What obliges one to participate in an ethical system?
I've had quite a number of conversations about ethics on campus and there seems to be about three popular reasons why one should act morally. By far the most often heard is because one doesn't want to get into trouble, which is no ethical reason at all. Another I heard once or twice was when discussing why one wouldn't trust a person who didn't believe in God: a person who doesn't believe wouldn't have any reason to act morally That one is the most scary because it implies that that believer is only acting morally for fear of punishment by God, not because they want to act morally.
Only occasionally do people appeal to a humanist ethical system. I can't help but feel that there is a grain of truth to the theists supposition that it is hard for those not coerced by a god-figure to act morally. Maybe also some of the blame lies in alienating justice from morality, as if it could be a separate entity.
I want to figure out how to diffuse this disconnect in a way that everyone can see and understand. If morality is fundamentally constructed off the starting point of the necessity of satisfying basic human needs then morality is fundamental to the DNA of human sharing and reciprocity. Since we are fundamentally social creatures it is impossible to ignore morality as it is the fundamental understanding informing all our actions.
I've had quite a number of conversations about ethics on campus and there seems to be about three popular reasons why one should act morally. By far the most often heard is because one doesn't want to get into trouble, which is no ethical reason at all. Another I heard once or twice was when discussing why one wouldn't trust a person who didn't believe in God: a person who doesn't believe wouldn't have any reason to act morally That one is the most scary because it implies that that believer is only acting morally for fear of punishment by God, not because they want to act morally.
Only occasionally do people appeal to a humanist ethical system. I can't help but feel that there is a grain of truth to the theists supposition that it is hard for those not coerced by a god-figure to act morally. Maybe also some of the blame lies in alienating justice from morality, as if it could be a separate entity.
I want to figure out how to diffuse this disconnect in a way that everyone can see and understand. If morality is fundamentally constructed off the starting point of the necessity of satisfying basic human needs then morality is fundamental to the DNA of human sharing and reciprocity. Since we are fundamentally social creatures it is impossible to ignore morality as it is the fundamental understanding informing all our actions.
Hi, I responded to your post here:
ReplyDeletehttp://asfeaa2013s.blogspot.com/2013/05/enforced-morality-vs-natural-morality.html