Moral Philosophy

[Asta Kask]

Is it ok to discuss moral philosophy on the boards, as long as one keeps religion out of it? The reason I'm asking is that moral philosophy touches on many of the things religions do. And it's certainly capable of arousing the same ire in people.

[Chess435]

I'd advise against it, due to having the same flame war potential as a lot of other topics that are banned here.

[Anarion]

I've had an extended debate on Aristotle and the meaning of the term "loyalty" on these boards before, but I'd also advise care because it really can get heated depending on who gets involved.

[Zherog]

My hunch: Your topic would be OK under the forum rules, but at some point the thread would end up locked because of where it went after you started the discussion.

[pendell]

I'm thinking that if we discuss aristotle and plato or so forth we should be fine. These are universal themes across human nature.

Where the line gets crossed is if we start bringing in St. Thomas Aquinas or St. Augustine, when we start bringing in theologians to answer questions which cannot be answered by philosophy.

I think the line also gets crossed if you try to apply universal philosophy too closely to current problems. For example, if I start trotting out 'New world order' or "illuminati" or what not -- as real world things and not something out of a Shadowrun campaign -- then I've gone out of the realm of philosophy and into politics.

Philosophy and general discussion of human nature is abstract and within forum scope. Practical application and specific pointing out of current figures or near-historical is politics and off-limits.

The Ur-test is this: Is the topic likely to kick off a flame war? If it is not, it'll be allowed so long as it doesn't stray into forbidden topics. The more inflammatory a thread is, the more buttons it pushes, the more closely it will be monitored and the more susceptible to locking.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff: This is a good example of something that could be inappropriate from the first post or could be discussed for a while before inevitably straying in to inappropriate religious/political/trolling/flaming territory. It just depends on exactly what is said. Not surprisingly, I'd advise against opening such a thread. Even if the OP isn't a rules violation, it's going to lead to some rules violations, more work for the mods, and probably not produce the kind of discussion the OP was looking for anyway. But it would have to be judged by exactly what is said.