Are users of problematic content morally responsible for its effects?

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8 Comments

To elaborate; if a certain kind of art or product has potential harmful effects, are the consumers of this product who do not directly contribute to those effects morally responsible for those effects due to their support of that art or product, or are they morally separate from it because all they have done is consume a thing and the actions of others are not their responsibility? Some examples:

1) responsible gun users vs. people who commit crimes with guns
2) people who consume a certain kind of pornography or other fiction with potentially harmful messaging as entertainment and do not allow it to foster harmful attitudes in them vs. that same content influencing other people into assuming harmful attitudes that they may or may not put into practice
3) aforementioned "responsible porn users" vs. people who use that kind of pornography to sexually manipulate others

Voting Results
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Based on 5 votes (3 yes)
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Comments ( 8 )
  • MonteMetcalfe
    3 years ago

    Using this line of thought:
    -If you use indoor plumbing, you are responsible for everyone bludgeoned to death with a pipe.
    -If you use aspirin, you are responsible for someone who misuses it and fucks up their stomach.
    -If you buy sharp objects, you're responsible for everyone who slashes their wrists.

    Pretty much everything can be misused in some way including rocks & sticks but people are always looking to blame someone else.

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    • LloydAsher
      3 years ago

      A hammer while primarily used with nails isnt exclusive to nails. Just the hammering motion. Knifes cut. That is just the fundamental uses of tools. Using a tool as a weapon is a concept as old as tools themselves.

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  • JellyBeanBandit
    3 years ago

    Interesting question. I don't think so though. Lots of perfectly healthy things can be harmful to some people. If this were the case then we'd all have to stop drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, eating fatty/sugary foods, watching porn, playing video games, etc. just because they can be addicting to some people and ruin their lives. Of course we shouldn't support things that directly cause harm, like companies that pollute and exploit its workers. But otherwise we're only responsible for our own actions. (Maybe it isn't entirely black-and-white though, and there would be some examples of content that I'd agree that we shouldn't consume, but in general I'd say that we're not morally responsible).

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  • ibuythedrugs
    3 years ago

    If you're only talking about the mental effects, then no. but users are morally responsible for supporting the industry, which (depending the source) has done much worse than simply getting people addicted.

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  • radar
    3 years ago

    2b. Should I use TP to wipe my ass, or nails?
    a) TP
    b) Nails
    c) Both
    d) None of the above

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  • donteatstuffoffthesidewalk
    3 years ago

    i always found it to be a stretch to blame the abhorrent factory farmin horrors you see on me for eatin meat like a normal person

    blame the greedy fucks who run em and refuse to provide humane conditions

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  • 1WeirdGuy
    3 years ago

    I think yes but I dont think we should make laws making them not able to do it. I dont like the videos where guys will climb ontop of a building and do a handstand on the edge. Or climb a crane and walk near the edye. I think dumb kids see that and think its cool and decide to try to do dumb stuff.

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    • LloydAsher
      3 years ago

      And allow the dumb kids to fall from radio towers is just natural selection. Teens do dumb stuff but climbing on high buildings and structures is still seen as something retardedly dangerous.

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