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This is a flawed argument, in my opinion. You stop doing something unethical because it is unethical. You don't wait until you've been able to force everyone el
by oska 4y ago
This is a flawed argument, in my opinion. You stop doing something unethical because it is unethical. You don't wait until you've been able to force everyone else from doing what you see as unethical (while they may not). Virtue is its own reward. Virtue isn't forcing everyone else to do what you see as virtuous.
- llamaimperative 4y agoThat may all be true and yet it wasn't individuals choosing to be unethical that ended (or dramatically curtailed) child labor. The federal government stepping in and disallowing it did.
- oska 4y agoSure, but the argument FDR was putting was that he was doing it for the 'ethical' business owners who were supposedly forced to keep employing child labour because others were still using it. No. The business owners could have and should have stopped doing what they saw as unethical by themselves. (I'm not arguing against anti-child labour laws here; I'm arguing against this reported argument for their introduction by FDR. And, to be fair, it's only the reported argument here that I'm responding to; it might not be a faithful representation of what FDR actually said.)