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In reply to the discussion: Myth of free will? [View all]

jollyreaper2112

(1,941 posts)
5. moral relativism
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 09:55 PM
Apr 2013

There are a lot of topics where I can see both sides and end up troubled.

Most people like to flatter themselves that their views aren't just opinions and biases, they are right and proper and correct. A religious conservative would cite whatever holy book. Liberals tend to believe their ideas aren't just personal opinion, they're backed up by science. Why should black people not be treated differently from black people? Why is racism just a bunch of bunk? Because it's not just opinion, it's fact. Science confirms it. Many people who were raised with racist beliefs will cite personal experience for changing opinions, others will cite the science. But what if science said there really were differences? What if science supported the conservative POV? I call this sort of thing a liberal heresy because it would be a fact directly contravening gut instinct. I think most views start at the gut and we will cite the science if it supports us or say it doesn't matter if it doesn't.

Most liberal heresies don't strike me as likely such as support for racism, sexism, gay-bashing, etc. The scary ones for me are the ones that could be true such as human beings not being capable of living and thriving in a democracy, that we always devolve back to authoritarianism, that it is our natural state. As a die-hard hater of authority, this one scares me.

Anyway, where I was originally going to go here is about moral relativism. What's right and proper? Absent the whole god-given laws thing, we're left with what we're taught. If your whole culture tells you to keep women subjugated and such behavior is rewarded, how are you as a member of the society to know any better? If your society believes twins are caused by bad spirits and should be killed on birth, how do you get a new perspective?

I really don't like moral relativism because it becomes too easy to excuse horrible wrongs. If we embrace it, we can't say slavery is bad because it's the culture of the south and who are we to change their ways? Human sacrifice is practiced in this culture so who are we to tel them they're wrong? But if we try to impose our views upon them, we do need to realize we're making ourselves involved in their problems. We smash down the old order, do we not bear a responsibility in helping to shape a new order? And if the new order is just as bad, are we not as guilty as the original society?

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