Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
An immoral question?	Jon1667	06/29/03
Following on the question about The Ring of Gyges: Is the question, does morality pay off (or as Socrates put it, is justice profitable) an immoral question? Doesn't it suggest that the only reason for acting morally is that it pays off ("Honesty is the best policy.")? With the corollary that if it does not pay off, or, worse, if it is detrimental to the doer, then he is under no obligation to act morally? (By the way, this is one of the questions that professors of philosophy often ask in class.)
Clarification/Follow-up by Jon1667 on 06/30/03 5:02 am: Jim Mcginnes: I think you are reading too much into the question. What I thought I was suggesting is that it might be immoral to imply, as the question implies, that unless morality pays off, one has no reason to act morally. I wasn't (of course) suggesting that anyone who asked the question was immoral, anymore than someone who asks "Is murder really wrong?" is immoral. Questions, I suppose, are amoral, but what a question suggests might not be amoral. I agree with you about what you call "Socratic Nihilism." Teachers should not merely critisize, but try to suggest alternatives. Still, it _is_ part of the teacher's job to disabuse students of illusions, and remove their complacency. That is an important part of the educational experience too.
Answered By		Answered On
Jim.McGinness		06/30/03
What makes a question immoral? Let's grant the assumption that some questions are immoral. What would an immoral question look like? Can we, merely by asking a question, cause somone else to convert from a moral to an immoral person? Incite them to commit an immoral action? There are certainly questions that fit into the rhetoric of "dares" and peer pressure: "Who would care?" "Who would it hurt?" "What are you afraid of?" Participating in the hazing or daring, asking questions like these, certainly seem like they could be considered immoral acts, the questions immoral questions. What can we say of questions that probe ones beliefs, in a non-threatening way? Are belief systems to be left unquestioned, just because they are someone's sincere belief? To question a person's beliefs, to get them to examine what they really believe and why, can be very unsettling and uncomfortable. Do we do a person a disservice by putting them through this questioning, or are we helping them by causing them to bolster their beliefs or turn from them to "truer" beliefs? What I have seen happen in some educational situations is a sort of Socratic Nihilism: a person is badgered with questions until they give up admitting their belief. After they are torn down this way, they are left to pick up the pieces without any guidance. I don't think that practice is a good way to teach, I might even call it immoral. But I would not agree that a single question like this, in isolation, is itself an immoral question.

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