John:
"You suggest we have an obligation to have a moral stance on issues at a
distance. Could you elaborate on this? This gets to the heart of my
dilemma."
gav:
i am referring to being part of a society and the responsibilities that
entails. when my society does something it is in effect 'me' doing it. it
may be something that has negative future consquences (pollution,
deforestation, greenhouse effect etc); it may be something that has
repercussions at a distance (refusing refugees asylum; sending troops to
kill villlagers in the mid-east etc). these 'distances' lessen the immediacy
and hence clarity of the moral flavour of these evnts and therefore what i
feel that i should (try and) do about them.
so reasoned morality comes into effect relative to the 'distances' involved.
when my company does something wrong the moral force is more immediate than
when my country does wrong but less than if it is me or my family or friend
that does wrong. similarly if the wrong is local it is more immediate than
if it occurs over the other side of the globe or only has repercussions for
future genertaions.
g
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