Common Sense Ethics
  • Blog
  • About
  • My Books
  • Parenting Resources
  • Personal Growth Resources
  • Book Summaries
  • Contact Me

4 Reasons Why Free Speech is So Misunderstood Today

4/26/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
Freedom of speech, despite being a fundamental principle of liberal democracy going back to the Enlightenment, has recently become a dirty word. Why? Because in today's regressive environment, freedom of speech misunderstood. One misunderstanding essentially boils down to the fact that defending someone's right to free speech is not the same as endorsing their views. These two things get conflated all the time, probably because people are not well educated in history and civics, and NGOs, government officials, and even journalists are increasingly exploiting people's ignorance about freedom of speech.

Also, and I'm not going to mince words here, many people today who should know better are cowards and ideologues. Even most "liberals," no longer have the stomach to defend freedom of speech when it is used by someone they disagree with. People often argue that, "Hate speech isn't free speech," or, "We should crack down on misinformation." The problem is, it doesn't work like that. Free speech is all or nothing. The American Civil liberties Union historically held that:

"History teaches that the first target of government repression is never the last. If we do not come to the defense of the free speech rights of the most unpopular among us...then no one's liberty will be secure. In that sense, all First Amendment rights are 'indivisible.'"

Setting aside the thorny issue of what actually constitutes offensive speech, it's important to understand that we don't tolerate offensive speech because we agree with it. We tolerate offensive speech because that is the price we pay for being able to criticize the state. This is a key point to understand. In what follows, I'll break this point down, as well as the 3 other important reasons why freedom of speech is misunderstood today:


Read More
0 Comments

3 Unpopular (But Likely Correct) Opinions According to Cicero

9/7/2023

4 Comments

 
Picture
It's time for this year's iteration of the According to Cicero series. I've been writing these posts since 2016, and they are a lot of fun, as they allow me to explore ancient Roman history, culture, philosophy, and how Cicero's ideas can be applied today. 

Cicero has garnered renewed attention in recent years.
He was a Roman Senator whose writings, as Historian Edward Gibbon put it, “breathed the spirit of freedom.” Particularly influential was his idea of natural law, followed by John Locke and other enlightenment thinkers: Human nature included reason, which could discover justice, which was the basis of law. Voltaire said “He taught us how to think.”

This month's post will focus on 3 of Cicero's opinions that may be unpopular, but are likely quite correct. Read on to find out what they are:
​

Read More
4 Comments

3 Great Philosophical Movies to Watch Tonight

6/1/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
Great cinema, and great art in general, can enhance our lives with a sense of joy and meaning. Such excellent films make us laugh, cry, and get us thinking about the deeper significance of life. I've been wanting to write a post for a while about some highly philosophical films that I really enjoyed watching. Below, I'll share three of the best with you. 

For those who haven't seen these films, while I summarize and discuss the philosophical themes, I think I have been careful not to reveal anything that would spoil the movie or reveal the entire plot. 

Finally, before we dive in, one other excellent movie that tops my list of philosophical films is the sword and sorcery film Solomon Kane, but I already did a detailed write-up of it back in 2016 that you can read here. Now, let's discuss three other great philosophical films to watch tonight: 
​

Read More
0 Comments

How Propaganda Makes Us Pyschologically Totalitarian

9/30/2021

4 Comments

 
Picture
The 20th century witnessed both the rise of sophisticated psychological manipulation techniques and the technology necessary to disseminate them broadly, a trend which has continued into the 21st century. The French philosopher Jaques Ellul set out to study modern propaganda in the 1960s. What he found should be a warning to us all. Our inability to take propaganda and its effects seriously now seem to me like old chickens coming home to roost (perhaps another topic for another day).  
 
In his book Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes, Ellul diverges from previous scholarship in that he considers propaganda to be a sociological phenomenon, one in fact that we cannot live without in modern technological society. Propaganda exists to adjust a normal person to an ever-changing social and technological environment which is profoundly abnormal given the vast majority of our evolutionary history. A modern individual must endure psychological alienation, dissolution of ancestral groups, enormous taxes, brutal wars, inescapable working life. Propaganda both integrates us into this milieu, and acts as an intermediary between us and the state.
 
Modern propaganda may be socially necessary, but it is not harmless. It exists everywhere, even in democracies, and its effects make us totalitarian in our mindset. We are easy victims because we lack the proper framework necessary to identify it, and because we underestimate its power. In Ellul’s words, "Propaganda is a direct attack against man. The question is to determine how great is the danger."[1]
​
This post aims to condense and demystify Ellul's analysis, and to build on it by suggesting concrete ways in which we can avoid propaganda's detrimental effects.
 

Read More
4 Comments

This One Idea Explains Most of What is Wrong With Politics

9/21/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Why do governments tend to become more corrupt over time? It turns out that the best answer to this question may have been floating around for over 100 years, and I think everybody should know about it. 


