Morality

About

Morality can refer to:

the general discussion of moral systems
the question of whether an action is considered acceptable within a given moral system (the morality of an act).

Related Ideas

moral system: a set of rules or heuristics describing socially-acceptable behavior, for long-term maximization of social benefit
moral systems: a list of moral systems and codes
moral absolutism vs. the alternatives

Related Concepts

Moral syncretism [W] attempts to reconcile disparate or contradictory moral beliefs, often while melding the ethical practices and of various schools of thought. The cornerstone of moral syncretism is that religion cannot be morality's only arbiter.

Value Dichotomies

Most moral systems weigh in somewhere between the two extremes for each of these, but the differences in opinion between one system and another are significant. The following principles may or may not be truly basic, but they at least are closer to being principles than they are opinions about specific issues.

Human nature is essentially: good or evil (not quite the same as Hobbes vs. Rousseau; see below)
Human nature comes from: genetics and other factors fixed at birth ("nature") vs. training and learning after birth ("nurture")
Property rights: personal property is sacrosanct (propertarianism) vs. all property should be held in common
Power: absolutism (Hobbes: "abuses of power by [legitimate] authority are to be accepted as the price of peace") vs. separation of powers and social contracts (Rousseau). This may be a restatement of Brin's question "To what degree should the state or party have to power to coerce cooperation?", or it may be subtly different.

Other Possibilities

I'm throwing these in for further discussion because it's not clear to me whether they are basic or merely corrolaries/combinations of other dichotomies:

Moral externalism (important truths are discovered by observing reality) vs. moral internalism (important truths are discovered by meditation, reflection, prayer) vs. moral dogmatism (important truths come only from the wisdom of the past)
moral absolutism vs. the alternatives

Links

Reference

Wiktionary
Wikipedia
RationalWiki
Conservapedia : "Morality is a concern with what is right and what is wrong in one's personal conduct; it is usually contrasted with ethics."
~~dKosopedia~~ no equivalent article (as of 2008-04-02)
~~SourceWatch~~ no equivalent article (as of 2008-04-02)

Projects

YourMorals.Org: a project by Jonathan Haidt and others to study morality through online surveys

Filed Links

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