Thoughts on ethics, society, politics, religion, philosophy, theology, and everything in between
One of the most commonly used buzzwords in our society today is the term “diversity.” Almost everyone seems to agree that diversity, whether gender, racial, religious, or otherwise, is a good and important thing. Efforts to promote and celebrate diversity have become widespread throughout our culture. Governments, businesses, and other organizations have created diversity task … Read more
According to the modernist view of truth, there is a set of indubitable truths universally accessible by the reason of any human being which can provide the foundation for certain knowledge. Upon this foundation, we can then build our other beliefs, secure in the knowledge that our beliefs are certain and reasonable. In this way, … Read more
Many people consider faith and reason to be opposites. Reason is an objective tool that allows us to arrive at the truth with certainty, while faith is something irrational and arbitrary. Any belief based on faith, then, should be dismissed, and only beliefs based on pure reason should be taken seriously. This understanding of the … Read more
Previously on this blog, I have made the case for the importance of virtue ethics. I have argued that it is inadequate to think of ethics solely in terms of following a list of rules, or solely in terms of “the ends justify the means.” Rather, we must think of ethics in terms of developing … Read more
One of the most significant developments of the modern era has been globalization. Globalization refers to the worldwide process of interaction and integration of governments, nations, people, and companies. This process has economic, political, social, and cultural aspects. Though there were some hints of globalization in the pre-modern world, the creation of new communication and … Read more
Different Ethical Theories In one of my very first posts on this blog, Understanding Ethical Disagreements, I examined how most major ethical disagreements in contemporary American society are a result of people ascribing to two different ethical theories, namely, virtue ethics and utilitarianism. In that post, my sole purpose was to try to help people … Read more
There are many ways in which a person may define their personal identity. In many cultures which stress the importance of the community over the individual, people often define their identity first in terms of the family they belong to or their family relationships. Or they might define identity first in terms of the national … Read more
Previously, I made the case that there is no universal morality; there are only a variety of particular moralities. Furthermore, I argued that any claim to objective moral truth must logically be based in some kind of transcendent reality. Here, I will flesh out these ideas a bit further, analyzing how different moralities interact as … Read more
One of the most influential moral and political ideas of the modern period has been the idea of human rights. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America declared, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain … Read more
If there is one thing people seem to agree upon in American society, it is that being inclusive and tolerant are good things, and being exclusive and intolerant are bad things. Labeling something inclusive and tolerant means that it is positive, healthy, and good, while labeling something as intolerant means that it is beyond the … Read more