Knowledge is Power (5) - What is Ethics?
In this short article I would like to point out a few things about Ethics.
Ethics is the science that teaches us what is right and what is wrong. It teaches us the nature of the moral good and evil. When I say "moral good", I think of moral conduct, duty, conscience, justice, freedom, reason, work. I also think pleasure, happiness, love, sex. And when I say "evil"... well... we all know what that means.
Ethics studies the morality of human conduct. It teaches the purpose and meaning of life, how to live well and happy. It is very important to know what are we living for, don't you agree?
Ethics is often called "moral philosophy of beauty". I always wondered why is that.
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When I think beauty, I think art, because I am an artist and art is the most beautiful thing for me. But beauty and art are two different things. Art is the product of man's creativeness and skills of making beautiful things. Beauty is a quality of a thing. Beauty gives us feelings, like pleasure and excitement.
Moral philosophy of beauty. What does that mean?
What are the essential characteristics of beauty presented in a thing or even in a person?
Is beauty in the eye of the beholder or in the real object?
How objective can we be when judging beauty?
I think moral philosophy of beauty addresses these questions, along with many more.
Regarding art, I think that the genuine interest in appreciation of the beauty of a certain piece of art is basically the main interest in art.
What Do You Think?
Note - This post is a part of my series "Knowledge is Power". In case you missed my previous articles, you can read them below:
The perception of beauty is really subjective. And so, the essential characteristics of beauty predicates on the common ground. With keeping in mind that, we, humans, are not absolute which means, we are subject to change and so our opinion.
Really enjoyed reading this, thanks for sharing.
I agree. The perception of beauty is subjective, but the criteria of judging beauty must be objective. I’m thinking about a piece of art. There must be some rules in place, some criteria, to determine the degree of beauty. Also there must be a level of intelligence involved to be able to judge beauty. Just my two cents 😊
I generally agree with you, Ma'am. Although, I want to highlight my point regarding " the criteria of judging beauty must be objective" which I believe it is still subjective, and that's what I meant when I said "the essential characteristics of beauty predicates on the common ground." in other words, the criteria of judging beauty in itself is subjective but might be in a collective way, like in modeling industry, for instance, they follow specific criteria yet it does not necessarily represent everyone. Therefore, I personally believe that beauty is absolutely subjective and cannot be contained and/or categorized by a certain group.
Please don't mind my argument, I truly appreciate a valuable conversation that I can learn something from it :)
Hey, I like a good argument, that’s an interesting discussion and can go on and on. That’s why philosophy is so interesting to me. I generally agree with you, I was thinking about rules (criteria) to be followed in judging beauty. Your example with modeling is good. 😊
See, at last, we're on the same page, generally :) i love philosophy! I believe I've read one other post of your knowledge series and noticed other posts on philosophy, which ill be reading sometimes soon when i clear my head out from some bugs :)
This post is sponsored by @SteemitBloggers in collaboration with @appreciator. Just keep up the good work.
So...if someone appreciates you, and thinks that you're a beautiful masterpiece, should i suggest him to bring me to the art gallery for a date? that way he will know i'm more beautiful that those paintings. LOL 😂
😊 sure 😊
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Thank you so much, I really appreciate stemmitbloggers community, I met wonderful people there.
This brings me back to my college philosophy class. When we had an ethics discussion everyone seemed pretty sure what good and evil is. We covered a wide range of topics love, war, and even torture. Then the question was posed is all murder unethical? Is all torture unethical? What if you had a prisoner that knew the location of a nuclear bomb about to go off and wouldn't talk. Would it be ethical to torture him to find out? Even though studies show torture seldom works? These are complex questions, and i find your post very interesting! Thanks for sharing and looking forward to more :) #steemitbloggers
This is very true. Philosophy is a very complex science and Ethics discussions are always hot. The torture subject is very sensitive. In your example I think I am pro-torture. 😕
Some people have moral turpitude in the ethics department. And beauty is a matter of individual taste; or is it like the tree in the forest that stands out from all the others; I'm not sure what I think
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, that’s what you’re saying @wales😊 It is true 😊
I enjoyed reading your musings on beauty...but I am curious as to how you would define evil. In your post you write, "we all know what that means." I'm not so sure that we would all have the same definition. In my opinion, what is considered evil is based largely on cultural norms, and cultures vary considerably. Do you think there is a single definition of evil that everyone would agree with? Just curious.
I don't think there is one single definition of evil. I agree with you, it is a concept based on cultural norms. For me it is the opposite of good. :)
I think evil has a lot to do with intention rather than action. For that reason, I believe there are very few evil people in the world. Maybe I'm too trusting, but I think that the majority of people do whatever it is they are doing because they believe in it. They believe it will be good on some level.
I just can't (won't?) accept that most people would do terrible things just to be terrible. Then again, there is an entire internet of trolls waiting to prove me wrong. :-/
For sure @mattifer. I am a trusting person too, and I am shocked when I see people doing terrible things just to be terrible.
Thank you for sharing this to us. I guess we should strive our best to become ethical people.
Hope you have a great day!
I guess so too :) Thanks for reading!
Ethics to a certain extent is perception
So there's the broad perception, that over time and the masses have come to agree what's good and bad
And then there's... abortion, or pre-marital sex, or LBGT, religion, etc... then it's your school of thought.... 😊
Yes, there is so much to talk about. Good vs bad is the most important topic in life.
Nice Post
Thank you for stopping by @thumama 😊