Episode 62 - Reasons and Impartiality as Minimum Requirements For Morality Defined
Summary
TLDRThis session delves into the ethical considerations humans must navigate, emphasizing the importance of reason, rationality, and fairness. It explores our innate capacities for reason, compassion, and judgment, drawing from philosophical traditions. The discussion advocates for impartiality and fairness, suggesting these values should extend to all beings we share the world with, including non-human entities. It also touches on the need for minimum ethical standards to foster equitable coexistence and the responsibility to critique actions, promoting a broader understanding of ethics beyond human-centric views.
Takeaways
- 🧠 The session emphasizes the importance of reason, rationality, and fairness as fundamental ethical considerations for human beings.
- 🤔 Human beings possess the capacity for reason, compassion, and judgment, which are crucial in everyday life and future decision-making.
- 📚 The speaker's epistemic background in Canan and transcendental philosophy influences the discussion on the origins of compassion, reason, and judgment.
- 🌱 Cultivating the capacity for reason is a responsibility that extends to ensuring our actions and thoughts align with standards of rightness and wrongness.
- 💭 Compassion arises from the ability to imagine ourselves as others, which is vital for ethical considerations in human interactions.
- 🛑 Judgment is essential in deliberations and decision-making, with Aristotle's ethics highlighting the need for decisions to propel action.
- 🔄 Reason and rationality are not just personal capacities but are shared in public interactions and contribute to the discourse of the public good.
- 🤝 The concept of reasonableness involves the ability to communicate reasons and understand others' perspectives for ethical deliberation.
- 🏛️ Impartiality and fairness are key values in public and professional life, influencing decisions with universal effects on current and future generations.
- 🌐 The minimum requirements for ethical considerations should be inclusive, considering the experiences of non-human and non-sentient beings, as well as marginalized groups in society.
- 🔮 While rationality is a strength, it is also important to remain open to new phenomena and extend our ethical considerations to a broader range of beings and ideas.
Q & A
What are the minimum requirements for ethical considerations as discussed in the script?
-The minimum requirements for ethical considerations discussed in the script are reason, rationality, and the ideal of fairness.
How does the script define the capacity for reason in humans?
-The capacity for reason is defined as the ability to think, will, and judge, which is not only used in everyday life but also in making decisions and judgments in history.
What is the significance of the capacity for compassion in ethical considerations?
-The capacity for compassion stems from the ability to imagine oneself as another person, which is important for empathizing and sympathizing with others in ethical considerations.
How does the script connect the capacity for judgment with Aristotle's ethics?
-The script connects the capacity for judgment with Aristotle's ethics by emphasizing the importance of arriving at decisions through deliberation, which is a form of judgment that propels action.
What role does reasonableness play in our interactions with others according to the script?
-Reasonableness allows us to communicate our reasons to others, assess their reasons, and engage in deliberation without dictating what others should think or feel.
Why is impartiality important in ethical considerations?
-Impartiality is important because it ensures that our decisions and judgments are fair not only to ourselves but also to others and the public good, considering the impact on future generations.
How does the script suggest we should approach ethical considerations with non-human beings?
-The script suggests that we should extend our ethical considerations to non-human beings by including their experiences and perspectives, recognizing our shared world with them.
What does the script imply about the relationship between rationality and fairness?
-The script implies that rationality should be practiced with fairness and impartiality, ensuring that our judgments and decisions are not harmful to all beings involved.
How does the script view the role of reason in conflict resolution?
-The script views reason as a tool for conflict resolution that should not lead to violence or harm, but rather should be employed with the ideals of fairness and impartiality.
What is the script's stance on the inclusion of new phenomena and species in our ethical considerations?
-The script encourages the inclusion of new phenomena, species, and forms of thinking in our ethical considerations, advocating for an expanded imagination and understanding beyond our own rationality.
What responsibility does the script assign to individuals with rational capacity?
-The script assigns the responsibility of accepting and making criticisms and critique to individuals with rational capacity, not only of their own actions but also of others and communities.
Outlines
🤔 Ethical Considerations and Human Capacities
The speaker introduces the session's focus on ethical considerations, emphasizing the importance of reason, rationality, and fairness as fundamental human requirements. The session's outline is presented, which includes an introduction to human capacities such as reason, compassion, and judgment. The speaker, a Canon scholar, discusses the origins of these capacities within the framework of Canan philosophy and the critical tradition. The capacity for reason is highlighted as essential for thinking, willing, and judging, which are not only used in everyday life but also in making decisions and historical judgments. The capacity for compassion is explored as the ability to imagine oneself as another, which is crucial for ethical considerations. The capacity for judgment is seen as vital for making decisions, with a reference to Aristotle's view on the importance of deliberation leading to action.
