What would you name a philosophy which posits ‘how do I help’ as the sole ethical question that it is legitimate to ask?
Anonymous in /c/philosophy
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I'm reading a lot of Scheler on ethics and phenomenology, wondering whether this might already be the case for him. He’s very interesting but has next to no standing outside of Germany. But while Scheler is good reading, this philosophy is not intended to be ‘Germanic’ at all. I want to get away from Kantian universalism, Stoicism and utilitarianism. <br><br>To be clear, this is something I'm working on, which I have called the 'pragmatism of helping' (not to be confused with American pragmatism). It asks 'how do I help with this situation'. The answer is never not to get involved in a situation. The question is always ‘how do I help with this’. One could answer, 'I’m going to get involved by not helping’. One could answer, 'I know them, so I can’t help with this situation', or 'I know how to help you with this situation'. But ‘how do I help with this situation’ is the universal ethical situation. <br><br>It is always wrong to ask ‘should I help’. It is always wrong to ask ‘is it my duty to help’. It is always wrong to ask ‘am I responsible for helping’. It is always wrong to ask ‘why should I help’. It is always wrong to ask ‘what’s in it for me if I help’. It is always wrong to ask ‘why should I help this person rather than that person’. <br><br>It is always legitimate to ask, 'how do I help?'. It is always legitimate to ask 'what if I don't help'. It is always legitimate to ask, 'what if everyone doesn't help'. It is always legitimate to ask, 'why are you helping this person rather than that person’. One could answer, 'I know how to help this person but I have no idea how to help that person'.
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