When confined to distinguishing between good and bad, Ethics is a Utopia

What is it about?

Ethics and moral philosophy rely heavily on the binary distinction between good and bad. If they are to maintain relevance in a digitally transformed society, the translation of some of their analog content into digital one could be seen as a requirement. A different path is chosen here. We ask: ‘Is ethics a utopia?’ In Niklas Luhmann’s digital theorizing, the answer is ‘Yes’. This is not a final verdict. Some of the pseudo-binary distinctions proposed by philosopher Paul Ricœur in his analog theorizing on ethics and utopia can also contribute to the discussion. The answer then becomes: ‘Yes, when moral distinctions impair the ethical aim’. This impairment is not necessarily fatal. Luhmann does show how binary distinctions such as the code of the moral have a blinding effect because they exclude the third. Ricœur, however, explains how, as an aim, ethics could nevertheless be actualized. Learning is mentioned as recourse by both authors: learning to take into account that the exclusion of the third by binary codes is only an artifice, and learning how to use the resources of both logic and imagination when trying to solve ethical dilemmas.

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Photo by Ryan Quintal on Unsplash

Photo by Ryan Quintal on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Our approach illustrates how digital and analog theorizing, each in its own way, can enrich the interdisciplinary study of ethics.

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