Debates Ideas

[-:Undertaker:-]

- Is there such thing as objective morality? (E.g. is there an objective moral code we all ought to follow)
- The problem of free will: Do we have free will or are we casually determined?
- Is there objective knowledge?

I've been thinking of those top two lately as the first debates, I have the day off tommorow in which i'll write something up. I think from the gay marriage thread in Current Affairs it'd be quite interesting to delve into the morality question first.

Cheers.

[Chippiewill]

I've been thinking of those top two lately as the first debates, I have the day off tommorow in which i'll write something up. I think from the gay marriage thread in Current Affairs it'd be quite interesting to delve into the morality question first.

I'd be wary of taking a specific gay / gay marriage focus on the morality question (If that is what you are planning to do, I'm not sure) as it could end up being a very one-sided debate, I don't think we want a macrocosm of current affairs certainly. It would be an understatement to say that the general population of habboxforum has a bias in that sort of area.

One thing that did resonate with me was your mention of philosophical debates in the other thread, it'd be nice to see a philosophical approach to any morality debate as opposed to an emotionally or instinct driven debate. e.g. for abortion someone might say a women should have control of her body, which is a wholly unphilosophical approach, whereas someone else might say that for an abortion to be morally impermissible a fetus must have personhood. Fetuses don't have personhood therefore abortions are ok. I think it is pretty apparent which is a better answer to an abortion debate and philosophical type responses in my opinion should be heavily encouraged particularly in any morality related debates.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I'd be wary of taking a specific gay / gay marriage focus on the morality question (If that is what you are planning to do, I'm not sure) as it could end up being a very one-sided debate, I don't think we want a macrocosm of current affairs certainly. It would be an understatement to say that the general population of habboxforum has a bias in that sort of area.

One thing that did resonate with me was your mention of philosophical debates in the other thread, it'd be nice to see a philosophical approach to any morality debate as opposed to an emotionally or instinct driven debate. e.g. for abortion someone might say a women should have control of her body, which is a wholly unphilosophical approach, whereas someone else might say that for an abortion to be morally impermissible a fetus must have personhood. Fetuses don't have personhood therefore abortions are ok. I think it is pretty apparent which is a better answer to an abortion debate and philosophical type responses in my opinion should be heavily encouraged particularly in any morality related debates.

I don't mean taking it towards the gay question specificially, I meant that as gay marriage is a topic that involves peoples concepts of morality that the question of where we get morality from that you suggested would be a good philosophical one to pick up on as it's a hot topic at the moment in the news - and obviously members can bring in gay marriage if they want, along with a whole host of other issues. Much better in the Debates if we have philosophical answers sometimes backed up with political, social or cultural points - as opposed to purely political answers that we usually see in Current Affairs.

It's like when a hostage situation comes up, a good one would be (I can't think of the exact wording at the moment) those philosophical dilemmas where you have to decide whether X, Y and Z lives are worth more than A, B, and C's lives. That sort of thing.

[Inseriousity.]

- Is there such thing as objective morality? (E.g. is there an objective moral code we all ought to follow)
- The problem of free will: Do we have free will or are we casually determined?
- Is there objective knowledge?

The three questions I'm interested in! It'd be interesting to see if there is a clear divide (therefore a good debate) but I have a feeling - well more from personal experience of religious studies + philosophy modules - that it's very rare to find someone who is passionate enough against the norm answers. Not really much of a debate if everyone is in agreement. Got to try I suppose so any of these three will do me

[Kardan]

The three questions I'm interested in! It'd be interesting to see if there is a clear divide (therefore a good debate) but I have a feeling - well more from personal experience of religious studies + philosophy modules - that it's very rare to find someone who is passionate enough against the norm answers. Not really much of a debate if everyone is in agreement. Got to try I suppose so any of these three will do me

I'd be quite interested to hear the 'You don't have free will' argument, so hopefully some people feel that way

[Chippiewill]

I'd be quite interested to hear the 'You don't have free will' argument, so hopefully some people feel that way

As a hard determinist I would be very happy to tell you it.

[Kardan]

As a hard determinist I would be very happy to tell you it.

I've got a feeling that when the debate does come around, I'm not going to have much to stand on other than "But I can do anything if I wanted too..."

[Inseriousity.]

high five for another hard determinist. hmm maybe not so bad after all then although it did make A Level RE lessons really awkward being the only one lol.

[-:Undertaker:-]

A new debate will be opening over the next day or two, any suggestions? the philosophy angle didn't go as well as i'd hoped, so we might have to aim for something a little more mainstream. Any suggestions?

[Lewis]

I'm not sure whether to post here.. I don't have an idea for a specific debate.
I really think when you post your three debates every month, each debate should have an age group for it. For example:

Debate 1: 13-15 year olds (recommended)
Debate 2: 16-18 year olds (recommended)
Debate 3: 18+ (recommended)

Or at least something along those lines so that the entire community can join in the debates, and not only a specific age group or intelligence. lols