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Until where should we judge the actions of other people - and from when do we leave it as freedom of action? (self.philosophy)

submitted 11 months ago by greencactus to c/philosophy

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I think this question resulted from me having an argument with my gf. We want to go to a holiday trip, and she wanted to book a hotel via booking.com. We then got into a discussion, because booking.com repeatedly ignored privacy concerns and is conciously acting illegally in regards to privacy laws of the EU (for those of you who can read German, this link from a German privacy investigator explains it fairly well. In my opinion, supporting companies which consciously breach laws is unethical, because they willingly ignore the well-being of their customers for own gains. However, in this case it was probably unfair to gf to judge her for using this platform, as the negative impact done by her using booking.com is not enough to justify this as a morally wrong action on her end.

My question is where you draw the line what to ethically judge. What if (hypothetically) booking.com would support slavery and willingly sacrificed children to earn more money for their shareholders? What if they were very interested in animal abuse and liked Nazis? In this case I think I'd be completely justified to judge my gf for her using this platform, as she would then directly support inhumane and unethical practices.

Most of life, however, resolves in a grey area between "this is absolutely morally okay" and "this is terrible, anyone who supports this is a monster". And so I think your opinions on the topic of an ethical line would be highly appreciated.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'd say that the bottom line or easiest to remember rule is the point of causing harm to a living being when I make ethical decisions.

I boycott companies that don't think about the environment, use slavery etc.

[–] greencactus 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

But doesn't every company in some way support inhumane practices? There is even a telling, that in capitalism you can't ethically consume.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Maybe.
I'd guess it depends on how greedy an organization is.

If such a case is real, then, one chance is to start producing everything you need yourself (well, with no exploitation) or terminating yourself so there's no need to consume anything anymore.

[–] greencactus 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Well, I will be honest - I don't think I'm able to produce everything myself, nor am I willing to :) And I don't think I'm a bad human being for not wanting to do so. Or am I? But then it means that we all are bad human beings for not being perfectly moral.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Neither I am able.

I'll just choose the lesser evils when I can and choose not to use a service when it's not needed.

[–] greencactus 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

And where is your boundary? Until where are you willing to tolerate evil if it brings you pleasure?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Jaa-a.
That's a very broad question. Difficult to answer satisfyingly.

What I'd guess is that, at least, I wouldn't steal anything even when the world's biggest opportunity arose.

[–] greencactus 1 points 11 months ago

Got it - I struggle with the same problem. Well, thank you for your thoughts, I appreciate then :)

[–] Copernican 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Why didn't you just find the place on booking.com and then directly call the hotel and ask if they can match the rate booking.com quoted? I'm assuming the why of your gf wanting to use the service was a discounted rate. But there are probably options to stay at the hotel without using booking.com

[–] greencactus 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yes, I've thought of the same solution. For her it doesn't work, because she wants to book the hotel as early as possible, and she's anxious that over the holidays, the hotel won't reply and it'll then be more expensive to book it.

[–] angrystego 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You don't need to e-mail them, you can call them directly. I know it can be a bit more stressful, but you'll know their answer right away.

[–] greencactus 1 points 11 months ago

I didn't think of that exactly, but I fear it'll be too stressful for her as well. Probably that's the path I'd prefer, especially because it often is cheaper, but I think she wants to just get this done with.