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| photo courtesy of Daniel Sanculi |
What is morality?
Morality
comes from the Latin word moralitas,
meaning "proper behavior".
It can be defined as the distinction between what is good/right from what is evil/wrong.
What are the
properties of morality?
Morality
is distinctly human
While
some display behavior that might seem like moral sentiments, animals primarily act
on instinct. For example, a lion will mate with as many partners and as often
as possible because it simply has no choice on the matter and only acts on its
instinct to propagate. Humans, on the other hand, know that at the very least,
there has to be limits on sexual behavior. This is the reason why we put sexual
offenders in prison.
Morality
is universal
Consider
the following facts:
- Every known culture has a system of morality; every known culture has their own version of the Golden Rule/Law (“One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.”).
- Everyone prefers virtue, though more often practice vice; e.g., even a cheat don’t want to be cheated on.
- Everyone endowed with reason knows that one ought to be good and not be evil; anyone who believes otherwise belongs either in a mental hospital or in jail.
Morality
is absolute
The following are examples of moral relativist/subjectivist
self-refuting ideas:
- The relativist/subjectivist says “there is no absolute”; yet this itself is an absolute statement.
- The relativist/subjectivist says “there is no truth”; yet this itself is a statement claiming to be true.
- The relativist/subjectivist says “you should not impose your morality on me”; yet this itself is a statement of moral imposition.
The fact is we all
have absolute moral standards that we use to judge the behavior of others. And
while there are differences in the particulars, there is agreement on the fundamentals.
For instance, while we may argue on the morality/immorality of capital
punishment, we all agree on the value of protecting innocent life.
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