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Moral Guidelines & Cultural Canons

Cavalli

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My final assignment for my stage 2B Philosophy and Ethics course of this year was to 'write an essay in which you will identify the moral categories and principles that are needed to create a cultural canon.' I wrote the following essay (roughly a page and a half) identifying the three 'rules' I developed. These were:

  • It must comply with the non maleficence (do no harm) principle. Anything likely to cause harm to any persons can not be placed within the Cultural Canon
  • The Canon must maintain aspects of the Australian Indigenous Culture
  • The Canon must contain values that Australians hold dear (e.g. mateship, loyalty)

(Note that these are obviously relevant to creating an Australian Cultural Canon, as I am Australian so that's what the task was pertaining to).

For anyone that hasn't studied the subject at school/university, the style of writing is a pain in the arse and can be condescending at times.

Essay is in the spoiler.

In Western Culture, we believe in striving to reach our potential. In doing the best that we, as individuals can. This is ingrained into us from a young age, throughout our entire schooling and working lives we are taught to always try our best. It is as much a part of our culture as backyard cricket and sausages on the barbecue. Culture is what the majority of the dominant group within society believes to be the right way of living; what activities are classed as leisurely, what art is ‘good’, what values are important. The most important of these are placed in our ‘cultural canon’, the group of values, activities and art that are held dear and often represented in film and literature.

As with any other thing, however, there are certain guidelines that must be followed, ethical principles and moral categories to be met. When creating a cultural canon, there are two distinct, ethical criteria that must be met. The first criterion is that the canon must maintain aspects of Australian Indigenous culture, this could include things like traditional indigenous art (dance, dot paintings, literature). A selection of these things must be placed within the cultural canon, in order to respect the heritage of the country. For example, the prolific works of Jack Davis could be placed within the cultural canon, as these discuss the experience of Australia from an Indigenous perspective. This (partly) satisfies the requirements of the second criterion, and also provides an insight into the Australian way of life from an alternative perspective even though these perspectives may not necessarily show Australian Culture and history in a positive light.

The paintings by the Aboriginal Australians are another example of Indigenous art that could be included within the canon. While many of these works depict moments that may not be the finest in our country’s history, (e.g. the skirmishes between English soldiers and the Indigenous peoples of Australia) they are still essential as ultimately they display the history of Australia, something that’s incredibly important for the nation to preserve as they have contributed to making Australian Culture what it is today.

Consider the traditional dream time stories of the Indigenous people. These were used to teach a huge range of things, ranging from creation to general safety. Dangerous, mythical beasts were created to stop children wandering into places where falling rocks might crush them, stories were told using the animals of Australia to explain how various aspects of the world were created. Kangaroos got their tails when two Kangaroos threw sticks into each other after a vicious fight. These stories are an important part of the Indigenous Australian culture, and thus could also be considered candidates for the canon, provided they meet the requirements of the second criterion; that it must comply with the non maleficence (do no harm) principle. This stipulates that anything placed within the cultural canon can not do harm to any individual. This means that songs, poems or other art forms that include things such as racism, could not be included within the cultural canon.

Take Rolf Harris’ Australian folk song ‘Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport’. While it is a classic Australian song that’s played a huge role in the childhood of most Australian children, it does contains lyrics that reflect cultural mores of the time it was written. These mores would now be considered racist by some groups within society. As a result of this, it does not meet the second criterion and therefore cannot be placed within the cannon, no matter how much it symbolises Australia and it’s culture.


Another example of something that fails to meet the second criterion is any work that contains pornographic material. This is considered harmful to younger people and is actually illegal for anyone under the age of eighteen to view for precisely that reason. As a result of this, it cannot be placed in the cultural canon, where it’s front and center. Binge drinking is a similar example. While many Australians partake in it, and truth be told it probably is a key part of Australian culture, it is harmful to the individual and thus cannot be placed within the canon.

The third and final criterion is that the canon must also contain values. This is to ensure that the characteristics which are universally recognised as unique to the Australian culture are maintained. Examples of such values would be loyalty, mateship and courage. Values such as these are ingrained into every Australian and make up the core of the Australian lifestyle. In addition to this, none of these values contravene the non-maleficence principle, meaning it’s possible for any one of them to be included within the Cultural Canon.

To conclude, there are three guidelines that must be followed. These are that the Canon must maintain aspects of the Australian Indigenous culture, that it must contain values that represent and are important to, the Australian way of life. The final criterion is that everything that goes into the Canon, must comply with the non-maleficence principle. It is important to note that not everything that goes into the Canon has to comply with the first two criteria. As long as a few things fit the first two criteria, the guidelines for the Canon will be met.

Feedback, thoughts, any additional guidelines that you would have added in etc. are welcome and appreciated. I think I received about 65% for this essay, which is roughly a B. Criticism from the teacher was basically that it needed to be longer - something I struggled with due to the lack of 'rules' I had.
 
