The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

**Pindar** · 09-16-2003, 07:22

1) Good and Evil are empty concepts. Moral judgements are more a reflection of the preferences of the subject than relating to any assumed heaven or overarching ethic.

2)Morality is a social construct. It is relative and reflects the values of a particular time, place and people. One is bound to the moral only insofar as one is bound to the community to which one is a part.

3) Morality is the product of revealed religion. Through chosen prophets the Divine put forth the law. The law, contained within the cannon, is moral because it reflects the Divine will.

4) Morality is a utility best described by perpetuation of the species. The end justifies the means.

**Archlight** · 09-16-2003, 07:45

Tough question, and I'm not sure if #2, which was my vote, is really the best answer but I thought so at that instant. I think maybe more a combination of number 1 and number 2.

Boy, I sound like I'm discussing taking my little nephew to the bathroom.. lol.

On the Good vs. Evil front, the ideas are completely relative to the people or things in question. One man's evil is another's prize.

Morality is most certainly also tied in with societal views. Take ancient Greece or Rome for example, where it was perfectly acceptable to have quality time with young men, instead of your wife She was just for procreation..

That stuff just doesn't fly these days Religion, being an intergal part of society, plays a large part in this, as does the media. Our media in the US is absolutely puritanical compared to some other countries, and very risque compared to others.

OK, it's late, and I'm blabbing now. This is my first post here, so I hope it's not too confusing, or offending, or whatever.

Cheers

**Pindar** · 09-16-2003, 07:48

This was posted prematurely. Mods. please erase it.

**A.Saturnus** · 09-16-2003, 13:06

Welcome to the Org Archlight .
With posts like these you may gain access to the Tavern very quickly.
Moral is of course a social construct. As many philosophers have pointed out, there`s no way to base moral on something natural. Even religious concepts of moral fall if you think them through. But the fact that moral is a construct, does not mean we can`t see it as something 'universal'. We still can - yes, it`s even natural to do so - judge everything from 'our' moral point of view.
BTW, the (non-existent) fourth option in the poll, bases on the out-dated thought that perpetuation of the species is of any evolutionary meaning. It`s the genes that are the elements of selection, not the species.