tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974412756136889139.post5739602292949602498..comments2023-09-05T08:50:29.488-05:00Comments on Wandering Above the Sea of Fog: All Sects Are Different, Because They Come From Men; Morality is Everywhere the Same, Because It Comes from GodThe Wandererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01925841309848404325noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974412756136889139.post-34936071655967899282008-11-08T17:00:00.000-06:002008-11-08T17:00:00.000-06:00I like Brinticus' comment, though I would probably...I like Brinticus' comment, though I would probably take a different approach. When one takes a tribal mentality to choose which system of morals is superior one runs into problems. One being that tribal moral systems are highly relative, a good example of this being King Darius. And if it is all relative how does one establish which moral system is right, or better. I can see this is your concern, so might I suggest looking into the works of John Stuart Mill. Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its contribution to overall utility: that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all persons. What moral ideas is beneficial to greater society as a whole? Just a thought.<BR/><BR/>By the way, your pun in the title is from Voltaire.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974412756136889139.post-27378254619651965722008-11-05T19:21:00.000-06:002008-11-05T19:21:00.000-06:00You seem to be confusing two issues here. (1) Tha...You seem to be confusing two issues here. (1) That morality comes from outside ourselves, with (2) That morality comes from a transcendental source (i.e. from a "higher power") <BR/><BR/>Now there is certainly a route to talk about morality in ways that move beyond individual standards and preferences w/o invoking transcendentals. For example, someone could claim that they get their morality from their community or tribe's traditional values. These values themselves might be questioned in turn, but the individual indeed has an external objective standard, and one which is not of a "higher power."<BR/><BR/>Thus, I would argue, external standards cannot be so quickly equated to transcendental standards when it comes to morality, which is what you've done here.Brint Montgomeryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07203353814053868190noreply@blogger.com