🧠 Reason, Rationality, and Reasonableness in Public Discourse
The speaker delves into the importance of reason, rationality, and reasonableness in public interactions and the discourse of the public good. It is argued that these capacities are not only for personal use but also for sharing with others in public spaces. The concept of reasonableness is introduced as the ability to communicate reasons and understand others' perspectives, which is crucial for entering into deliberation. The speaker acknowledges that not all considerations are rational and that emotions and intuitions also play a role in ethical deliberations. The discussion aims to ensure that reason does not dictate but facilitates understanding and respect for diverse values and interests. The speaker stresses the importance of reason and reasonableness in guiding future generations and in conflict resolution without resorting to violence.
🌐 Impartiality, Fairness, and Ethical Decision-Making
The discussion turns to the ideals of impartiality and fairness, which are considered essential for ethical decision-making in various contexts, including public life, professional settings, and nation-building. The speaker suggests that these ideals should guide our thinking and actions to ensure fairness to ourselves, others, and the public good. The importance of considering the impact of decisions on future generations is highlighted. The speaker also points out the diversity in human thought processes and the need to include different perspectives, including those of non-human beings, in the pursuit of impartiality and fairness. The session aims to expand the understanding of ethical considerations beyond human-centric views to encompass a broader range of beings and entities.
🌱 Minimum Requirements for Ethical Considerations and Expanding Ethical Horizons
The speaker concludes the session by emphasizing the importance of discussing minimum requirements for ethical considerations, such as reason, rationality, fairness, and impartiality. These requirements are seen as essential for fostering cooperation, understanding, and equitable living among diverse beings. The speaker calls for an expansion of ethical considerations to include non-human and non-sentient beings, as well as marginalized groups in society. The session ends with a call to not fear the new or unfamiliar but to extend our imaginations and considerations to include them, ensuring that our rational capacities are used responsibly and that we are open to criticism and critique for the betterment of our communities and the world.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Reason
💡Rationality
💡Reasonableness
💡Impartiality
💡Fairness
💡Compassion
💡Judgment
💡Deliberation
💡Ethical Considerations
💡Capacity
Highlights
Ethical considerations require reason, rationality, and fairness as minimum requirements for humans.
Humans possess capacities for reason, compassion, and judgment.
Reason is not just a capacity but also a responsibility to cultivate.
Compassion stems from the ability to imagine ourselves as others.
Judgment is crucial in deliberations and making decisions.
Aristotle's view on the importance of arriving at decisions through deliberation.
Reason, rationality, and reasonableness are essential for public interactions and personal growth.
Reason should not dictate but should allow for the understanding of varied values and interests.
Impartiality and fairness are key values in ethical considerations and decision-making.
The importance of considering the impact of decisions on future generations.
The necessity of including non-human beings in ethical considerations.
The concept of impartiality should extend to all beings we share the world with.
Minimum requirements for ethical considerations are essential for equitable and just societies.
The importance of extending ethical considerations to vulnerable sectors of society.
The potential inclusion of animal sentience and artificial intelligence in ethical considerations.
The responsibility to critique actions and foster an environment of criticism and self-improvement.
The session concludes with a call to not fear the new or the unknown, and to embrace the irrationality of rationality.
