Philip Schofield: the lies finally revealed

@fmf said
Taboo is taboo.

Taboo seems quite a wishy-washy and out dated term.

@fmf said
The reason why %15 of relationships begin in the workplace

Relationships in the workplace where there is no power dynamic don't seem to me to be an ethical problem.

More relationships than not, at work, will have some disparity in position/power.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Taboo seems quite a wishy-washy and out dated term.

I don't agree. I think it is a word that is an important reflection of ethically sound and unsound behaviour.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
More relationship than not, at work, will have some disparity in position/power.

Then the person in power should [1] reject the relationship, or [2] move him or herself to a different office if necessary where the power relationship no longer exists, or [3] resign and then have a relationship. And the HR dept should make this clear and enforce it.

@fmf said
What was this nonsense post in aid of?

You conceded that a subordinate in a work relationship could be the predatory one, making your claim that Philip was automatically the predator nonsensical. - We simply don't know the dynamics of that particular relationship.

@fmf said
I don't agree. I think it is a word that is an important reflection of ethically sound and unsound behaviour.

Many things, acceptable today, were once considered taboo.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
You conceded that a subordinate in a work relationship could be the predatory one, making your claim that Philip was automatically the predator nonsensical.

A person with power or position entering into a sexual relationship in the workplace with a subordinate has elements of predatory behaviour if they ignore the taboo, regardless of whether the subordinate is predatory.

@fmf said
Then the person in power should [1] reject the relationship, or [2] move him or herself to a different office if necessary where the power relationship no longer exists, or [3] resign and then have a relationship. And the HR dept should make this clear and enforce it.

That works well on a leaflet. Not so much in reality.

@fmf said
A person with power or position entering into a sexual relationship in the workplace with a subordinate has elements of predatory behaviour if they ignore the taboo, regardless of whether the subordinate is predatory.

That sounds like something you are just making up as you go along.

"elements of predatory behaviour if they ignore the taboo..." What nonsense is this?

@ghost-of-a-duke said
That sounds like something you are just making up as you go along.

Not at all. It's a stance that I've had since the beginning of adulthood.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
"elements of predatory behaviour if they ignore the taboo..." What nonsense is this?

It's not nonsense. The person in a position of power should reject the advances otherwise they will enter into a relationship where that power dynamic has an element of predatory behaviour and is taboo.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
That works well on a leaflet. Not so much in reality.

This is an evasive quip.

What I said was:

Then the person in power should [1] reject the relationship, or [2] move him or herself to a different office if necessary where the power relationship no longer exists, or [3] resign and then have a relationship. And the HR dept should make this clear and enforce it.

It is a wholly ethical approach to reality.

@fmf said
It is a wholly ethical approach to reality.

And if we were emotionless robots, totally practical.

Again, %15 of relationships begin in the workplace. (Many, I'd imagine, occurring over time, without a predatory element).

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Many things, acceptable today, were once considered taboo.

Then we can just agree to disagree about what is acceptable.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
And if we were emotionless robots, totally practical.

Presumably you mean impractical. I disagree. Dismissing ethical standards as impractical is a cop-out in my book.