- Anything Else -

That

Posted by: Copenhagen on May 13, 1999 at 18:13:55:

In Reply to: How many... posted by Red Deathy on May 11, 1999 at 18:56:21:

: Further, there is no morality but the morality we make, we can choose our own morals, why should we be bound by the morality of 1830?

That's quite a statement deathy. I am not so sure one could say that we 'create' or 'choose' our morals on an individuakl basis. For one this would be a slide into relativism, for another it just does not seem to fit the reality of the situation.

If i can choose which morals i think best, then it becomes a matter of individual opinion. There could be no moral criticism as one set of morals could never be said to be better than the other as they both have the same ultimate foundation, a subjective choice of values.

Furthermore i do not think it is true that we in any sense do choose our morals. I do not think Mr Gort chose to be a bigot. Rather i would say it was more or less thrust upon him by forces beyond his control (ie his social integration amongst a certain group of bigots).

At any rate all this is not to say we cannot subject morality to criticism (and if this is all you meant deathy then apologies to you).
I think it was Ronnie Dworkin who said that to justify morality one needs to subjec it to rational criticism (ie the critical morality as opposed to the positive morality) and that any morality that is based upon a gut instinct of repulsion or that was justified only because it was said by another (ie parroting) could not in any sense be a true justification of morality.


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  • Indeed. Red Deathy Socialist Party Uk May 14 1999 (0)

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