Stephen Downes has this take on culture and morality. He’s linked to an “Inside Higher Ed” article by the same title.
It’s Culture, Not Morality
People often blur the distinction between legality and morality, reasoning (oddly and incorrectly, in my view) that whatever is against the law or even against the rules is also immoral. But rules do not reflect morality, they reflect culture, and culture changes with time.
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February 5th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
I have to agree more with one of the comments rather than the article. I don’t think there is a new idea of ownership, I think the source has merely changed. Instead of taking from newspaper & magazine articles, copying a friend’s music, or copying information from an encyclopedia, we have merely shifted to the digital world. People are now downloading music, copying movies using computer downloads, using the online papers of others, etc. It is culture, in a sense because culture has moved to the technology realm but wrong is still wrong and right is still right. I think there have been too many excuses made in society and not enough responsibility taken for one’s own actions.
February 5th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I also agree with the comment that was made under the post, as well as the comment made by Shellae. I’m not sure that the culture has really changed……individuals have been reproducing things for a long time. As a child, I copied cassette tapes from friends. Many times friends made copies for me. The only difference I see now is that it is a little easier to make copies of cds and dvs; it is faster and the quality is better. Also, some companies, such as Napster, have tried to profit from selling things that weren’t truly theirs to begin with. The Internet has made it easier to share and upload to mass amounts of people, instead of doing it for individuals.
February 5th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I somewhat agree with the quote that there is a difference between legality and morality. It reminds me of a class discussion in one of my Social Studies classes recently. We the changes from the Qin Dynasty to the Han Dynasty as it related to their governments and beliefs. This led us somehow into a discussion of whether killing was moraly wrong. Of course the students at first said that killing was wrong (even a sin) until I played devil’s advocate and asked what about a situation where someone is trying to kill one of your family members and you were capable of stopping it but only if you in turn kill the attacker. They said that in that case it was not wrong because you were defending your family. This led us into a short discussion on the differences of the cultures of the Qin and Han Dynastys. I think that this is a key argument for morality and culture being intertwined.
February 6th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I find what Laura said is ture. I copied cassette tapes also growing up and didn’t think I was breaking a law. I really don’t remember it being a big deal. Now there is more accessible sites that allow you to copy and burn music for free. I really don’t know if people stop and think about the money being lost from the producers of the music and video. It is so easy and it seems that everyone does it. Makes me think of the those commercials about peer pressure, everyone one is trying it. I think that each individual has to make thier own choices and that depends on what they think is right or wrong. I would never buy a paper and turn it in, because I believe that is wrong. Someone else may feel differently. Individuals may copy music, but I am sure they can think of a quick reason to justify why they should have a right to free music. Is it wrong? To the person making the money from the publication, I am sure they think say yes. For those that want to share files with friends may say if someone wants to purchase it and make it availble for me, then I have a right.