What defines morals?

Increan

Sage
Registered Senior Member
In my opinion morals and ethics all depend on the person, do they not?

That's why no one can really say that something is moraly wrong, because their morals are different.

I don't even want to get started on common sense...
 
Increan ...

More likely than not, the individual's fear of ending up with their
ass in a sling.

If you don't have to deal with that, it's 'Yo ho! Off to screw the marks!'

An attitude which, in my humble opinion, is prevalent among the
wealthy, celebrities, politicians, lawyers, and anyone else who
figures 'I can get away with it' ... Like CEOs and CFOs etc. etc.

Take care ;)
 
Common mistake among theists in there (though, I don't think you're a theist - it's just a mistake you see many theists make). To say that morals are subjective makes morals nonexistent is complete and utter foolishness. Musical taste is subjective. It exists, right?
 
Originally posted by Tyler
Common mistake among theists in there (though, I don't think you're a theist - it's just a mistake you see many theists make). To say that morals are subjective makes morals nonexistent is complete and utter foolishness. Musical taste is subjective. It exists, right?

That was kinda the point I was trying to make:p
 
Moral should be related to your conscience. A lot of theists have no conscience. :D I see those kinds of people a lot at work. They have no conscience, and they are just afraid of going to hell.
 
Basic morality exists. You can ROAR! about subjective nature and definitions 'till the cows come home.

Morality is something which the masses decide upon.

i.e. The prerogative of my personal morailty is to commit wholesale murder.

'Sorry!' say we the majority. 'You have no basic moral code, thus you are an animal. You are going to jail.'

Morales exist in all of us, its up to all of us to decide the value of them.
 
Originally posted by Increan
In my opinion morals and ethics all depend on the person, do they not?
That's why no one can really say that something is morally wrong, because their morals are different.
Interesting ...

I guess you're implying that since morals are subjective, noone can say whats right and whats wrong, not in an absolute sense, anyway.
By saying so, you have sanctioned everyone rights ... to decide, for themselves, what they feel is right and wrong. And act accordingly. Sure enough, fundamental rights are a cornerstone of most democratic constitutions.

The problem arises only when there is a conflict.
If I want something my neighbour has, say. Or if 2 men want to mate with the same woman, say. Of course they can fight to death for every little thing, but over a period of time, the strategy which will survive will be a cooperative one. Simply because those organisms which tend to practise such cooperative strategies are likely to live longer, reproduce more and also rear offspring better.

- Sivakami.
 
Originally posted by spookz
do unto others as you.........

works fine for the most part dont you think?

yeah... so if someone steals, hits and hurts you.. you do the same to them right??

not the way I live.

THats sounds bitchy.. it really wasnt spose to be!
 
Originally posted by Agent@5
yeah... so if someone steals, hits and hurts you.. you do the same to them right??
not the way I live.
:) Yeah, wasn't it G.B Shaw who said
" Do not do unto others as you would they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same ." .

- Sivakami.
 
ssivikami

i am aware of the limitations
which is why i made a qualification ("works for the most part..")
why choose to ignore it?

agent 5

the quote is not "Do unto others as they do unto you"

Originally posted by Sublime Trigger
Basic morality exists. You can ROAR! about subjective nature and definitions 'till the cows come home.

Morality is something which the masses decide upon.

i.e. The prerogative of my personal morailty is to commit wholesale murder.

'Sorry!' say we the majority. 'You have no basic moral code, thus you are an animal. You are going to jail.'

Morales exist in all of us, its up to all of us to decide the value of them.

totally agree with sublime

morality is based on avoidance of pain by the human organism
just because masochists, sociopaths etc, exist in society, doesnt mean morality is strictly a subjective concept. a state of anarchy is lame and quite passe at this stage of evolution > space ,colonies, aliens:D
 
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Originally posted by Tyler
Common mistake among theists in there (though, I don't think you're a theist - it's just a mistake you see many theists make). To say that morals are subjective makes morals nonexistent is complete and utter foolishness. Musical taste is subjective. It exists, right?

would you say beauty is subjective is too? don't you think it could be based on certain objective standards such as symmetry....

http://www.beautyworlds.com/humanbeauty.htm

what % of humans do you think enjoy hearing a fingernail on a blackboard,
a piano out of tune, a high pitched drone, early sonic youth? :D


point here is that humans are predisposed towards certain things
objective statements can thus be made
 
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I believe morals and ethics are somethings that are instilled in us at a very young age. We know what we are taught. True, when we reach a certain age and maturity, we have the strength to determine what is right and wrong, but alot of our choices are made subconsiously. Due, to what was experienced at a very young age.

Example:

A person who comes from a family with alcoholics or drug addicts are more likely to use alcohol or drugs.

A person with an abusive father is more prone to that behavior (if it was a man) and more prone to seek that type of relationship (if it was a woman). And vise versa.

A person raised in a family that smokes are 50% more likely to smoke.

And the list goes on and on.

Take care:)
 
Originally posted by spookz
ssivikami
i am aware of the limitations
which is why i made a qualification ("works for the most part..")
why choose to ignore it?

First .. my name is Sivakami, not Sivikami.

Second ... those are not limitations ... those are the very reason we require a morality/system of ethics. The whole point is about conflict of interest.

- Sivakami.
 
Originally posted by spookz
point here is that humans are predisposed towards certain things objective statements can thus be made

True.
Thats why generalisations on ESS can be made nevertheless, based on human nature.
But again, it is to be remembered, that those morals have developed for the maximisation of gene propogation, which was, by default, the aim of natural selection.
If we choose a different objective for ourselves, our behaviour can and should change.

- Sivakami.
 
Maybe we can define morals. The reason we would bother is that we realise that we are best to assume that somewhere, something valuable is waiting to be known, since if we seek and we don’t find it little is lost, whereas if we seek and find it, much is gained. Therefore any other comments made on these forums would be decadence unless they addressed the way we can find important stuff. I address it where I refer to websites in my other posts. Do you think it is best to talk about it?
 
Originally posted by *stRgrL*
I believe morals and ethics are somethings that are instilled in us at a very young age. We know what we are taught. True, when we reach a certain age and maturity, we have the strength to determine what is right and wrong, but alot of our choices are made subconsiously. Due, to what was experienced at a very young age.

Example:

A person who comes from a family with alcoholics or drug addicts are more likely to use alcohol or drugs.

A person with an abusive father is more prone to that behavior (if it was a man) and more prone to seek that type of relationship (if it was a woman). And vise versa.

A person raised in a family that smokes are 50% more likely to smoke.

And the list goes on and on.

Take care:)

i guess, th question was general, so therefore a general answer is to be expected. But personally, I have been taught and socialised into a society who is organised around the idea that one day you will find a man, and live with him the rest of your life. I totally diagree with this, and i dont think my life will be like this. This will be a hard life to lead when a lot of men will feel the need to set up the marriage thing. Well, the guys i know anyway.
I still dont not what love truley is, and that is because i feel I havtn experienced enough of it. (heheh so give me lovin lol) I think, things can be presented to you, and you own logic will define how you live your life. But this are forever changing, so i dont think morals and ethics are set in concrete.
 
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