One simple principle explains so many of the mysteries of modern life: the Power-Morality Gap. You may have heard it said that “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely,” (Lord Acton). In actuality, the[…]
Category: Morality
Top 10 Movies: #1 – Children of Men
Repost: Just rewatched this amazing film recently, and what once felt like a warning from the near future now feels ripped from the headlines… Today, most people know director Alfonso Cuarón as the first Latino[…]
An Open Letter to Franklin Park Conservatory
To: Franklin Park Conservatory cc: Scotts Miracle Gro Foundation Columbus Underground Franklin Park Neighborhood Association Dear Franklin Park, How do you make a beautiful thing turn ugly? Put a fence around it. I think it’s fair to assume, when the Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation contributed the money for Franklin Park Conservatory to build a wonderful new children’s garden, they[…]
Morality is Back: Goodness (and Diversity) in Popular Culture
Scientific studies have shown that when times are good, people act bad. Morality becomes an afterthought in times of peace and plenitude, perhaps because bad behavior often pays off when the world is otherwise stable.[…]
A Philosopher Talks About The Good Place
I’ve been remiss in my role as a pop-culture philosopher in being a late-comer to the the show “The Good Place,” one of the most high-profile, pop-culture oriented pieces of media to ever make a[…]
2018: Moral / Victory
The utility of having an American presidential administration that unites a astonishingly wide spectrum of vices –on a scale ranging from high crimes to misdemeanors, and in genres including xenophobia, crudeness, venality and basic incompetence[…]
Are we ethically obliged to help North Korea? – Dee
I personally think we do have an obligation to help in cases where we have the knowledge and the power to help. I don’t believe those conditions are met in this case. Helping another sovereign[…]
Opinion: Emancipate Birth Control From the Abortion Debate
It’s rare for me to do an opinion piece, and I’m in dangerous waters on this one –tackling one of America’s most explosive issues with a position guaranteed to anger everyone. Nevertheless, I feel this[…]
Top 10 Movies: #2 – Do the Right Thing
It’s the hottest day of the year. Spike Lee is known as an actor’s director, and nowhere is that more apparent than in his masterpiece, 1989’s Do the Right Thing, an acknowledged classic of American[…]
Is morality objective?
This is a terrific question. Historically, the dominant picture of morality was once one of absolutes. Things were considered either right or wrong, generally by divine decree, with little or no ambiguity. The main thing[…]