Transcripts
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what is our brief claim for this session
in ethical considerations we as human
beings require reason rationality and
the ideal of fairness as our minimum
requirements so just a brief run through
of our outline for the session start
with our introduction and recognition of
some capacities as human beings the
second one is a a brief introduction to
reason rationality reasonableness the
third one is on impartiality and
fairness and the fourth one what does it
mean to have or to require minimum
requirements for ethical considerations
the fifth one would have to be our other
considerations or some harm that this
requirements might involve with the
other groups in our society so for the
first one we have our capacity for
reason our capacity for compassion and
our capacity for judgment now I think it
is important to recognize that as human
beings we are given or at least we have
the rational capacity for reason and
understanding that means that we are
capable of thinking we are capable of
willing and that we are capable for
judging or for for judgment this is not
only capacities that we use um in our
everyday lives but this also includes
our decisions and choices for the future
and our judgments in our history as
human beings our capacity for
reason is not only the capacity that we
as sentient beings have we also have the
capacity for compassion and the capacity
for judgment so before we uh go to the
capacity for compassion we might want to
look into where compassion is coming
from where reason is coming from and
where this judging facility comes since
I am a Canon scholar my epistemic
background would have to be Canan
philosophy and can transcendental
philosophy in his critical tradition so
we recognize that it's important for us
as human beings not only to have and to
employ our capacity for thinking but
it's also a responsibility for us to
ensure that we cultivate this capacity
for reason and this means that we have
standards for the rightness and
wrongness not only for our actions but
of course again for our thinking
capacities and for our logical
considerations our capacity for
compassion I think would have to stem
from
our from the depth and breadth of how we
are able to imagine ourselves as the
other person or in Filipino philosophy
we are not saying that we have the
capacity to absolutely occupy the
understanding the minds and the
perspectives of our fellow human beings
what we are saying here is that we have
capacity to imagine what it's like to be
the other person and we take that as an
important aspect in our ethical
considerations given that we are we can
only live our lives as ourselves and
thus for us to be able to empathize and
for us to be able to sympathize with our
other fellow human beings or other
sentient beings or other beings that
occupy the world it's important for us
to imagine what might be The Experience
from the point of view of these beings
now for the third part capacity for
judgment I think it's uh important to
note that the capacity for judgment is
important not only in deliberations but
also in making decisions we might want
to refer uh Aristotle here in niakan
ethics when he wrote or when he said in
his lectures that it is important for us
to arrive at a decision and that
decision is void by deliberation
deliberations is our space where in
which we are able to reason with one
another or present reason for one
another nevertheless for Aristotle it is
important that these deliberations end
so that we may now continue to act for
the deliberations to end we are required
to decide so that that decision would
provide us a product or would Propel us
into action the decision in a way is a
form of judgment which we are now
capable of U arriving at because we have
been using our capacity for reason again
it is important to understand that we
have been Loosely using the term
judgment or judging in different
situations or in everyday situations but
what we are trying to point out and
clarify here is that for us to be able
to decide properly for us to be able to
um assess the situation properly if it
is an ethical dilemma if it requires an
ethical action we have to make sure that
it is not only our thinking and willing
capacity our think our capacity for
providing reasons our capacity for
feeling for other persons but we are
also
required for um our capacity to judge
and assess properly what's needed not
only in particular situations but also
with uh understanding that uh these
decisions and these judgments have can
take a form of a rule or universal law
which may guide future Generations after
our own lifetimes now the second one why
is it important for us to talk about
reason rationality and reasonableness we
could not hide the fact that we share in
the interactions of of our publics and
that we also we are we also share not
only our deals and actions and
engagements but also um our skills and
their hopes within uh the discourse of
the public good for us to be able to
make sense not only um with other fellow
beings that we share this world with or
that we share the public space with but
for us to also make sense with ourselves
it is important for us to consider not
only our capacity for reason and
rationality which we have um discussed
earlier but also take the idea of
reasonableness so what does this mean
reasonableness well in a way uh is our
capacity to communicate our reasons to
the other person and also to um assess
and uh understand what the others are
their reasons uh their experiences their
point of views for us to be able to
enter into
deliberation we understand that not all
um not all considerations can be
rational or we can say that there are
certain ethical considerations or
deliberations that come from um an
emotional Source or from um an intuitive
Source uh since this uh we are only
discussing the minimal requirements for
ethical consideration here what we can
uh what we are saying as well is that we
might also want to um relate our
concepts of reason with the concepts of
uh that we find in emotions so that we
do not alienate or we do not
marginalize reasons feelings sentiments
and emotions and life worlds that our
other fellow bringing to the table when
we are doing deliberations or when we
are doing ethical considerations this
does not necessarily have to happen in
public spaces this can happen in our
personal relationships in our homes in
our classrooms in our everyday Pik Sala
with our Kapa so it is important for us
to see that through our reason we do not
dictate what the other should think what
the other should feel but because we
have reason and under that is our
capacity again through imagination then
we are made capable of seeing how values
