ROGER FRAMES 6 REAL MORAL
QUESTIONS TO THE SQUAD
I challenged DMB and anyone else to build a case that the MOQ leads to fixed
moral answers to truly difficult moral dilemmas by actually trying to answer
some moral questions that are a bit tougher than the doctor germ scenario.
Here are some suggested questions. I encourage EVERYBODY to answer them or
give their ideas or input about this general processor the questions.
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Historical questions:
1) How does the MOQ judge the morality of the Union in the American Civil
War?
2) How does the MOQ judge the morality of Congress in the Impeachment Process
of President Clinton?
3) How does the MOQ judge the morality of Truman's decision to drop nuclear
bombs on Japan?
Hypothetical situations:
4) Your wife is eight months pregnant, but is starting to become emotionally
unstable due to some horrible events. She wants a partial birth abortion.
What is the moral course you should take?
5) Who is moral, the lion, or the lamb?
Real question:
6) Going into the new millenium, what does the MOQ say we should embrace as
an economic model? Is it unbridled free enterprise, or intellectually
planned, socially-conscious socialism, or somewhere in-between? What is most
moral?
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I don't know if these are the best questions. I was concerned about
hypotheticals. It seems hypothetical static concepts are much more solvable
than real life, because it is framing of the concepts that is the part of the
process most prone to oversimplification. But I threw some in anyways.
Similarly the historical questions suffer from the fact that we have had
years to see how quality has played out. But again, lets see how the MOQ does.
To restate my case, I think that the MOQ is a very effective dynamic process
with which to approach these issues. However, it cannot give static best
answers to these questions because there is not a static permanent best moral
solution. (Even of the historical in my estimation, though I am keeping an
open mind).
To borrow from Platt, I endorse the following statement:
"The main message I take away from your posts is that moral
decisions should be made PROVISIONALLY -- a code of conduct
that science has built into its philosophy which is one of the
reasons for its success. Pirsig calls New York the most dynamic
place in the world because “New York’s never been committed to
any preservation of static patterns. It’s always ready to change.”
“Hold on to what’s good, but be ready to change to something
better.” That concept appeals to me as a “good” moral stance to
take, and your posts have helped to clarify it for me."
The MOQ provides a process, not a solution.
I predict that we will have trouble landing on any best moral solution to any
of these dilemmas. However, I agree that THE PROCESS will lead us toward
morality. Like a compass, the process can lead us North, but in the real
world, we never actually get there.
David, Platt, jc, or any others still want to build a case the other way? If
so, lets try to reach an agreement on some or all of the above. The process
should be healthy and rewarding. I sure have my thoughts on each Q.
Roger
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