Ethics and comedy

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Mark1955
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Ethics and comedy

Post by Mark1955 »

I'm currently watching "The Good Place" [this may be something of a niche activity I don't know] and it does appear to raise some interesting questions. The two main ones seem to me to be: -
Can you teach ethics through comedy
Is the study of ethics just a pointless talking exercise divorced from the real world

What do people think
If you think you know the answer you probably don't understand the question.
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h_k_s
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by h_k_s »

Mark1955 wrote: July 8th, 2019, 2:41 am I'm currently watching "The Good Place" [this may be something of a niche activity I don't know] and it does appear to raise some interesting questions. The two main ones seem to me to be: -
Can you teach ethics through comedy
Is the study of ethics just a pointless talking exercise divorced from the real world

What do people think
Most people on this Earth have absolutely no awareness of ethics at all.

Of those who do, most are professionals who are required by their governments to take regular ethics courses for their professions. The main emphasis here is however avoidance of conflict of interest or the appearance of conflict of interest. However they also cover fraud as well.

Of those who are not professionals (not medical, dental, veterinary, legal, financial, pharmaceutical, etc.), very few people besides those who have studied philosophy have any clue about ethics.

For philosophers, at least those who are true philosophers and not just philosophy students or amateurs, ethics is one of the most important topic in philosophy, because it has everyday practical applications. Overall, epistemology is probably the most important philosophy topic, however once you embrace epistemology then ethics becomes the most critical concern.

Immanuel Kant has/had a great working rule for ethics. It is to imagine everyone in the world doing what you are considering. Then determine if that makes the world a better or a worse place.
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Sculptor1
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by Sculptor1 »

h_k_s wrote: July 10th, 2019, 12:23 pm
Mark1955 wrote: July 8th, 2019, 2:41 am I'm currently watching "The Good Place" [this may be something of a niche activity I don't know] and it does appear to raise some interesting questions. The two main ones seem to me to be: -
Can you teach ethics through comedy
Is the study of ethics just a pointless talking exercise divorced from the real world

What do people think
Most people on this Earth have absolutely no awareness of ethics at all.
Hyperbole
Belindi
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by Belindi »

You can learn to do ethics from some funnies. Political cartoons for instance might possibly make you unguarded enough to get past the mental barrier of a tendency to be dogmatic. Avant garde art is more about ethics than morals.
Belindi
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by Belindi »

You can learn to do ethics from some funnies. Political cartoons for instance might possibly make you unguarded enough to get past the mental barrier of a tendency to be dogmatic. Avant garde art is more about ethics than morals.

I think the difference between a pointless talking exercise and activity is the difference between maintaining solidarity with your companions , and having the courage of your own convictions. It's about what your intentions are.
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Sculptor1
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by Sculptor1 »

I've just finished watching a documentary about Joan Rivers. She has no limits. If you think Frankie Boyle was bad, she was as risky, even more so for the time in which she lived.
She had her critics, but somehow she got away with it.

By contrast Jo Brand was compelled to apologise to Farage ove the acid/milkshake joke.
Are we living in more sensitive times?
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h_k_s
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by h_k_s »

Belindi wrote: July 10th, 2019, 2:15 pm You can learn to do ethics from some funnies. Political cartoons for instance might possibly make you unguarded enough to get past the mental barrier of a tendency to be dogmatic. Avant garde art is more about ethics than morals.

I think the difference between a pointless talking exercise and activity is the difference between maintaining solidarity with your companions , and having the courage of your own convictions. It's about what your intentions are.
Such solidarity is definitely Aristotelian. He believed and taught that friendship was the highest ideal, although I cannot remember where and when so I can't give a citation for it.
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Mark1955
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by Mark1955 »

Belindi wrote: July 10th, 2019, 2:15 pmI think the difference between a pointless talking exercise and activity is the difference between maintaining solidarity with your companions , and having the courage of your own convictions. It's about what your intentions are.
I’m sure that the intentions are always to do good, particularly by your companions. Every gang leader in the world knows his gang are his life and death. Hitler was clearly doing what he thought was good for the right sort of Germans. The question then is to define good. I’d suggest that emotionally good is about reinforcing your stereotypes and your group cohesion, which his only good for you and your group.
If you think you know the answer you probably don't understand the question.
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Mark1955
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by Mark1955 »

Sculptor1 wrote: July 10th, 2019, 1:09 pm
h_k_s wrote: July 10th, 2019, 12:23 pmMost people on this Earth have absolutely no awareness of ethics at all.
Hyperbole
Most is only 50.000000001% [approximately]. i suspect he may be correct
If you think you know the answer you probably don't understand the question.
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Mark1955
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by Mark1955 »

Sculptor1 wrote: July 10th, 2019, 5:45 pm I've just finished watching a documentary about Joan Rivers. She has no limits. If you think Frankie Boyle was bad, she was as risky, even more so for the time in which she lived.
She had her critics, but somehow she got away with it.

By contrast Jo Brand was compelled to apologise to Farage ove the acid/milkshake joke.
Are we living in more sensitive times?
I think we’re trying to. Not having watched the documentary on Rivers I can only go from memory but I think what’s offensive has changed. Brand’s comment could be interpreted by the stupid as an incitement to violence and with plenty of stupid people about that sort of thing is at best unwise. Previous offensive material included things like simply swearing or suggesting that maybe the Pope, or another authority figure, was a figure of fun rather than someone to be obeyed at all times. To me there is a justifiable difference.
If you think you know the answer you probably don't understand the question.
Steve3007
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by Steve3007 »

h_k_s wrote:Most people on this Earth have absolutely no awareness of ethics at all.
I think that's true in the same sense that most people on Earth have absolutely no awareness of gravity. i.e. they have a good everyday intuitive, practical knowledge of it, because it's an integral part of the environment in which they exist and that knowledge is extremely useful for surviving in that environment, but they are not familiar with Newton's law of Universal Gravitation and have never heard of Kepler.
Steve3007
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by Steve3007 »

I hadn't previously heard of "The Good Place" so googled it. Is it a satire on the concept of an afterlife?

I've always been in two minds about the value of satire. Sometimes it seems like the only effective way to encapsulate the madnesses of the world, but I think it also runs the risk of creating an entirely cynical and negative worldview. Comedy which relies for its humour on social and political commentary is, by its nature, critical, negative and mocking. I find it difficult to imagine a form of comedy which relies for its humour on saying something positive or complementary about out culture or politics.
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hindu
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by hindu »

discussions and input from the general population, outer specialists and our own groups, we're growing our guidelines against derisive lead to incorporate language that dehumanizes others based on
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Sculptor1
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by Sculptor1 »

Mark1955 wrote: July 15th, 2019, 2:45 am
Sculptor1 wrote: July 10th, 2019, 1:09 pm
Hyperbole
Most is only 50.000000001% [approximately]. i suspect he may be correct
Yet the statement suggest NO awareness. I doubt a single person has absolutely no awareness of ethics. A child of two have to learn some ethics.
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Sculptor1
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Re: Ethics and comedy

Post by Sculptor1 »

Steve3007 wrote: July 15th, 2019, 3:59 am
h_k_s wrote:Most people on this Earth have absolutely no awareness of ethics at all.
I think that's true in the same sense that most people on Earth have absolutely no awareness of gravity. i.e. they have a good everyday intuitive, practical knowledge of it, because it's an integral part of the environment in which they exist and that knowledge is extremely useful for surviving in that environment, but they are not familiar with Newton's law of Universal Gravitation and have never heard of Kepler.
You are just compounding your error here.
100% of people have an awareness of gravity.
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