“Who says organization, says oligarchy," states Robert Michels, a German historian who produced one of the most scathing assessments of government ever written. He argues that bureaucracy and democracy don't mix. Michels is best known for the ingenious Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy, published in 1915. The book positively begs us to examine the maxim that power corrupts, and to seriously consider if democracy is nothing more than a idealistic impossibility. 
​


Oligarchy is defined as rule by an elite or privileged few. Today people often use the word oligarchy to refer to a leadership class of corporate plutocrats, but what is less understood is how oligarchies form. Oligarchy is rule by a few to be sure. However, the concept of oligarchy in Michels' lexicon - the “Iron Law of Oligarchy,” - is both an explanation for how oligarchies originate, as well as a compelling critique of the inherently flawed structure of all forms of democratic government itself.  
​


Read More
0 Comments

What is the Purpose of Government?

8/29/2020

0 Comments

 
What is the purpose of government? We all can define the purpose of medicine or of car repair and so forth, but with government, the purpose is undefined.

We wouldn't tolerate our doctor or mechanic talking to us in the way politicians do - never addressing the details of the problem, running away or becoming hostile when difficult questions are asked. So why do we tolerate it in politics?

This discrepancy indicates that we haven't defined the purpose of government well enough, which is the focus of this Socratic dialog. 

Support the channel: https://ko-fi.com/commonsenseethics
0 Comments

Read These 5 Books For a Deeper Understanding of Politics

7/31/2020

2 Comments

 
Picture
This being an election year in the United States, and given the dismal state of political discourse, I felt inclined to share this list of 5 books that have changed my perspective on politics. 

These books​ are part of the reason that I stopped looking at politics in partisan terms. (The other reason is that I've worked to develop a more Socratic temperament where I try to look at the other side(s) of any argument.)

​A partisan perspective is actually a severe handicap when it comes to examining politics, because partisanship creates a false dichotomy where we tend to ignore alternative or conflicting information. When we think that "This is my party/preferred media outlet and I agree with what they do and say," this mindset compels us to just scratch the surface of what is really going on.

​If we want a real understanding of politics, we need to dig deeper, and that's where this list comes in. Here are the best 5 books to read for a deeper understanding of politics: 



Read More
2 Comments

How to Do Socratic Dialog: What Is Justice?

5/25/2020

0 Comments

 
Socratic Dialog (also called the Socratic Method) is a way of working together to discover the truth and test whether your ideas or opinions are sound. The Socratic Method is also a way of thinking which helps you to become more open-minded and less afraid of being wrong. 

In this video my guest, Max Maxwell, explains Socratic Dialog and demonstrates how to engage in Socratic conversations with an open mind as we discuss justice and the purpose of government. 

The Socratic Method is especially important today since political discussions are often so polarized, and people tend to act in a less than charitable way when discussing issues that they disagree on.
​


Read More
0 Comments

What the Game of Thrones Ending Really Means

6/2/2019

4 Comments

 
Picture
Some tyrants come as liberators. That is the final twist in Game of Thrones, a show known for it's shocking plot twists. This is what George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is ultimately about; what war really does to people, the difficultly of just rule, the inability to overcome personal moral failings, and the cyclical nature of tyranny.  
​
Game of Thrones, the show based on the Song of Ice and Fire novels, is a bit more about putting spectacle over story. But Queen Daenerys as the final villain, rather than Cersei or the Night King, is George R. R. Martin's surprise ending, make no mistake about it. Viewers were naturally horrified to watch a sympathetic character turn bad, but that's the whole point! We were tricked in order to get us to understand the cruelty and horror of war by watching a character we knew and maybe liked become a tyrant. 

This isn't just my hot take on it, either. George R. R. Martin was a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. He acknowledges that the perception of war as something glorious is a problem. Though not a radical pacifist, he states in this interesting clip that his goal with A Song of Ice and Fire, is to show the true cost of war.

Violence under the guise of "breaking the wheel," promoting democracy, human rights, and most other justifications is still abominable. That is why we should be looking for non-violent solutions to problems rather than perpetually glorifying war and violent conflict. 


Read More
4 Comments

The Philosophy That Could Save Humanity

12/29/2018

4 Comments

 
Picture
Most of what we know about ethics is wrong, and unless we get our act together soon, humanity is doomed. That is, according to The Zombies (On Morality), a just released book by Josh Bachynski, which I've had the pleasure of reading, reviewing, and discussing on my YouTube Channel (see the video at the end of the post). Our lack of appropriate ethics is the basis of all of our problems. Essentially we are infected with a virus which sabotages every society that we try.
​​

The problem, in Josh's estimation, lies with people imposing what he calls "objective-prescriptive," moral beliefs on others, when doing so may be sub-optimal for them. If the essence of morality is goodness, then any sub-optimality may be immoral for the person imposed upon. His argument is about maximizing what is ideal for each person. Nothing matters but the maximal epitome of what's positive and ideal.

