Presents the author’s view of the best current positions on certain core philosophical and psychological problems. These positions together suggest a skeptical or nihilist perspective modified by evolutionary psychology and contemporary philosophy that embraces our desire to live as best we can and the relative and psychological reality of values, free will and other phenomena while recognizing limitations on their foundations and our understanding. Readers may want to start with the first entry. - Marc Krellenstein (personal info here)
We may judge another’s behavior morally wrong to indicate its inconsistency with our deepest feelings and principles about how people should treat each other, principles (if principles are articulated rather than only feelings/behavior expressed) such as respect for an individual’s rights, maximizing the greatest good, acceptance of a social contract, a particular sense of justice, the word of God or whatever we believe comprises and justifies that belief (some will also count as within the purview of morality behaviors aimed only or primarily at ourselves, such as suicide or drug use). Moral obligations are also experienced as commands (if not always absolute commands) that apply equally to everyone. But any underlying emotion or principle we assert to another as primary is arbitrary in the absence of agreement over its overriding value. We may claim that certain values are built in through evolution, are consistent with our survival as individuals or a species or tend to maximize pleasure or happiness of the individual or group. But none of those justify particular values without agreement on the underlying value of what is innate or productive of survival or pleasure, and agreement on values does not by itself imply obligations (vs. desirability) regarding them.
This does not prevent us from reasoning with those with whom we share at least some values (or perceived obligations) to show that a behavior (or what results from it) is in fact consistent or inconsistent with those shared values, and such arguments occupy much of what counts as moral debate. Some disagreements can also be seen as disagreements over the purported facts of the matter — whether animals are conscious, whether one group of people represents an inherent danger to others — or over predictions of what will result from a particular behavior, e.g., will allowing euthanasia start us down a slippery slope to allowing other forms of taking a life. However, it is when the facts or likely outcomes are not in dispute and discussion breaks down — over abortion, competing religious and political dogma, certain animal rights — that we are faced with a conflict between competing fundamental values (or with the denial of moral values altogether) that debate alone cannot resolve.
(Singer, 1993, recommends we accept at least some moral point of view because it can give meaning to our lives, something beyond ourselves. The quest for meaning seems clear, but it seems questionable whether we can set out to give meaning to our life by embracing morality if it does not already fill that role.) .
(Revised October 5, 2006)