Bioethics Discussion Blog: Bad Smell vs Good Smell: Can the Smell of a Decision Determine Its Ethics

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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Bad Smell vs Good Smell: Can the Smell of a Decision Determine Its Ethics


In life, most of us can smell and make some
interpretation of the source and significance
of the smell. The odor may often be the 
first sign of something bad such as an un-
expected fire or something good such as 
a favorite pie baking in the oven.


Can we carry the analogy of smell to the interpretation of our initial casual observations or by hearing the explanations by others for the basis of their decisions or actions and then go on to develop a firm conclusion as to whether what was decided or what was done was ethical? Can one "smell" the good and the bad of a decision? And with that smell can we accept that smell as a basis for a conclusion?  Can we accept the smell as the basis for whether or not to further investigate the decisions or actions? A "bad smell" requires a thorough investigation of the facts, whereas a "good smell" is evidence enough of a "good". I would argue that it takes more than the presenting odor to establish any final conclusion. Whether a smell is good or bad, I think is in the nose and mind of the beholder and it takes an analysis of as much of the facts as available to reach a reasonable conclusion about the ethics. I bring this topic up because I think it is very easy and I think it often occurs that we "rush to judgment" about someone's behavior or someones decisions or actions.  Criticism or ethical conclusions without all the facts is unwarranted.  Or, perhaps..our lives are too busy with not enough time or interst to develop the facts and it is just easier to go by our noses. What do you think? ..Maurice.

Graphics:  I photographed the images of the artwork of Francis Xaver Messerschmitt found in the 2009 Auction Catalog of Koller Auktionen, Zurich Switzerland.


1 Comments:

At Thursday, August 16, 2012 5:05:00 AM, Blogger SteveofCaley said...

SMELL AS METAPHOR

Smell is a great metaphor for mentation, to make the analogy to the various modalities of sensation.

Smell tends to be immediate, affect-laden and very remote from the storage-and-retrieval facilities of the conscious mind.

One can ponder and recall music or art, even when the stimulus is not there. Smell is immediate, and is not something that seems uniquely identified, and not very much amenable to categorization by the mind.

In ethics, the "whiff test" is a metaphor for a grand intuitive opinion, in the same way as one tests the Stuff in the Tupperware by sniffing it, to determine edibility.

I am very interested in a concept in medical care which I call 'animadversion.' I have hijacked it from modern English, where it has a different meaning, and have stuck its old Latin meaning on it. It is the process of the calling of attention to some element, issue or thing. Strong smells are powerfully animadvertent; a dead mouse in the cupboard is immediately noted on arising for one's morning coffee; and strongly elicits affective elements such as disgust and revulsion (assuming that one is not a cat.)

It is a great metaphor for the intuitive and immediate, the "common sense" part of mentation. Thanks for the idea!

 

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