Spookyblog

We need an ethicist, not a blathering Ulster secretary

The call for ethical oversight in Great Britain, with respect to de facto amnesties for ‘on-the-run’ IRA members, is interesting and, in my view, perhaps disingenuous. As a professional philosopher and sometimes practical ethicist, I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that governments need to consult with persons who can help them clarify just what the conceptual landscape amounts to in cases such as these. However, it might seem that the editorial in question is merely questioning the rightness of the government’s decision and using this call as a handy (and effective) rhetorical device.

On the other hand, we might take the Guardian at its word here. It has become more and more clear that those that advise governments are taking the position that it is they, through their actions, who ‘create the new realities’ that we must all live in. This is fair enough as far as it goes: we do indeed have to live with the decisions made by governmental officials—realities are created. However, the moral rightness or wrongness of those realities are not created along with them. Governments cannot act to create a reality and assign, by fiat, a moral value to that ‘act of creation’. Human biology and psychology will determine whether this new state of affairs promotes human flourishing, not an act of Paliament, an Order-in-Council, or a memo from an Under-secretary of Defence.

I would like to see a professional philosopher appointed to help Cabinet understand the moral dimensions of their decisions rather than merely help them understand what might offend the electorate or press.