Latest Blog Post

(Big thanks to Ed for the title).

The title of this blog is amateur philosophy but the full title should be amateur moral philosophy.

The study of moral philosophy is the study of ethics and dates back to the original and great philosophers through philosophical history and the great societies of the west and east.

The funny thing about philosophy and moral philosophy is when you actually read into it, it’s just about where you draw a line in the sand.

You can argue for good and you can argue for bad. You can argue for selfless and you can argue for selfish.

We all imagine that ethics, moral philosophy or law are unchangeable, indisputable and absolute but that is entirely wrong.

If you look around the world you will see ethical standards vary massively from culture to culture and things that we think are abhorrent other societies will feel are entirely reasonable.

If you want an example from popular culture of differences and philosophical outlooks, think back to Luis Suarez in the World Cup in Brazil when he bit the defender on the shoulder.

In the UK this was seen as an outrage, something disgusting and repellent.

In other parts of the world it was just ‘part of the game’.

Liverpool Football Club made a stand and sold Suarez who has gone on to be one of the best goal scorers in the world for Barcelona FC.

Barcelona FC would hold themselves up as being a standard bearer for Catalan values, but they’re all cool with people who bite their opponents.

When you talk about ethics, ethical medical practice or moral philosophical values through healthcare all you’re doing is drawing a line in the sand.

You will never appeal to everyone and it is impossible to enforce a single moral and ethical code across the board without discussion.

So, why bother? Why pay any attention to that and why not just adopt survival of the fattest (or fittest), make as much money as you can from healthcare as quickly as possible in the hope that you can seek out somebody else to treat you and your family for large sums of money who will make it better as a ‘product’. But actually, that is the reason why ethics and moral values are important. In the end, all of us will need healthcare. All of us will need to be cared for at the very least in our old age and all of us will have family members who will be sick or require urgent medical attention; be it medical, dental or otherwise.

When we abandon the moral philosophical code, and many parts of dentistry have utterly abandoned this, then we get what we deserve when we look for healthcare ourselves.

Richard Dawkins writes about empathy and altruism being part of an evolutionary imperative.

He suggests that altruism is essential in evolution because if you look after other people they might just look after you in times of need which might protect your gene pool.

The essence of ethics and moral philosophy is even simpler than that.

If I don’t protect the ethics of healthcare where will the ethics be when I or my family need healthcare?

Blog post number: 1614