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- Title
MORALITY: WHAT IN THE WORLD IS IT?
- Authors
Hocutt, Max
- Abstract
Half a century ago, Elizabeth Anscombe reminded us that we of the West think of morality as a kind of law--viz., a moral law. As originally conceived, this law consisted of heavenly commands delivered to a favored clan and known only by the privileged few who could read sacred scripture. However, the history of philosophy has been largely a tale of attempts to show that a law-like morality is binding on all men everywhere and known, like the truths of arithmetic and logic, by an exercise of a priori reason. Yet, morality as everywhere practiced is neither divine commands nor universal principles of thought. Instead, it is variable customs worked out by the members of diverse groups to help them get along with each other while they serve their biologically based needs. These customs are taught using rewards and punishment, they are revealed by observing behavior, and they are evaluated by measuring how they contribute to group welfare and individual flourishing. It follows that if we want to understand our morality, and perhaps improve it, we must put behavioral science before theological speculation and economic analysis before utopian dreaming. In short, we must return to Earth.
- Subjects
ANSCOMBE, G. E. M. (Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret), 1919-2001; LAW &; ethics; DIVINE commands (Ethics); A priori
- Publication
Behavior & Philosophy, 2010, Vol 38, p31
- ISSN
1053-8348
- Publication type
Article