morality Archives - EXTREME ETHICS

ETHICS, SPIRITUALITY, and the SUPERNATURAL

ETHICS, RELIGION, and SPIRITUALITY

[This piece was promised (in http://www.extremeethics.org/?p=745 ) earlier. Please refer to it.]

Why has religion been so dominant in the rise of man? It was, until the Enlightenment called it into question and the ‘enlightened’ threw it under the bus and put their money on science.

In the first place: is religion valid? Atheism says ‘no.’ Atheism is the belief that there are no deities to worship, one reason being that they cannot be proven. However, atheism doesn’t necessarily deny a first cause (a cause is something that is NOT an effect).

There has to be a first cause, and whatever it was, it could not have been impossible (and as a first principle would have to be ethical). The evidence for a first cause by any name is all around us: the Universe–it’s here. That we are here is

ETHICS BEYOND the MIND

ETHICS and A TALE OF TWO PHYSICS

It’s important to know up front that what follows has nothing whatsoever to do with religion (religions are institutions, which have agendas—we’re simply seeking truth). It has to do with life, with being, with self, and therefore with ethics. We’re about to consider the very foundation for being itself—consciousness.

Which requires that we lose touch, literally, as well as the other four senses (sight, hearing, taste and smell). We’re going beyond the physical into the metaphysical. Until about a hundred years ago this was decidedly spooky territory. It still is, but with the advent of quantum theory in the 1920s it’s become fertile ground for serious study.

To review: “Mind is the complex of cognitive faculties that enables consciousness, thinking, reasoning, perception, feeling and judgment…” (Wikipedia). Notice that mind is not a physical

ETHICS and GROUPTHINK

ETHICAL ISSUES: COMMUNITY vs. GROUPS

It’s inevitable that we be involved with others and will both affect and be affected by them. Each of us operates subjectively using our own five senses plus our intuition, instincts, insights and unique thoughts and reactions. This makes each of us unique with respect to our personal interaction with the rest of the world, each of whom is as unique as we are.

While you are entitled to your interpretation of what’s happening, others are entitled to theirs, and chances are excellent that they won’t be the same as yours. Given equal input, each individual may react differently and come to a different conclusion. In other words, there will be virtually infinite combinations of actions along the line.

In the context of mankind, that’s no problem. Humanity as an ethical whole will handle whatever its members throw its way.

ETHICS and the PROGRESSIVE ETHIC

ETHICS and FIRST PRINCIPLES vs. the Progressive Ethic

The Declaration of Independence and Constitution are the basis of the law of our land. They have served us well since the beginning and will continue to do so because they are based in First Principles. Ethics is a first principle.

There’s nothing mysterious about it…

All right then—what are First Principles? First Principles are what IS—everything else is based upon them; nothing exists without them. They cannot be deduced, nor can anything be deduced without them. In Latin: ab initio. They are what in mathematics are called axioms or postulates. You may use givens.

TRUTH is s a first principle. So are the EM (electromagnetic) Spectrum and Gravity. TIME may also be included, as well as PERFECTION. For us, EARTH is a first principle, as are

ETHICS: A TALE OF TWO ETHICS

ETHICS ISSUES: LIBERALISM, PROGRESSIVISM and The Rest

The study of ethics goes back at least to the birth of philosophy some 2500 years ago, with Socrates positing that ethical truth was not only rational but demonstrably absolute. Plato expanded on this thought, and since then countless philosophers have put in their two cents worth with no visible damage to Socrates’s original conjecture. Aristotle’s subsequent metaphysics defined ethics as “virtue as a means to happiness,” opening the door to scholastic conflict and beginning a long history of questioning just what is meant by happiness (and virtue, for that matter). Truth, however, remains sacrosanct despite all assaults (and opinions).

There’s nothing mysterious about it…

The rapid proliferation of newspapers, journals and literary salons in the 18^th Century caused an explosion in mass communication that encouraged public venues where ideas, political and otherwise, could be discussed, developed and

ETHICAL ISSUES: UNIONS

ETHICS, UNIONS, and UNIONIZATION

I’ve long suspected that the rampant liberalism of the 1960s would have toxic effects on our society in the future. The future is now. That being said, I propose the following:

[My own well-documented research in this area in preparation of my MBA thesis (Unionization And The Professional; Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1970) was done at the very time the movement was active, so I have more than a passing knowledge of the subject. An interview with Fred Siegel by Matthew Kaminski (Wall Street Journal, November 26-27, 2011) brings it into sharper focus.]

Unfortunately…

Believe it or else: our current financial crisis is in large part a result of public sector unions. The decline of the blue-collar worker in the ’50s resulted in decline in union membership, heralding a decline in union stature and commensurate decline in union power. In order to survive, unions had to look elsewhere for membership. Failing in their attempts to unionize private sector (the economy) professionals and white-collar workers, they turned their efforts to the public sector.