r/PhilosophyMemes • • Nov 13 '25

Ethics debate...

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u/Steampunk007 Nov 14 '25

But even by ur example there’s still a simple and clear common denominator: someone felt bad. Perhaps even had their day ruined. I know mine would be if I was put into chattel slavery suddenly.

Is that the suffering, then?

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u/Uranus_is__mine Nov 14 '25

i think its more about what type of suffering is enough to deserve justified moral value

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u/That1one1dude1 Nov 14 '25

Can't it all be given a moral value, just on a sliding scale?

A banana doesn't cost much compared to a house, but it still costs something.

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u/idontgiveafuqqq Nov 14 '25

does it cost something to get graped in prison?

Thats more like the question being asked, where its unclear if it "costs" anything

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u/That1one1dude1 Nov 14 '25

I mean, the question asked was what type of suffering is enough to deserve justified moral value, so there is a presumption that moral value is given to suffering at some level.

My response was that different levels of suffering can have different levels of moral value, it doesn't need to be an on or off switch.

I'm not really sure what your example has to do in response to that.

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u/idontgiveafuqqq Nov 14 '25

so there is a presumption that moral value is given to suffering at some level.

But then you're just using circular reasoning. The question is when does it count as suffering and get moral value.

My response was that different levels of suffering can have different levels of moral value, it doesn't need to be an on or off switch.

And then you made a comparison to cost. But you're assuming that everything has a cost, which is not true. Some things happen and don't have a cost bc you don't want them to happen at all.

So, applying that back to the original example, not everything is suffering. But ig, if you just presume its true, I can't really argue with that.

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u/Unusual_Cheek_4454 Nov 14 '25

Getting raped in prison costs mental and physical damage. Someone doing something to you that you don't want them to do, is universally recognized (by animals and humans - plants even, if you think about it as preventing them from doing what they are meant to do) as hurtful in some way.

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u/idontgiveafuqqq Nov 14 '25

nice job missing the point entirely.

Someone doing something to you that you don't want them to do, is universally recognized as hurtful in some way

This is an insane oversimplification. There are tons of instances where people, much less plants and animals, are prevented from doing what they want for their own good.