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I probably would have failed that assignment. :D

*EDIT:

In high school, I'd have never turned it in, and today I'd just go on a tangent explaining how ethics are neither enforceable nor amiable rules; just constructs that manifest at various levels depending on the population that makes up that level, and thus unsuitable for "shoulds."
 

BigApplePi

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Hi Cavalli. I read that quickly. My first impression of those three cannons were they are conservative. To go from a B to an A, you would have to say something positive about where you think Australia could go to benefit itself. Australia (I'm in the USA) sounds like a large and wonderful country with great prospects for the future. What could those be?

Contrast that with the US of A which people today say has reached its peak.
 

Ex-User (9086)

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Hi Cavalli. I read that quickly. My first impression of those three cannons were they are conservative. To go from a B to an A, you would have to say something positive about where you think Australia could go to benefit itself. Australia (I'm in the USA) sounds like a large and wonderful country with great prospects for the future. What could those be?

Contrast that with the US of A which people today say has reached its peak.
That's basically what canon comprises, right? He was describing traditions and culture of his country, so it makes sense it is conservative. Primary actions of culture are to maintain this culture, pass knowledge and traditions.

One of the exeptions would be mainland Chinese culture, due to many external and internal influences they rejected their past, reformed their beliefs and language. This leaves you with a country that is obsessed with pop-culture as their only form of culture left intact.

Even when we see exeptions i don't see countries that entirely reject their past, or promote rejecting past and striving for technocracy or transhumanism.
 

BigApplePi

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One of the exeptions would be mainland Chinese culture, due to many external and internal influences they rejected their past, reformed their beliefs and language. This leaves you with a country that is obsessed with pop-culture as their only form of culture left intact.
Perhaps they've rejected their past because they were treated badly by other countries and were made to feel inferior.* Suddenly they have found power and grab what's nearest. At some point when their identiy settles in they might look deeper than the present and find their heritage.

*Much like a human being.
 

Cavalli

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Hi Cavalli. I read that quickly. My first impression of those three cannons were they are conservative. To go from a B to an A, you would have to say something positive about where you think Australia could go to benefit itself. Australia (I'm in the USA) sounds like a large and wonderful country with great prospects for the future. What could those be?

Contrast that with the US of A which people today say has reached its peak.

I think you got a bit confused. The three things were not Canons, they were the guidelines I laid out that anything entering the Canon had to adhere to. The Canon in this case is what's compromised of all the things which Australia as a culture holds dear; the things they value. I would however agree that my guidelines were conservative, they were designed to upset the least number of people possible while still keeping it as libertarian as I could.

I'm also not quite sure if your advice is relevant to the question..? Elaborate for me?

That's basically what canon comprises, right? He was describing traditions and culture of his country, so it makes sense it is conservative. Primary actions of culture are to maintain this culture, pass knowledge and traditions.

One hundred percent correct.


To clarify:

A Cultural Canon is a series of values/things that are held dear to the culture. These are often represented in film and literature. Film and literature could also be a 'thing' that are held dear to a culture. (e.g. Beer could be considered for Australia's Cultural Canon purely because many/most Australian's love beer.) While most things within the Cultural Canon have meaning (they represent the history of the nation, or the values/ideas/beliefs that are held dear to the country), there are many that are just simply things that a majority of the culture enjoys.
 

Ex-User (9086)

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Perhaps they've rejected their past because they were treated badly by other countries and were made to feel inferior.* Suddenly they have found power and grab what's nearest. At some point when their identiy settles in they might look deeper than the present and find their heritage.

*Much like a human being.
Yes, that is an really interesting idea. This comparison of cultural consciousness to a single being.

I adressed their past traditions as rejected, but thinking of them as a rememberance of a failure and fear of failure is very valid.

To clarify:

A Cultural Canon is a series of values/things that are held dear to the culture. These are often represented in film and literature. Film and literature could also be a 'thing' that are held dear to a culture. (e.g. Beer could be considered for Australia's Cultural Canon purely because many/most Australian's love beer.) While most things within the Cultural Canon have meaning (they represent the history of the nation, or the values/ideas/beliefs that are held dear to the country), there are many that are just simply things that a majority of the culture enjoys.

Indeed, also what the majority enjoys is what you call pop-culture, this makes majority give meaning to this majority-culture.
Otherwise, they would celebrate something meaningless to them, which is not thinkable from their perspective, but can be surely considered from ours.
 

