Rock My Worldview

Morality – Components

(Entries in GREEN are complete)

Table of Contents

• 01 – Introduction / Intent
• 02 – Moral Truth – What is Morality?
• 03 – Grounded in Human Nature – Part 1 – Why Do We Care?
• 04 – Grounded in Human Nature – Part 2 – Why Should We Care?
• 05 – Grounded in Human Nature – Part 3 – But Some People Don’t Care.
• 06 – Moral Truth – Whose to Say? – Part 1 – Objective or Subjective?
• 07 – Moral Truth – Whose to Say? – Part 2 – Not Opinion or Preference
• 08 – Moral Truth – Whose to Say? – Part 3 – “Right” and “Wrong”
• 09 – Moral Truth – Moral Dilemmas – Part 1 – Always a “Right” Answer?
• 10 – Why Be Good – Part 1 – Why be Good Consistently? (Why Character Counts)
• 11 – Why Be Good – Part 2 – Why Support Laws / Why are Rules Helpful?
• 12 – Why Be Good – Part 3 – If outcomes are primary, does Intent still matter?
• 13 – Moral Truth – Why Normative Ethical Theories Get it Wrong
• 14 – Self-Interest is Central – Part 1 – How do we bridge the Is-Ought Gap? (Goal theory morality)
• 15 – Self-Interest is Central – Part 2 – Why should people care what’s in their own interests? (Psychological Egoism)
• 16 – Self-Interest is Central – Part 3 – Why should people prefer abiding happiness over momentary pleasure?
• 17 – Moral Dilemmas – Part 2 – What about when people have to be immoral to survive?
• 18 – Why Be Good – Part 4 – What about Self-Sacrifice?  How is that in our interest?
• 19 – Grounded in Human Nature – Part 4 – Don’t sociopaths disprove this understanding of morality?
• 20 – Theistic Morality – Isn’t theistic morality better for society?
• 21 – Theistic Morality – Do secular individuals have any grounds to stand on from which to condemn religious immorality?
• 22 – Theistic Morality – Is the popularity of theism the reason that Ethical Literacy – such as exploring these topics here – isn’t a higher priority in our education system?

“Stop it! You’re hurting him!”

“Did you see how that man was treating his wife?? That was horrible!”

“But if there’s no God, why should I care what happens to others?”

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What is morality that we should care about it?

Why do we have moral concerns in the first place?

And why?

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In part 1, I said that I would explain how a secular mode of moral thinking could be shown to be grounded in human nature itself.

I defined moral thoughts as value judgments about human behavior – as “good” or “bad” ; “right” or “wrong”* – and secular moral thoughts specifically as such value judgments based primarily on how that behavior effects people.

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But why do so many of us care about how human behavior effects people in the first place?

And perhaps even more importantly – in light of the fact that some don’t – why should we?

And how is any of this grounded in our nature as human beings?

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The key aspects of human nature that come into play here are:

• Self-Interest
• Our being social creatures / our ability to empathize with others

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Why should we care how human behavior effects people?

First, we are one of those people (self-interest.**)

Second, those we care about – our family and friends – are also amongst those effected by human behavior (we’re social creatures / empathy.)

And finally, if we have a sense of solidarity or empathy with people in general, we will find that we are bothered by seeing people, even those we don’t know, being treated poorly (we’re social creatures / empathy.)

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But not everyone has people they care about in their life or even if they do necessarily cares about people beyond their in group – one might observe.

So how can it be said that people having moral concerns is natural for us?

And on what basis can you say that people should care about how human behavior effects people in general?

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And here’s where I need to make an important distinction or two.

When I say that moral concerns are grounded in our nature as human beings, I’m not saying that doing all these things is automatic for us – or in that sense “natural” for us.

What I’m saying is that having these moral concerns – to the degree people do – involves basic aspects of our nature as human beings.

And when I say that people should care about how human behavior effects people – what I’m saying is that it is in our NATURAL INTERESTS as human beings to both have and act upon concerns for the well-being of others.**

(For reasons I’ll begin to explain immediately.)

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*(In part ???, I will explain how what we commonly mean by the words “right” and “wrong” is consistent with this understanding and secular mode of moral thought.)

**In part ???, I will respond to the common question – “Why should people care about what’s in their natural interest?” Preview: It involves a defense of a non-traditional form of Psychological Egoism.

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t3 r d

“That’s not fair!”

“You did the right thing.”

“Look what you caused? What do you have to say for yourself?!”

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What is morality?

And why do so many of us care about it?

And for those that don’t care, why should they care?

(Or should everyone indeed care at all?)

And do we have good reasons to affirm the value of morality in our lives irregardless of whether or not we hold specific beliefs about a God?

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As I’m sure you know, defining terms clearly is a critical step toward the intelligent exploration of any subject.

Especially with a subject like morality – where definitions of what the subject itself is primarily about can varie substantially.

So to be clear, the basic definition of the word “morality” I’ll be using in this series is as follows:

Morality is – a category of human thought – within which value judgments about different human behavior are made – as “good” or “bad”; “right” or “wrong” – often in relation to how that behavior effects people and / or in light of religious ideas about what proper human behavior looks like; these value judgments are themselves prescriptive of how people “should” act – whether in general or given certain circumstances.

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Here I will explore how this category of human thought and its operating as it commonly does – with value judgments about human behavior revolving primarily around how that behavior effects people* (rather than around religious ideas) – or a decidedly secular mode – can all be understood to be grounded in human nature itself.

I will specifically argue therein that moral value judgments that we make in this mode, while not presumed to transcend human perception, no less have value for us and that this being the case in no way depends on a theistic worldview – as many have asserted.

I will also argue that such a secular approach to morality is superior for human society than a religious / theistic approach.

(An approach that can also be said to be rooted in human nature but – as I intend to demonstrate – results in a more chaotic approach; one not worthy of the word “grounded.”)

In the next entry, I will explain what I mean when I talk about morality being grounded in human nature.

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*(As will be made clear in part 5, I am not here arguing for consequentialism or any other normative theory of ethics. Though I will seek to show how what each major normative theory highlights that is of recognizable value to us (ex. rules, character, outcomes) – is explained thoroughly with how our moral concerns themselves are grounded in our nature as human beings and then what must logically follow from this.)