Is there any guide about Ethics in magic?

nicolasmagia

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2014
22
22
Colombia
Hi, I just finished reading Sleights of Mind (2012) and in the book they talked about how magic societies worried about exposing tricks and that to “protect” the public and avoiding them to learn magic secrets that easily, but I haven’t heard about any magic association trying to protect the people of fake mediums that are actually using magic to scam people (I know there are magicians that historically have done this like Randi). But that made me wonder, is there any book or guide or whatever that talks about this? And I mean, there’s a lot of philosophical material to do it so it’s hard for me to think that nobody has done that.
 

nicolasmagia

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2014
22
22
Colombia

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
4,076
New Jersey
I think ethics should be common sense. Don't take what isn't yours (e.g. don't pirate stuff, teach other people's effects on YouTube or encourage that by watching exposure videos, don't steal people's presentations without permission, etc.); Treat other people with kindness and respect (don't scam people using claims of fake powers, treat spectators with respect by not embarrassing them or using them as fodder for you jokes). Respect the art (don't expose magic for the sake of clicks or likes... you may be ruining some other magician's performance and don't present magic as a "you can't figure out how I did this" challenge... you may be creating a heckler for another magician). Use magic for good (perform for charities, at hospitals or for someone feeling down). Simply put, be a good person... who does magic.
 

nicolasmagia

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2014
22
22
Colombia
I think ethics should be common sense. Don't take what isn't yours (e.g. don't pirate stuff, teach other people's effects on YouTube or encourage that by watching exposure videos, don't steal people's presentations without permission, etc.); Treat other people with kindness and respect (don't scam people using claims of fake powers, treat spectators with respect by not embarrassing them or using them as fodder for you jokes). Respect the art (don't expose magic for the sake of clicks or likes... you may be ruining some other magician's performance and don't present magic as a "you can't figure out how I did this" challenge... you may be creating a heckler for another magician). Use magic for good (perform for charities, at hospitals or for someone feeling down). Simply put, be a good person... who does magic.

I understand what you’re saying, but at the same time I think that the lack of a clear definition of the rules of magic can lead to misunderstandings since it’s very open to interpretation and totally dependent on subjectivity (especially considering that the basic notions of ethics that people have is thanks to the Bible. I think it's time to define more properly the field of magic (most of all with all the development of social media and the new kind of content that has been created specifically for it).
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,944
There is a group that is meant to protect people from fake mediums and such. It's called the police, because that's fraud. In my state of Pennsylvania, there's still active laws on the books saying that the practice of casting spells or reading fortunes for profit is illegal (I think it's a misdemeanor). It was last enforced in 2010 I believe.

On top of that you're going to have a heck of a time separating the frauds from the believers. Which is something I see a lot of the "Skeptic" crowd forgetting - there are people who truly believe in mediumship, and they derive a lot of comfort and joy from that belief. Even if we, as magicians, think those people are using fraudulent techniques, and could replicate their feats easily, all we'd be doing is attacking someone's belief system.

The biggest problem with the idea of a set of standardized rules is that there's absolutely no way to enforce it. Anyone, anywhere, can find resources to learn magic and use those skills for whatever purpose they want. There's no way to gatekeep people from learning before they have agreed to any form of rules, and there's no way to enforce those rules if someone decides to break them.

The best thing any of us can do is be an example of 'proper' behavior.
 

ID4

Aug 20, 2010
482
228
James Randi also followed Harry Houdini in this way thinking. There is an old book by Harry Houdini discussing your question. The title is “The right way to do wrong”. It may be available electronically through a local library.
 

nicolasmagia

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2014
22
22
Colombia
There is a group that is meant to protect people from fake mediums and such. It's called the police, because that's fraud. In my state of Pennsylvania, there's still active laws on the books saying that the practice of casting spells or reading fortunes for profit is illegal (I think it's a misdemeanor). It was last enforced in 2010 I believe.

On top of that you're going to have a heck of a time separating the frauds from the believers. Which is something I see a lot of the "Skeptic" crowd forgetting - there are people who truly believe in mediumship, and they derive a lot of comfort and joy from that belief. Even if we, as magicians, think those people are using fraudulent techniques, and could replicate their feats easily, all we'd be doing is attacking someone's belief system.

The biggest problem with the idea of a set of standardized rules is that there's absolutely no way to enforce it. Anyone, anywhere, can find resources to learn magic and use those skills for whatever purpose they want. There's no way to gatekeep people from learning before they have agreed to any form of rules, and there's no way to enforce those rules if someone decides to break them.

The best thing any of us can do is be an example of 'proper' behavior.

Mmmm, I think that's like considering that a legal system doesn't work or doesn't make sense because if someone commits a crime that goes unnoticed, they won't be punished. I believe that the importance of a consolidated system of ethical norms would serve for magic circles (for example, in the case of my country) to make more informed decisions. It doesn't necessarily have to be about persecuting those who are just starting out, but at least to guide them in the process. It's true that anyone can learn magic and not necessarily have a mentor nearby, but the same applies to many disciplines where knowledge can be acquired through digital means, such as boxing, yet they all have standardized moral rules in common. However, in magic, the only things that are said are: don't reveal tricks to people (said by someone who is revealing them on the internet), don't pirate material, don't perform a trick without practicing, and not much more. There are many conceptual gaps and undefined rules (for example: in what contexts is it valid to teach magic? If the answer is "to someone who truly cares," how can I define that?).
 

nicolasmagia

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2014
22
22
Colombia
James Randi also followed Harry Houdini in this way thinking. There is an old book by Harry Houdini discussing your question. The title is “The right way to do wrong”. It may be available electronically through a local library.

Thanks, I´ll look for it.
PS: hahaha the video was cool tho.
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,944
Mmmm, I think that's like considering that a legal system doesn't work or doesn't make sense because if someone commits a crime that goes unnoticed, they won't be punished. I believe that the importance of a consolidated system of ethical norms would serve for magic circles (for example, in the case of my country) to make more informed decisions. It doesn't necessarily have to be about persecuting those who are just starting out, but at least to guide them in the process. It's true that anyone can learn magic and not necessarily have a mentor nearby, but the same applies to many disciplines where knowledge can be acquired through digital means, such as boxing, yet they all have standardized moral rules in common. However, in magic, the only things that are said are: don't reveal tricks to people (said by someone who is revealing them on the internet), don't pirate material, don't perform a trick without practicing, and not much more. There are many conceptual gaps and undefined rules (for example: in what contexts is it valid to teach magic? If the answer is "to someone who truly cares," how can I define that?).


Ok - who decides those rules and why do they have the authority to make those decisions?
 
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