[Closed] The British Empire

(though not denying that said empire was originally responsible for developing slavery on an industrial scale)

Hmmmmmmmm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_slave_trade

didn't say inventing, said developing.

its true that they did no think they were bad like some/most of us do , However they were wrong.

I dont doubt that some of them thought it was right [ that is a fact i doubt anyone would dispute] however they were wrong to think that [ that is also a fact I doubt anyone would want to dispute
I dont doubt that some morals are not absolutes, at what age should you marry, for example
Moral relativism is indeed an interesting debate [ i am not guilty here or I would be arguing that we should respect their views etc] but I suspect you can guess my view and what I think of moral universalism.

Slavery is in the Bible so who knows when it was invented and no one would claim the Empire invented it.

if it wasn't for the [s]BE[/s] USSR then germany vod hav von ze war.

Why the obsession with slavery and why frame the debate in these terms? Its like saying, there is nothing good to come from reading Aristotle's Virtue Ethics because he defended (indeed supported) slavery. Perhaps its worth turning the binoculars the other way around to widen the perspective (just a wee bit)?

Why the obsession with slavery and why frame the debate in these terms?

well the original question was.........

was it a good or bad thing and why

so i guess the only way to judge if it was good or bad is to add things up and come to a decision.

for me its an absolute non starter because whatever else happened nothing could be so great that it would makewhat happened in the plantation colonies of the west indies a price worth paying.

fwiw i'm not even convinced that it would have been a plus sum game if slavery hadn't been a factor.

Can we not just overlook the holocaust when considering Hitler? its just so blinkered.

PS you do have a point and I am sure you get mine but TM is correct IMHO.
you can look at the positives if you wish but they wont outweigh the bad same as Hitler [ he did get some good growth in the economy] as for Mussolini with nationalised football Italy won the world cup twice - see even publicly owned is not always bad 😉

double post

Ok - that's your (TM and JY) concluding paragraphs then. Fair enough, this is a categorical factor shaping your opinion. OOI, do you reject all of Aristotle's philosophy on the same grounds?

I will see the answer in a while. Weather too nice not to be riding.

Can we not just overlook the holocaust when considering Hitler? its just so blinkered.

its a goodpoint - What have the Nazi's ever done for us?

The Autobahns
Hugo Boss
Banning Fox Hunting
Rail Timetables
Package Holidays
Hypothermia treatment
Space Flight
Nuclear Physics
Along with introducing us to the concept of cheap Polish labour

oh, and Godwin's law!

Anything else? 😉

no its not the same thing as he was saying things about knowledge and some of it was right and some of it was wrong
i accept the bits that were correct and reject the wrong bits

I am sure you dont believe in aether for example
TBH i dont know his works in any great detail so cannot really comment....we did not do him in comprehensive schools.

TM - no joy tomorrow unfortunately..

slightly ironically perhaps in light of my previous post, I'll be working my fingers to the bone preparing our new business premises in time for the grand opening next month..

although that will be in deepest darkest Bovey Tracey, with the local's blessing, and [i]not[/i] at the expense of the population of some far flung civilisation rich in dignity and culture and tradition..

Sooo.. ice cream tastes lovely, but it makes you fat. Is it good or bad overall?

It's a bit pointless trying to cancel out the bad with the good and arrive at a single score.

This is what I meant about black and white, Junkyard. And your pedantic nit picking isn't really fun, no! I'd like to have learned something on this thread but I really haven't.

Correct answer:

We have absolutely no idea what the outcome would have been had Britain not created the empire, therefore, it is impossible to judge.

One could only compared the actions of the British Empire with those of the Nazis if (for example) the Jews had already been exterminating themselves in concentration camps, and many other civilised countries also built and operated extermination camps.