Last night I dreamt I promised my niece a ride on a skipping giraffe. Sadly, when it came to the crunch, my car broke down halfway round the safari due to some gorillas landing on the bonnet, breaking off both wing mirrors, and generally getting in the way of Poppy opening the door and making a break for the giraffe enclosure. (Plus I had the child lock on.) So, upon our return, she demanded sweets as compensation for her ruined trip. I told her too many sweets would rot her teeth and they'd all fall out. When she started crying, I tried consoling her that that would mean a lot of money from the Tooth Fairy-but to no avail. Then one of her wobbly teeth actually dropped out while she was eating dinner, and she asked me if the Tooth Fairy deals in Bitcoins instead of leaving a measly pound coin? I told her the Tooth Fairy died suddenly and unexpectedly half an hour ago. She ran screaming to her mum. Shortly after, I was informed that I am 'a terrible person'.
When I awoke from my nightmare, those words echoed in my head and got me thinking... why? Was it one word, one action, or more that led to that judgement? Is being a terrible person a life sentence? And is telling a little girl that the Tooth Fairy needs a new tomb stone necessarily a heinous act? More to the point what is a good person? Are good people composed of morally good intentions, or actions? If so, I would like to know. It might give me a kind of ethical roadmap to follow.
Denne historien er fra June / July 2022-utgaven av Philosophy Now.
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Denne historien er fra June / July 2022-utgaven av Philosophy Now.
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The Two Dennises
Hannah Mortimer observes a close encounter of the same kind.
Heraclitus (c.500 BC)
Harry Keith lets flow a stream of ideas about permanence and change.
Does the Cosmos Have a Purpose?
Raymond Tallis argues intently against universal intention.
Is Driving Fossil-Fuelled Cars Immoral?
Rufus Duits asks when we can justify driving our carbon contributors.
Abelard & Carneades Yes & No
Frank Breslin says 'yes and no' to presenting both sides of an argument.
Frankl & Sartre in Search of Meaning
Georgia Arkell compares logotherapy and atheistic existentialism.
Luce Irigaray
Luce Irigaray, now ninety-two years old, was, among many other things, one of the most impactful feminists of the 1970s liberation movements - before she was marginalised, then ostracised, from the francophone intellectual sphere.
Significance
Ruben David Azevedo tells us why, in a limitless universe, we’re not insignificant.
The Present Is Not All There Is To Happiness
Rob Glacier says don’t just live in the now.
Philosophers Exploring The Good Life
Jim Mepham quests with philosophers to discover what makes a life good.