I recently had the good fortune to attend a lecture by Professor Peter Singer in Melbourne. Peter is a world known ethicist, and probably Australia’s leading philosopher. He posed many very uncomfortable problems for his audience. His central thesis seemed to be that we have both an internal moral compass and an intellectual one. The internal one comes from our evolutionary path, (co-operation for survival, natural aversion to inbreeding etc). The intellectual moral compass however poses all of the real problems for us. Do animals have rights? If not why not? Should we use genetics to grow perfect people, or people for specialist roles? Should we repair genetic abnormalities? The line is ill defined once the questions begin. For me I think that whatever we do is natural as a species evolves, (intellectual compass), no matter how uncomfortable it may be for me personally, (moral compass). We seniors with our greater life experience have a role to play in this public debate and your comments here would be most welcome
[In passing we have a quite good free course on ethics in the Lyceum]
Maybe this is sour grapes, but I heard something over the weekend that made me wonder.
It concerns the family of my ex husband, who never accepted me into the family or invited me to family events, because they felt my husband had married beneath him.
Thirty five years onwards I was told over the weekend that the family have become more select and will not associate with anybody who does not have a Uni degree.
The family is now two generations further down the line, and have now disowned their son and brother, because he dropped out of uni thirty years ago to marry. His wife eventually became a professor , but they divorced ( he was gay)and they wiped him . as he had no ties to a Uni wife. They recognise the two other sons and their male partners because they have degrees.
It explains why they recognise my son in law and granddaughter ( who have degrees) but not my daughter( who missed out because her father and the current head of this family spent the education insurance moneythat was for her education,on their pleasures, to teach me a lesson).
The current head of the family is senile , but her daughter has a degree, and runs the show.
Reminds me of a notorious German leader of the nineteen thirties and forties.Non Uni members of the family have been recruited to take the senile head of the family for periods, but for no recompensation or thanks. The current situation occured when the daughter( on her second overseas trip this year), rang to ask her unrecognised rellies to look after her mother, and they refused because she had not even contacted them,when she arrived home last time and they had gone out of there way to help her.
I heard tonight that a neighbour has been pressured to care for her, in her words, not for the daughter's sake , but for the old lady.
To me the family is very sick, and heaven help us as the daughter is in a public position.
My ex's defacto wife( no 6 partner) gave my daughter some very good advice. "Watch it, or they will suck you in, like they did us." Daughter works with old people, but does not have a uni degree. This family have ignored her since they ruined her chances to go to Uni 35 years ago. Until recently when they have been ringing and saying she should be checking on her poor old aunt as she lives in the same city.
I am so glad to be free of their narrow ideas..I have only TAFE diploma, but reckon I know how to lead a full life, and treat people as I would like to be treated myself..
Comments
moral ethics,
It concerns the family of my ex husband, who never accepted me into the family or invited me to family events, because they felt my husband had married beneath him.
Thirty five years onwards I was told over the weekend that the family have become more select and will not associate with anybody who does not have a Uni degree.
The family is now two generations further down the line, and have now disowned their son and brother, because he dropped out of uni thirty years ago to marry. His wife eventually became a professor , but they divorced ( he was gay)and they wiped him . as he had no ties to a Uni wife. They recognise the two other sons and their male partners because they have degrees.
It explains why they recognise my son in law and granddaughter ( who have degrees) but not my daughter( who missed out because her father and the current head of this family spent the education insurance moneythat was for her education,on their pleasures, to teach me a lesson).
The current head of the family is senile , but her daughter has a degree, and runs the show.
Reminds me of a notorious German leader of the nineteen thirties and forties.Non Uni members of the family have been recruited to take the senile head of the family for periods, but for no recompensation or thanks. The current situation occured when the daughter( on her second overseas trip this year), rang to ask her unrecognised rellies to look after her mother, and they refused because she had not even contacted them,when she arrived home last time and they had gone out of there way to help her.
I heard tonight that a neighbour has been pressured to care for her, in her words, not for the daughter's sake , but for the old lady.
To me the family is very sick, and heaven help us as the daughter is in a public position.
My ex's defacto wife( no 6 partner) gave my daughter some very good advice. "Watch it, or they will suck you in, like they did us." Daughter works with old people, but does not have a uni degree. This family have ignored her since they ruined her chances to go to Uni 35 years ago. Until recently when they have been ringing and saying she should be checking on her poor old aunt as she lives in the same city.
I am so glad to be free of their narrow ideas..I have only TAFE diploma, but reckon I know how to lead a full life, and treat people as I would like to be treated myself..