionary process, watched over by some sort of brisk dynamic Providence, and culminating in the supreme insight of modern thought." John Cowper Powys

singular_future
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Posted 09/04/09 - 08:26 PM:	#8
unenlightened wrote: Of course you should. Do it immediately. Unless you can free even more by working and saving. Amen.
"Fiction is the truth inside the lie." -Stephen King (probably the best material to come from Stephen King)

Mako
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Posted 09/04/09 - 09:37 PM:	#9
singular_future wrote: Amen. That's nice but do we have a specific obligation. as was the question in the OP? ' I don't believe we do, as I stated in post #6. Edited by Mako on 09/05/09 - 06:25 AM
"To alcohol. The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems." ~ Homer Simpson

mutemaler
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Posted 09/05/09 - 01:02 AM:	#10
Mako wrote: singular_future wrote: Amen. That's nice but do we have a specific obligation as mentioned in the OP? ' I don't believe we do as I stated in post #6. And I'm still waiting for the OP to tell me what the morality is, to give it a name, and explain my connection to it.

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