The difficulty is making the distinction between relativism and contextualism. We don’t want to say that what’s right for you is right, but we also have to have a nuanced normative theory that allows for different responsibilities and relations to give the different moral evaluations that seem intuitive and salient.

I think that both types of people or choices change things for the better. It’s just about figuring out who you are and what is right for you – not on the basis of external morality rules or ideas, but based on internal measure of what feels more alive for you. Both are good choices and meet different needs.

In general I think that morality and ethical philosophy often misses that people are different. Something may be “the right thing” on paper but if you can’t live it, it’s not going to work. On the other hand, something may be morally gray all over the place, but you end up serving a really important need as an example of a person of integrity in a situation that needs that kind of leadership. What is important IMHO is to look inside, sit with all the realities of the situation, and follow that internal nudge of “this is the right contribution for me to make here”.

Emma McCrearys last blog post..Popularity vs. Life: Following Your Internal Nudges

It’s hard with the Scouting thing because I feel good and happy about working with and helping the individual Scouts but not being part of the BSA. Thus, my values conflict in two different ways: one’s about individual actions, and the other is about group involvement. In this case, they’re mutually exclusive – and it’s hard to tell which should trump the other.

Thanks, as always, for sharing your wisdom.

You’ve brought up something that is always an interesting subject and is a conundrum we all face multiple times in our life. May I suggest that you have the answer to your question within you. You just have to open yourself up to it and not fight it.

I worked for many years in business and marketing and was faced with this issue many times in that your entire purpose in marketing is to make money and promote consumption regardless of whether it is moral, useful or necessary. I was always left with this sense that I did not contribute to society in any way whatsoever, and the more I travelled the world and spent time in third world countries, the worse I felt about how I was spending my life.

In the end I realised I was fighting myself too much and could physically feel the resistance in my body so I left and became a teacher. best decision I ever made. Having my values in line with my actions was truly liberating and I felt a lightness that I had never experienced before.

These days I have returned to freelance copy writing (I’m good at it and it allows me to earn money from home and be with my son) but I focus on smaller to medium size businesses who I can feel good about helping.

So, what I am saying in a round about way is don’t just rely on your mind to tell you the answer to this dilemma. Trust your instincts and do what feels right. If you can feel happy and good about being part of the Scouts then do it. If you can’t, then your decision has been made for you.

Kelly

Kelly@SHE-POWERs last blog post..No, I’m Not Dead

Interesting article and I agree, it can be a very tough decision.

Jonathan Meads last blog post..The Secret? There is No Secret

There’s a relatively new moral theory called moral particularism that, among other things, claims that there can be no general moral rules that can be accurately be used to evaluate multiple actions or persons. Moral pluralism, on the hand, gives features that count in favor of doing or not doing any action, but it gives no rules for determining which action to do. If you’re interested in learning more about either of the two normative theories, let me know.

Thanks for the insightful comment!

As an atheist/agnostic, I avoid organisations with a religious perspective and focus my attention on those with no religious agenda. Since my interest lies largely in the support of the developing world, it’s relatively easy to find organisations which have no religious agenda and have the same practical motives that I do. I’m an active supporter of Amnesty International and Plan International as a result.

On the other hand, in my fiction, one of the key phrases that comes up is the problem of “doing something bad to make something good happen” – and actually going for it. There are times when violence becomes necessary in order to alleviate suffering: one need only look at WWII as an example of how entire countries made the decision that the actions of one country made going to war and causing the suffering of their own people in an effort to bring about greater good.

I’m a fan of the idea that one should always work case by case, and assess each one on its merits.

Isabel Joely Blacks last blog post..Amnar Book 1 – 4785 – Episode 10