I think this is an astute observation— likely contributing to the rise of virtue-signaling seen across the ideological spectrum. If ethics is merely politics, then if I support the “right” policies, I am “virtuous” regardless of how I handle myself in my individual life. This is not what ethics or virtue should mean or be.
I do think that it makes sense to say that ethics should include some politics, but that ethics should be larger and encompassing more than just politics.
We used to have a lot more “life” stuff that was largely outside of the political realm, and has equally collapsed into it (like sports for example). It’s frustrating that everything is political now-a-days, especially ethics.
this resonates with a lot of thoughts i have. i think its because people are exposed to a lot more outside their community, seeing things on screens as such, instead of simple person to person interaction. this change in inputs to our minds changes how we model ourselves as actors within society. i struggled a lot as a teen with the concept of free will. theres this very psychological, atomistic thinking where you do this because the atoms/social systems/whatever were aligned in a way that causes that behavior. but that thinking requires focusing on either molecules or societies instead of the individual person. i think of it as zooming too far in or out that you fail to see the self (defining the self is its own topic; i am assuming you know what i mean by 'the self') as an independent actor.
i think my solution has been to acknowledge that i can think about the world in terms of atoms or social systems, and then believe i am an actor with free will. like a split between things empirically known and what i believe to be true within my heart. still working on it though.
I think this is an astute observation— likely contributing to the rise of virtue-signaling seen across the ideological spectrum. If ethics is merely politics, then if I support the “right” policies, I am “virtuous” regardless of how I handle myself in my individual life. This is not what ethics or virtue should mean or be.
I do think that it makes sense to say that ethics should include some politics, but that ethics should be larger and encompassing more than just politics.
We used to have a lot more “life” stuff that was largely outside of the political realm, and has equally collapsed into it (like sports for example). It’s frustrating that everything is political now-a-days, especially ethics.
I’m not sure the size of the overlap in the audiences for Christian ethics and 30 Rock, but apparently that makes two of us.
this resonates with a lot of thoughts i have. i think its because people are exposed to a lot more outside their community, seeing things on screens as such, instead of simple person to person interaction. this change in inputs to our minds changes how we model ourselves as actors within society. i struggled a lot as a teen with the concept of free will. theres this very psychological, atomistic thinking where you do this because the atoms/social systems/whatever were aligned in a way that causes that behavior. but that thinking requires focusing on either molecules or societies instead of the individual person. i think of it as zooming too far in or out that you fail to see the self (defining the self is its own topic; i am assuming you know what i mean by 'the self') as an independent actor.
i think my solution has been to acknowledge that i can think about the world in terms of atoms or social systems, and then believe i am an actor with free will. like a split between things empirically known and what i believe to be true within my heart. still working on it though.