http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=779324&page=1
I... I don't know what to think.
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http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=779324&page=1
I... I don't know what to think.
your phi professor is a moral absolutist? interesting
No moral grey area? Lol.
There isn't just one morality shared by all people... so I think it may be more accurate to say for "him" there is no moral grey area.
So how would he respond to this? Would he say that this is morally right for "donating" to the homeless, or is it morally wrong for giving false hope and essentially taking advantage of the person?
It really depends honestly. With ONLY the video to go by.. It would be a good thing. He gave the man something he thought might be worthless, maybe like $20 at best, and it wound up being a thousand dollars.
Beyond that you would have to look into it more, or follow the homeless guy to see what he does with it.
That wouldn't make this act bad per se, only that the potential motivations or outcome might be bad. You can do good things for the wrong reason just as you can do bad things for the right reasons.
This video confused me. So he basically gave a fake lottery ticket to a homeless guy and gave money to the store clerk to pay him $1000 for the fake ticket?
He gave him money, the homeless man was happy, and the man who gave it probably earned money via YouTube. In the end, we have two people who are happy and one of them, a homeless man, has a chance to use the money to better his life or waste it. That's a chance he didn't have before. Sounds like a positive thing to me. From a skeptical point of view, even if the homeless man was an actor, it makes people feel good thinking it was real.
Sounds like he would not have taken the $1000 straight up. It had to be deviced in a way he would end up accepting it.
This is definitely an example of a "moral grey" issue and would be quite a discussion in a philosophy course. If I ever take his ethics course, I'll bring this one up.
If I were homeless, I certainly wouldn't take $1000. Think about it a moment - $1000 isn't NEARLY enough to get you off the street, but it DOES make you a HUGE target to the criminals on the street with you. Giving a homeless person more than $20 is simply putting a target on their back.Quote:
Originally Posted by QuickSciFi
But back to the topic - your professor is either an idiot, or trying to make his students think by taking an untenable position. He might want you to come up with good reasons to argue why there IS a moral grey area. Some professors are the former (out and out retards), and some are like the latter (making you think and learn in order to refute an assertation). Remember that just because someone is a professor doesn't mean they're necessarily intelligent, especially if it's not a scientific field.
Clearly you've never been homeless.
It's not enough to get him a home sure.. But assuming he has some skills, and isn't' a complete drugged out/drunk waste... he could turn that 1,000 into something. He could get some clothing, a shower, a good meal. Maybe even find someone to put him up for a short while. And he'd be presentable and have a place to call home while he looks for any kind of job to help get him back on his feet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chilly Willy
Or he could use it for drugs, alcohol, hookers, any/all of the above and just waste it all away.
Either way will give him a moment of happiness as it were, but it's not impossible for him to take that money and give himself a decent chance to do better for himself.
I've not been homeless in the traditional sense, but I've had to live with my parents once, and I know EXACTLY what it takes to get out on your own without that extra support. If these people HAD that support (relatives or friends willing to take them in), they wouldn't be homeless now, would they? At the time I did it, it was about $4000 to get yourself established. It's probably higher than that now... unless you live in a filthy hovel in a crime-ridden area.Quote:
Originally Posted by QuickSciFi
Many have the support, but they are too prideful or sick to seek it out.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chilly Willy
And it would obviously take a lot more to "get out on their own", no one will argue that at all (at least no one that has any idea what they are talking about). 1k just isn't going to cut it for that, but they could, if smart, use it to jump start things and give themselves a chance. Many homeless have issues finding jobs because they are obviously homeless to anyone/everyone that looks at them. They look homeless, they smell homeless, and they have no way to present themselves otherwise. 1k can get you a fair bit if you aren't going brand new and top of the line.... a new outfit on the cheap + other amenities (toothbrush, tooth paste, mouthwash), and if lucky you could get a P.O box or similar for like a month while you stay at a shelter or some other very understanding place.
Now this person who was living on the streets scraping by just enough to not die could be presentable and clean, and provide an address for an employer so they could try and get a job.