C. S. Lewis compared issues of ethics to the three things a fleet of ships is told in its sailing orders.
First, the ships must know how to avoid bumping into each other. This is social ethics.
Second, they must stay shipshape and avoid sinking. This would be individual ethics, such as character building and avoidance of vices.
Third, they must know where the fleet is going. Why is the fleet at sea? What is the mission? What is the goal?
Right now in the U.S. we are having some issues. Our social ethics seem to have eroded; we “bump into” each other quite frequently. As for individual ethics, look at Trump and his followers. Finally, what is the destination of our society? Where are we sailing toward?
I read about C.S. Lewis’s metaphor in Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989.
If someone is deliberately trying to ram others' ships with their ship, is that social ethics or individual ethics? Or is it sociopathic ethics? There seems to be a lot of that going on!
ReplyDeleteI would say that is a failure and breakdown of ethics in general. And yes, there does seem to be a great deal of that occurring.
ReplyDeleteI think that this comment is a bunch of S__t
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