Common Sense Ethics
Follow Common Sense Ethics:
  • Blog
  • About
  • Books & Book Reviews
  • Parenting Resources
  • Personal Growth Resources
  • Contact Me

How to Tell Right From Wrong: 3 Rules For Every Situation

3/12/2021

3 Comments

 
Picture
Really you ask? Is it possible to tell right from wrong and to easily figure out how best to treat other people in every situation? Yes it is, and I'm about to show you how.

It turns out that there are 3 important rules we can always use to do right by others: the Silver Rule, the Golden Rule and the Platinum Rule. These 3 rules are applicable regardless of our politics, religion or culture. These moral rules also have broad support across cultures and throughout history. Let's discuss the Silver, Golden, and Platinum Rules, and how they can easily be applied to tell right from wrong when it comes to our choices and actions.


Read More
3 Comments

Stop Doing This if You Want to Be Happy

2/2/2017

3 Comments

 
Picture
Have you ever felt like you would be so much happier as soon as you fulfilled some desire, only to end up unsatisfied soon afterwards? Why is it that getting something we want doesn't always make us consistently happy over the long term? What are we meant for? Merely the experience of pleasure, or something more profound? 

Hedonic adaptation is the observed psychological tendency to revert back to prior levels of happiness soon after experiencing something pleasurable. The psychologists Brickman and Campbell began studying this phenomenon scientifically in the 1970s, calling it the Hedonic Treadmill. Hedonic adaptation accounts for our tendency to overestimate how happy pleasurable experiences will make us, and the fact that we tend to maintain a relatively stable level of happiness regardless of our material circumstances. It also explains our unfortunate human habit of taking what we have for granted.

Even though the Hedonic Treadmill was scientifically observed in recent history, it turns out that Kant possessed a remarkably similar insight into human psychology, simultaneously defining hedonic adaptation and changing the course of one man's life in an impromptu late night meeting in 1789.
​


Read More
3 Comments

What Is Natural Law and Why Should You Care?

9/18/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Natural law theory is a philosophical tradition which dates back to ancient times. You should care about natural law because it is part of our Western cultural heritage, it can make your life easier, and on a personal level, following natural law allows us to become better human beings.

Natural law is a common understanding of human nature and ethics. Humans are  part of nature, so we are capable of perceiving and living by natural rules, and applying those rules in a universal way. Universally self-explanatory principles of equality, sovereignty, and dignity should guide our interactions with others.

Natural law based philosophy provides the foundation for natural rights or human rights, which undergird the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and English and American systems of jurisprudence. Natural Law theories can be found in Greek, Roman, and ancient Buddhist texts. Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Cicero, Thomas Aquinas, Bacon, Grotius, Spinoza, Locke, Hobbes, and many others argued for various forms of natural law.


Natural Law philosophy should not be confused with the scientific laws of physics or biology. Human nature in the natural law sense, means that each of us has an innate tendency to behave in ways that are good for ourselves and good for others. We share common values and an understanding of ethics which derives from our nature. This is one of the things that makes us human.

We also have the free will to choose how to behave.
Corruption represents a turning away from our true nature as humans. Things can go haywire if our understanding and feelings are corrupted by our upbringing, culture, and negative socialization.

The
highest ideal is to unite your conduct with the good in nature; the interconnectedness and preciousness of life, and respect for yourself and others. 


Read More
0 Comments

Quick Guide: Applying Stoic Ethics in Modern Life

5/1/2014

14 Comments

 
This week's post is a new resource. This quick, illustrated guide provides an overview of ancient Stoic wisdom and an introduction to the Stoic point of view on ethics and personal growth. Classical Stoics used an applied philosophical technique, loosely known as Stoic Reflective Practice, with the goal of developing an excellent and virtuous character. The info-graphic explains what Stoic ethical philosophy is about, and why it is relevant in modern life.

The four Stoic virtues consist of courage, moderation, justice and wisdom. The Stoic emphasis on moderation or appetites and control of the emotions, is somewhat similar to Buddhist philosophy. Both enjoy a growing appeal with western audiences.

Stoics do not consider philosophy to be to be something intellectual or separate from life. Philosophy, or love of wisdom, is very much an applied art that the practitioner works on each day, using techniques like Stoic Reflective Practice. Stoics focus on self-improvement each night by ruminating on what they could have done better, and using it as motivation to improve their personal conduct.

This guide is a brief introduction to the topic. Please check back soon for more posts about Stoic ethics and personal growth!
14 Comments

Basic, Common Sense Ethical Principles That you Need To Know

8/22/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
Ethics are really incredibly simple and uncomplicated. The key to happiness is living a life of personal integrity based on common sense ethics. A free will lives by rules that it gives to itself. Choosing a life of integrity has the overall effect of minimizing interpersonal and societal discord. If everyone tried their hardest to lead an ethical life, humanity would have far less problems than we have currently. Nearly every problem in human society is essentially a problem with the moral state of humanity.

Common sense ethics is my term for the straightforward understanding of shared ethical principles which humanity already has, that we have had for a long time. Common sense ethical principles are based on the lessons of daily living, as well as thousands of years of Eastern and Western philosophy, history and religion.

Read More
1 Comment

    Growing in Goodness

    Welcome! If you like what you see here please subscribe:

    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, editor and freelance writer with a background in history and philosophy.
    ​

    Most Popular Blog Posts:

    5 Things That You Need to be Happy According to Cicero

    Read These 5 Books for a Deeper Understanding of Politics

    Hope, Courage and Gratitude During Covid-19

    How the Left/Right Political Spectrum Deceives Us 
    ​
    Would You Risk Your Life For Philosophy?

    38 Life Lessons in 38 Years

    Why is Politics so Divisive?

    ​The Secret to Building a Close Family

    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?

    4 Pieces of Stoic Wisdom for Dealing With Negative News Media

    How to be a Badass According to Cicero

    5 Ways to Avoid Being Manipulated and Dumbed Down by the Media

    Quick Guide: Understanding and Applying Stoic Ethics in Modern Life

    The Secret to Happiness: Stoic Gratitude and the Art of Living

    What Everyone Needs to Know About Violence and Self Defense

    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
    Alasdair Macintyre
    Albert Einstein
    Anger
    Antiauthoritarianism
    Applied Philosophy
    Aristotle
    Assertiveness
    Book Reviews
    Books And Reading
    Buddhism
    Carl Jung
    Cause And Effect
    Character Flaws
    Cicero
    Classical Education
    Cognitive Bias
    Consequence Based Ethics
    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
    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 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
    Modern Stoicism
    Moral Relativism
    Moral Universalism
    Mortality
    Movies
    Musonius Rufus
    Musonius-rufus
    Natural Law
    Natural Rights
    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
    Responsibility
    Rhetoric
    Right Vs. Wrong Actions
    Robert Nozik
    Roger Scruton
    Self Defense
    Self Discipline
    Seneca
    Simple Living
    Socrates
    Socratic Method
    Stoicism
    Stoic Meditation
    Stoic Virtues
    Television
    The Shadow
    Thomas Hobbes
    Traditionalism
    Trivium
    Utilitarianism
    Videos
    Violence
    Virtue Ethics
    War

    Archives:

    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: 

    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.