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Daniel_Marsh
Guest
when is moriality culturally condictioned and when is it abosulte?
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ProudArmyWife
Guest
Excellent question - My thoughts…
A few years ago I went to school for my Master’s in Counseling. I often brought thisissue up to my, shall we say quite liberal professors, and never did get an answer. I tried to state that ever action has a moral implication - from ‘Should I slam the door in the person’s face behind me’ and road rage to stands on abortion. We all do actions for a reason - why? Morality. Not just conditioned, but absolute. Even the Romans had respect for life (why they didn’t just go kill their neighbor when they wanted meat from the farm).
A few years ago I went to school for my Master’s in Counseling. I often brought thisissue up to my, shall we say quite liberal professors, and never did get an answer. I tried to state that ever action has a moral implication - from ‘Should I slam the door in the person’s face behind me’ and road rage to stands on abortion. We all do actions for a reason - why? Morality. Not just conditioned, but absolute. Even the Romans had respect for life (why they didn’t just go kill their neighbor when they wanted meat from the farm).
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tjmiller
Guest
Without answering the qestion in a formulaic manner, here is simply one approach:
Absolute Morality: Thou Shalt Not Steal.
Cultural Conditioning: Exactly what constitutes stealing in a given culture.
In our personal-property-obsessed Western culture, to take anything for one’s own use which belongs to another, without express prior permission, might be stealing. In a hypothetical Native American clan in which all goods were held in common, it might not be.
Absolute Morality: Thou Shalt Not Steal.
Cultural Conditioning: Exactly what constitutes stealing in a given culture.
In our personal-property-obsessed Western culture, to take anything for one’s own use which belongs to another, without express prior permission, might be stealing. In a hypothetical Native American clan in which all goods were held in common, it might not be.
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Digger71
Guest
If a culture does not have a concept of property rights (no one owns it) then you cant steal.
The concept of theft is based on ownership, ownership is cultural concept, if you dont own it, it cannot be stolen.
absolute morality is not what people think it is.
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Black_Jaque
Guest
It isn’t a question of when is morality absolute and when is it conditioned. Morality is always absolute. The question is when are we correct about it and when do we miss the mark?
The concept of absolute morality may come from the Jewish tradition that links moral conduct to their belief in God. Peter Kreeft in, Catholic Christianity, points out that this is rather unique to Judeo-Chistian-Islamo traditions.
Morality and religion being linked is so ingrained in our culture that to think that other cultures might separate them may be difficult to imagine. But when I consider the behavior of the Greek and Roman Gods I can see where Kreeft is coming from.
The idea that we ought to behave in a certain manner is directly influence by who we worship was a radical notion of the Jews! Before that, ethical conduct was just based on practical reasoning.
The concept of absolute morality may come from the Jewish tradition that links moral conduct to their belief in God. Peter Kreeft in, Catholic Christianity, points out that this is rather unique to Judeo-Chistian-Islamo traditions.
Morality and religion being linked is so ingrained in our culture that to think that other cultures might separate them may be difficult to imagine. But when I consider the behavior of the Greek and Roman Gods I can see where Kreeft is coming from.
The idea that we ought to behave in a certain manner is directly influence by who we worship was a radical notion of the Jews! Before that, ethical conduct was just based on practical reasoning.
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