how interests how desires vary across
different beings and that as part of
this
um the experience or the history of
humanity we have to understand that
reason is not a dictator it's not
authoritative but we appeal also to the
ideal or to the concept or to the rule
of reasonableness so that we do not
bring harm to another person nor do we
fall into violence when we are trying to
do conflict resolutions for example the
next one is the other part of our
discussion for this day on impartiality
and
fairness there are I think ideals that
we follow as human beings so this could
be the values of Truth telling the
values of um our family the values of
our desires and hopes and dreams um but
when we are trying to contextualize our
uh discussion on public spaces public
spheres for example or in our
professional lives or even a nation
building and democratic practices it is
important for us um at least to have a
working values or working Frameworks and
how we might be reasonable and how we
might be able to arrive at a decision or
to arrive at an intervention on
particular activities and particular
actions but also with uh Universal
effects not only on our lifetimes but on
future Generations so
one idea that uh we are trying to
discuss in the session is that of
impartiality and fairness and I think um
we are already uh um we are assuming
here a stance of
justice so when we're trying to uh
decide when we're trying to arrive at
results when we're trying to think not
only in ethical considerations but in
everyday situations and our relations
with our friends or families or
colleagues our um government
officials um we ask ourselves okay are
my uh frame of thinking are my thoughts
or my sentiments uh fair fair to myself
fair to the other person fair to the
public fair to a universal point of view
we ask ourselves if uh our uh decisions
that we are trying to arrive at will
impact not only ourselves at also again
the other person the public good we also
look into how our reasons and even the
idea of reasonableness is fair not only
to us who might have been uh practicing
our rationality but also to other groups
who are in rationality might not
necessarily be a value and might not
necessarily be a requirement for their
own capacity for judgment uh I before I
go into why is it important for us to
discuss minimum requirements for ethical
considerations I would also like to
point out that not all sentient human
beings or uh not all human beings are
same in their thought uh processes and
their um thinking capacities we also
have to understand that we have
different approaches and we have we lead
very uh different lives and we are also
given with different uh body capacities
so we have different abled fellows we
also share the world with uh animals we
also share the world with other objects
we also share the world with uh uh
nature we have the trees we have um even
at the level of the bacteria the level
of the atoms um we have to understand
that when we're trying to invoke the
ideal of impartiality and fairness we
might also have to include the other
beings that we share this world with I
think having this idea
and having this reflection and inside we
not only expand our um judging capacity
but it also adds to our understanding of
how we are rooted in this particular
world and how we live this world
together with other beings
so the reason the rationality and the
practice of
reasonableness I think has to take the
stance of impartiality and fairness and
again this has to
include the experiences of beings that
are not necessarily human and that are
not necessarily sent yet so that we
could
arrive well at a working understanding
of what is considered as the good or
what might be considered as ethical in
the general and Universal sense now the
question goes um the next question would
have to be why is it important for us to
discuss minimum requirements for ethical
considerations again of course we are
limited by our human capacities and
human understanding and how we relate to
our world and other being in the world
nevertheless for us to be able to work
with one another for us to be able to
reason with one another for us to be
able to live with one another and to
make this world home it is important for
us to least to reach for minimum
requirements and how we might want to
process and how we might want to
interact with one another and how we
will be able to build our Nations and
communities
equitably and um
justly and because we are looking solely
for minimum requirements which for this
session is that of reason and
rationality and that of the idea of
fairness and impartiality we might also
want to um to consider we might want to
research further on these considerations
so that we understand that our decisions
our
judgments are um aren't harmful to
everyone that is involved so as we have
mentioned earlier we might want to
consider or we might want to extend our
ethical considerations to other beings
and this would have to include beings
that are nonhuman nons sentient the
other things we have also have to look
into to our vulnerable sectors in
society so that have to be the
differently able the active uh the
groups uh Society is actively
marginalized based on their gender their
expression of sexuality their um
expression or their uh belief in a
particular religion and their um
expressions of uh spirituality we might
also want to look into progress in
animal sentience and learning and of
course the recent topic or theme on
machine learning and artificial
intelligence I would just like to point
out and I would just like to end this
session with um with a hope that we may
not want to fear things that are new or
things that we do not understand I think
our responsibilities as National agents
in the world is not only to invoke the
ideal again impartiality and
fairness but also to extend our
imaginations and to our considerations
to things that are strange to us and
that would have to include new phenomena
new species and the animal kingdom new
forms of thinking new ways of expression
new ways of life so that we do not
become imprisoned by our own rationality
and I think vber was the one who uh
theorized and who wrote about the
irrationality of
rationality I think it is important for
us to cultivate our rational capacities
so that we see that we can do more and
we have uh the capacities to do more and
lastly I hope that you also understand
that with our rational capacity comes as
well the responsibility to accept and
make criticisms and critique not only to
our actions but also the actions of
others in our communities and other
communities and in the whole
participants of our world and nature
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