Are we born with intrinsic moral values, or are they subject to our upbringing?

Question

The reason for this question is the idea that many view same sex marrages as breeding pools for perverted values. Why can Jehovah's witnesses be allowed to raise there children there way with no intervention but same sex couples be so discriminated against, we should worry more of the well being of the childrens health not the social medium to which they are raised.(Jehovah's witnesses refuse medical intervention because they feel it goes against the will of God, ie no penicillin or antibiotics.)

Answer 1

Sadly, this interesting question is ruined by the questioner's factually incorrect assertions.

Jehovah's Witnesses do *NOT* refuse medical intervention.

Jehovah's Witnesses do *NOT* believe that the will of God disallows medical intervention.

Jehovah's Witnesses do *NOT* have any doctrinal conflict with penicillin or antibiotics.

In fact, Jehovah's Witnesses around the globe have a fine reputation in the medical community for working with healthcare professionals to develop, educate, and advocate patient-centric medical management. You may be interested in learning more about the work of Jehovah's Witness "Hospital Liaison Committees":
http://watchtower.org/library/g/1996/1/22/instrumental_in_advance.htm
http://watchtower.org/medical_care_and_blood.htm
http://watchtower.org/library/vcnb/article_01.htm

Answer 2

Its a bit of both I think. There are certainly universal human characteristics which form a large basis for our moral values (which is why every culture has incest taboos, prohibitions on adultery, etc.) While perhaps items like the prohibitions on adultery are the product of upbringing and only universal because they are necessary for society to function, others, like incest taboos, have been shown to be "intrinsic." I don't have a link, but I recall a study done on Israeli communities in which the children in such communities always mated and married those they had not grown up around, even though there was no penalty for doing so - suggesting a inherent aversion to incest.

But a lot of other issues are culturally relevant, the morality or immorality of homosexuality being a prime example. These values definitely are a matter or upbringing. I do agree that the focus needs to be on what is actually in the children's best interest, not on the popular attitudes of the time.

Answer 3

1) intrinsic value No. We earn/lose value by what we give/take from society. Which is why nobody is really mourning Jeffery Dahmer's death. However, everyone is born with the potential to be valuable to humanity....and most sane people would treat that potential as an "intrinsic value" that should be recognized and respected. This is why societies protect children....but never treat them as full humans...i.e. drafting them into the army, letting them vote, drive, etc. 2) rights No. Rights come from law. They are created by governments. If you are stranded on the proverbial desert island....you have no rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. This is also why every religious and secular society through history has made legals system based on the idea of "break a rule = lose a right." 3) moral obligations This one is tougher. Humans have evolved to have a certain moral compass. The non-mentally ill person has a sort of "instinct" that says "you can't just kill and take what you want." This is a survival mechanism, because humans cannot live independently and require a social network to live....anyone who violates the basic morals of that society, won't live long because they will be shunned, kicked out, or killed. Some people might consider those as moral obligations. @Dear Dogma - your lil quip about moral nihilists is ludicrously incorrect. Seems you've never met a moral nihilist....a moral nihilist rejects the notion of "rights" altogether - why would they believe they have a right to be nihilists?

Answer 4

Yeah, the sticky part of the upbringing equation is that a natural stigma exists about homosexuality-- mad heads believe it is morally, intrinsically wrong. But another negative aspect of homosexuality, one that I agree is harmful, is the effects on children growing up with same-sex homosexual parents can have on a child (harmful effects like the ridicule they'll suffer, how they'll deal with homosexuality at home vs. their own (possible) heterosexuality and the world's view of heterosexuality as normal, the nature of love regarding what they see as the norm vs. what mom and mom share). So you've got an interesting mix of nature stigma and nurture stigma.

I'm claiming we're brought up with basic moral values, but our upbringing has everything to do with how we interpret our actions according to these inherent values. Everyone knows the difference between right and wrong, even though heads rationalize $h!t to make wrong seem right and vice versa-- that's a defense mechanism. Upbringing can affect a person in such a way that they may cease to care about the difference.

Answer 5

There was such a question in the previous week and I answered it. Let me repeat the answer. Intrinsic is, in technical idiom, 'a priori' and upbringing is 'experiential'. All knowledge including knowledge concerning values is a logical conjunction of a priori and experiential. The 19th century critical philosopher, Immanuel Kant, conclusively showed that all knowledge begins with experience, but it does not all arise out of experience.

Answer 6

Moral values are learned and divined from experience. Most personality traits, in fact, are this way. Think twins, even those brought up together are different people, for their experiences are different, if only slightly. Their success and failures are different, their friends sometimes, accidents always.

Don't make the mistake of concluding, however, that morals are then taught. They are not neccarily learned verbatim; the individual interprets, extrapolates, etc.

Answer 7

We are born with intrinsic moral values. The moral law is written on the heart, grounded in human nature, and knowable to all apart from upbringing.

Answer 8

Well, I'd go with the "tabula rosa" side of this - that there are no innate moral values, but that these are acquired by environment, experience and upbringing.
Others would (obviously) disagree - ther Catholic Church, for example, teaches that we're born with "original sin" already blotting our "souls", and that thereby makes us predisposed to "badness."
"The Lord of the Flies", a novel by William Golding, illustrates this idea.

Answer 9

I thought you had an intelligent question.

by your bigoted trickery, you are a shining example of how we are not born with intrinsic moral values.

Answer 10

i think its both. things like do unto others as you would have them do unto you are intrinsic even though they are in religions, things like anti-homosexuality are from the society we live in