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Old 03-07-2007, 12:26 AM
guesswest guesswest is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2005
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Default Re: Ethical: Valuism?

First of all an aside - I'm pretty sure as far as reproduction goes we'd be looking for genetic diversity right? So I'm not sure your initial assertion that racism is rooted in valuism is correct.

But as far as your main question goes, you answer it by determining the basis for ethics. If you view ethics as social contract, such that our ethical structures arise to the mutual benefit of all - then the kind of valuism you're talking about is necessarily a good thing, as it bolsters that which is beneficial for all. Even if you don't view ethics as arising thru social contract, valuism is at best neutral, it can never logically be bad where it's correctly applied.

The problem is that we get things wrong and we misjudge situations. So where a rejection of stern judgement is a sign of humility it can be a good thing. If I KNEW the right thing to do I'd always think it right to impose it on others, it's the correct action by definition. But we make mistakes, so there's probably more ethical equity in keeping dialogue open in hopes or rectifying those mistakes where they arise vs shutting down conversation (which is what value based dictates tend to do), in contentious and grey ethical areas at least.
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