This summer (2010) I'm taking a philosophy class on Ethical Issues. It's interesting, and as these issues are being addressed in class, I'm reformulating my opinions on these topics into forms that fit well on paper. That's what is sparking this series of essays and determining the topics.
My first general insight on these issues is how much all of them are deeply wrapped in emotion rather than logic. One symptom of this is that all are discussed using euphemisms. The abortion issue, for instance, is talked about as being Pro-Life or Pro-Choice -- these tags are designed to grab at heartstrings, not to be shortcuts for reasoned thinking. Public executions are called capital punishment.
For that matter, calling these ethical issues is a euphemism as well. These aren't ethical issues, these are unsolved emotional issues. They are unsolved because there are many enthusiasts who are vigorously supporting answers to wonderfully framed emotional questions. But when the questions asked can be answered best with such warm and fuzzy feeling answers, they are weak in their logical foundations. One symptom of their logical weakness is that the arguers toss in additional concepts while they are making a point in a willy-nilly way. They treat these added concepts as axioms. Example from the abortion controversy, "Of course we all know that killing innocent babies is bad." Well, killing babies is bad most of the time, but perhaps not all the time, and these exceptions need to be examined. This statement is being treated as an axiom -- a given -- but it's not an axiom, and that's why discussions on the abortion issue tend to go round-and-round and never produce an acceptable solution -- acceptable meaning that all parties feel they now understand the issue, and why some agreed-upon solution is workable, and they are willing to move on to new issues.
This same problem with bad axiomizing surrounds all these issues. These issues will be solved when all sides involved are willing to look carefully at what they have axiomized, and, in the process, recognize that all sides have been asking and answering the wrong questions. When the right questions are discovered and then widely accepted, much of the controversy will die down.
That's my general insight. What follows is my insights and opinions on the specific highly emotional issues that are covered in the course.
Have fun with these.