To be more precise, he calls his system inter subjective-predictive morality or ISPM for short. ISPM is about giving each person what is morally ideal for them based on what they want, based on fact, rather than offering generalizations about what is right for everyone or what everyone should do, even if it isn't evident. Provided they aren't hurting someone else, there is no self-evident justification from barring someone from their best end good or from living their most valuable life.


Read More
4 Comments
<<Previous

    Don't Miss A Post!

    Sign up to receive updates and special announcements!

    Thank You For Subscribing to Common Sense Ethics!

    You have successfully joined my email list. 

    .
    Picture

    About Me:

    Thank you for your interest in Common Sense Ethics! I'm Leah, a librarian and freelance editor with a background in history and philosophy.
    ​

    Most Popular Blog Posts:

    3 Unpopular (But Likely Correct) Opinions According to Cicero

    Beauty in Philosophy, Ethics and Art: A Conversation with David Fideler

    5 Ways to Counterbalance an Ugly and Barren Cultural Landscape

    How Propaganda Makes us Psychologically Totalitarian

    5 Things That You Need to be Happy According to Cicero

    5 Wholesome Character Education Books to Read to Your Child

    Why is Politics so Divisive?

    9 Great Critical Thinking Books for Children and Teens

    Why You Should Create Your Own Culture to Be Happier

    How to Make Yourself Immune to Propaganda

    ​The 10 Best Philosophy Books For Beginners

    The 13 Types of Modern Stoics...Which One Are You?

    How to be a Badass According to Cicero

    Quick Guide: Understanding and Applying Stoic Ethics in Modern Life

    Download My Stoic Printables For Tough Days:

    Picture

    Watch Common Sense Ethics On YouTube:


    Support CSE:

    Picture
    Picture
    Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com


    Topics:

    All
    According To Cicero Series
    Aesthetics
    Alasdair Macintyre
    Albert Einstein
    American Revolution
    Ancient Greece
    Ancient Rome
    Anger
    Antiauthoritarianism
    Applied Philosophy
    Aristotle
    Assertiveness
    Beauty
    Book Reviews
    Books And Reading
    Buddhism
    Carl Jung
    Cause And Effect
    Character Flaws
    Cicero
    Classical Education
    Cognitive Bias
    Consequence Based Ethics
    Consumerism
    Cosmology
    Covert Manipulation
    Critical Thinking
    Culture
    Cynicism
    Death
    Descartes
    Destructive Behavior
    Economics
    Edmund Burke
    Education
    Egalitarianism
    Emotions
    Epictetus
    Ethical Objectivism
    Family
    Fortitude
    Francis-bacon
    Freedom
    Freedom Of Speech
    Free Speech
    George-r-r-martin
    George-r-r-martin
    God
    Golden Rule
    Good Character
    Government
    Gratitude
    Happiness
    Heraclitus
    History
    Immanuel Kant
    Individual Rights
    Information Literacy
    Inner Life
    Integrity
    Introspection
    Intuition
    Iron Law Of Oligarchy
    Jaques Ellul
    John Locke
    John Sellars
    John Stuart Mill
    Jules Evans
    Karma
    Left-right Brain Balance
    Left-right Political Spectrum
    Liberal Democracy
    Literature
    Logic
    Marcus Aurelius
    Marriage
    Marx
    Mastering Emotion
    Media
    Metaethics
    Mindfullness
    Moderation/temperance
    Modern Stoicism
    Moral Relativism
    Moral Universalism
    Mortality
    Movies
    Musonius Rufus
    Musonius-rufus
    Natural Law
    Natural Rights
    Natural World
    Negative Freedom
    Negative-rights
    Neoplatonism
    Non Aggression
    Normative Ethics
    Normative-ethics
    Objectivismsubjectivism
    Oligarchy
    Parenting
    Personal Development
    Philosophy For Beginners
    Pierre Hadot
    Plato
    Politics
    Propaganda
    Psychology
    Pythagoreanism
    Relaxed Mental State
    Renaissance
    Responsibility
    Rhetoric
    Right Vs. Wrong Actions
    Robert Nozik
    Roger Scruton
    Self Defense
    Self Discipline
    Seneca
    Sexuality
    Simple Living
    Socrates
    Socratic Method
    Stoicism
    Stoic Meditation
    Stoic Virtues
    Television
    The Shadow
    Thomas Hobbes
    Traditionalism
    Trivium
    Utilitarianism
    Videos
    Violence
    Virtue Ethics
    War

    Archives:

    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013


    ​Book of the Month: Journal Like a Stoic by Brittany Polat

    Picture


    ​Personal Growth Resources:

    Picture
    Use this in-depth questionnaire to learn more about your faults and subconscious motivations.


    Understanding and Applying Stoic Ethics In Modern Life:

    Picture


    ​Follow Common Sense Ethics on Pinterest:

    Picture


    ​Join the Stoic Parents Facebook Group:

    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.