Ex-User (9062)

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My final assignment for my stage 2B Philosophy and Ethics course of this year was to 'write an essay in which you will identify the moral categories and principles that are needed to create a cultural canon.' I wrote the following essay (roughly a page and a half) identifying the three 'rules' I developed. These were:

  • It must comply with the non maleficence (do no harm) principle. Anything likely to cause harm to any persons can not be placed within the Cultural Canon
  • The Canon must maintain aspects of the Australian Indigenous Culture
  • The Canon must contain values that Australians hold dear (e.g. mateship, loyalty)

(Note that these are obviously relevant to creating an Australian Cultural Canon, as I am Australian so that's what the task was pertaining to).

For anyone that hasn't studied the subject at school/university, the style of writing is a pain in the arse and can be condescending at times.

Essay is in the spoiler.

In Western Culture, we believe in striving to reach our potential. In doing the best that we, as individuals can. This is ingrained into us from a young age, throughout our entire schooling and working lives we are taught to always try our best. It is as much a part of our culture as backyard cricket and sausages on the barbecue. Culture is what the majority of the dominant group within society believes to be the right way of living; what activities are classed as leisurely, what art is ‘good’, what values are important. The most important of these are placed in our ‘cultural canon’, the group of values, activities and art that are held dear and often represented in film and literature.

As with any other thing, however, there are certain guidelines that must be followed, ethical principles and moral categories to be met. When creating a cultural canon, there are two distinct, ethical criteria that must be met. The first criterion is that the canon must maintain aspects of Australian Indigenous culture, this could include things like traditional indigenous art (dance, dot paintings, literature). A selection of these things must be placed within the cultural canon, in order to respect the heritage of the country. For example, the prolific works of Jack Davis could be placed within the cultural canon, as these discuss the experience of Australia from an Indigenous perspective. This (partly) satisfies the requirements of the second criterion, and also provides an insight into the Australian way of life from an alternative perspective even though these perspectives may not necessarily show Australian Culture and history in a positive light.

The paintings by the Aboriginal Australians are another example of Indigenous art that could be included within the canon. While many of these works depict moments that may not be the finest in our country’s history, (e.g. the skirmishes between English soldiers and the Indigenous peoples of Australia) they are still essential as ultimately they display the history of Australia, something that’s incredibly important for the nation to preserve as they have contributed to making Australian Culture what it is today.

Consider the traditional dream time stories of the Indigenous people. These were used to teach a huge range of things, ranging from creation to general safety. Dangerous, mythical beasts were created to stop children wandering into places where falling rocks might crush them, stories were told using the animals of Australia to explain how various aspects of the world were created. Kangaroos got their tails when two Kangaroos threw sticks into each other after a vicious fight. These stories are an important part of the Indigenous Australian culture, and thus could also be considered candidates for the canon, provided they meet the requirements of the second criterion; that it must comply with the non maleficence (do no harm) principle. This stipulates that anything placed within the cultural canon can not do harm to any individual. This means that songs, poems or other art forms that include things such as racism, could not be included within the cultural canon.

Take Rolf Harris’ Australian folk song ‘Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport’. While it is a classic Australian song that’s played a huge role in the childhood of most Australian children, it does contains lyrics that reflect cultural mores of the time it was written. These mores would now be considered racist by some groups within society. As a result of this, it does not meet the second criterion and therefore cannot be placed within the cannon, no matter how much it symbolises Australia and it’s culture.


Another example of something that fails to meet the second criterion is any work that contains pornographic material. This is considered harmful to younger people and is actually illegal for anyone under the age of eighteen to view for precisely that reason. As a result of this, it cannot be placed in the cultural canon, where it’s front and center. Binge drinking is a similar example. While many Australians partake in it, and truth be told it probably is a key part of Australian culture, it is harmful to the individual and thus cannot be placed within the canon.

The third and final criterion is that the canon must also contain values. This is to ensure that the characteristics which are universally recognised as unique to the Australian culture are maintained. Examples of such values would be loyalty, mateship and courage. Values such as these are ingrained into every Australian and make up the core of the Australian lifestyle. In addition to this, none of these values contravene the non-maleficence principle, meaning it’s possible for any one of them to be included within the Cultural Canon.

To conclude, there are three guidelines that must be followed. These are that the Canon must maintain aspects of the Australian Indigenous culture, that it must contain values that represent and are important to, the Australian way of life. The final criterion is that everything that goes into the Canon, must comply with the non-maleficence principle. It is important to note that not everything that goes into the Canon has to comply with the first two criteria. As long as a few things fit the first two criteria, the guidelines for the Canon will be met.

Feedback, thoughts, any additional guidelines that you would have added in etc. are welcome and appreciated. I think I received about 65% for this essay, which is roughly a B. Criticism from the teacher was basically that it needed to be longer - something I struggled with due to the lack of 'rules' I had.

It seems you put relatively little content into the section dedicated to values.
I disagree on your second guideline (because of various reasons which would be too far out to discuss here) and would replace this with a critical illumination of the colonial past and heritage.
The "non nocere" principle is a good starting point.
 

Cavalli

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It seems you put relatively little content into the section dedicated to values.
I disagree on your second guideline (because of various reasons which would be too far out to discuss here) and would replace this with a critical illumination of the colonial past and heritage.
The "non nocere" principle is a good starting point.

You're right, I didn't put much content into the section dedicated to values. I felt that values didn't really need any Ethical/Moral Guidelines as they're just ideas, and as long as they remain ideas they're incapable of harm - mere thought experiments. If one of the ideas were to manifest itself into something more than an idea, it would become a tangible thing and thus it would fit under one of my three guidelines.

I believe that people should be able to think whatever they want to think, and value whatever they want to value. Like I said, ideas are harmless until they manifest into something more - and then the guidelines step into play.

I do however agree with your criticism regarding the second guideline. Definitely a much better idea - in retrospect!
 

Ex-User (9062)

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I think you underestimate the power of values, especially common values.
While a value may not cause harm in individual practice,
collectively it may accumulate a critical point where it achieves harmful consequences, both on a collective as well as on an individual level.
 

Ex-User (9086)

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I think you underestimate the power of values, especially common values.
While a value may not cause harm in individual practice,
collectively it may accumulate a critical point where it achieves harmful consequences, both on a collective as well as on an individual level.
Then again, you take values without mention to the idea of freedom.
Taking either of these to the extreme results in harm.

One restricts freedom and the other may violate others values.
This duality is at the core of the dillema.
 

kantor1003

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I'm surprised, seeing that it is a philosophy course, that none of the principles were argued for (I guess it probably wasn't expected, but again, it's a philosophy course. How can there be philosophy, in any modern sense at least, without argument?). Also, in the conclusion it is claimed that 'not everything that goes into the Canon has to comply with the first two criteria'. This was not discussed, nor mentioned anywhere earlier in your paper, so it not only falls short of any argument, but even of elucidation.

Sorry for sounding so critical. The critique is mostly aimed at what is expected.
With that said, at first glance I really think you are on to something with your principles, and you did a damn good job in explaining 'culture' to the extent required for your subject matter. Doing a decent job of summing up culture in one sentence isn't easy, and I would probably have tripped up right there. :)

Nice work, Cavalli!:)
 

Cavalli

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I think you underestimate the power of values, especially common values.
While a value may not cause harm in individual practice,
collectively it may accumulate a critical point where it achieves harmful consequences, both on a collective as well as on an individual level.

Hmm.. Perhaps. However I would argue that it's the actions taken once it reaches that critical point that are causing the harmful consequences, but then again if we take this route it's just going to go back to trying to find the very root of the whole thing - something I always find to be counter productive.

I'm surprised, seeing that it is a philosophy course, that none of the principles were argued for (I guess it probably wasn't expected, but again, it's a philosophy course. How can there be philosophy, in any modern sense at least, without argument?). Also, in the conclusion it is claimed that 'not everything that goes into the Canon has to comply with the first two criteria'. This was not discussed, nor mentioned anywhere earlier in your paper, so it not only falls short of any argument, but even of elucidation.

Sorry for sounding so critical. The critique is mostly aimed at what is expected.
With that said, at first glance I really think you are on to something with your principles, and you did a damn good job in explaining 'culture' to the extent required for your subject matter. Doing a decent job of summing up culture in one sentence isn't easy, and I would probably have tripped up right there. :)

Nice work, Cavalli!:)

Not a problem, criticism was exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately my school doesn't offer stage three Philosophy next year, so I'm dropping down to stage one (using it as a course to make up my twenty units; it won't be going to my university entrance score), but hopefully my writing will improve.

I agree with what you said though and I noticed it at the time of writing it, unfortunately this was a timed piece of writing and I only noticed at the end that I'd failed to clarify that earlier so I just had to stick it in there and hope it was good enough :P

But appreciate the response! Thank you!
 

Ex-User (9062)

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trying to find the very root of the whole thing - something I always find to be counter productive.

It may have been the wrong approach to apply to your paper,
but in general, as a means of philosophical investigation,
it is a valuable method.
 

Cavalli

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It may have been the wrong approach to apply to your paper,
but in general, as a means of philosophical investigation,
it is a valuable method.

I think you misunderstand, when I say trying to find the root of the thing I mean trying to really try and find the root of the thing. Like going so far back it's just ridiculous. Have you ever seen that episode of How I Met Your Mother, where Barney runs in the Marathon and they replay the events trying to work out who's fault it was that Marshall sprained his ankle? Going back incredibly far like that, trying to find literally THE root of it all I find to be counter-productive; this is exactly why I oppose the idea of trying to figure out the creation of the universe and everything that there ever was or will be.
 

Cavalli

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It would seem so!

(How great is Wikipedia though?)
 
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