Do our morals depend on our society?

Question

If so, can a society ever be immoral?

Answer 1

I think it depends on our family values which can be extremely tricky because families are part of society and often influenced by it.
However a society may also seem immoral to another where traditional and cultural gaps are so great.For example many eastern cultures see western way of living as "immoral" which entitles them to their opinion, true or not.But can a society be immoral as whole?I think not.At least it wouldn't be fair.

Answer 2

Sure, to some extent. They are dependent on a society in the same way that the construct of a society is dependent on biology. We are hard-wired to be moral creatures; our primate ancestors were successful as a variety of species due to the need for some rules that must be followed in a society. Granted, these morals were not nearly as sophisticated as the many systems we've created since then. Our sophistication grows hand in hand with our "tribe" size. For instance, smaller groups of humans tend to need fewer moral rules than a larger one.

As to the second part of your question, that's a bit trickier. There are certainly elements of a society that can be considered immoral. We are on the cusp of having a "tribal" size that must take the entire population of humanity into account. As such, we have the need for a very sophisticated moral system that is both objective and subjective. One might ask what the source for such a system would be; traditionally it has been considered to be religion. However, if the religious texts are not inspired (as I suspect them to be), then these moral systems came from the same place this new one will come from - us. We can and should declare certain things immoral on a global scale, such as the subjagation of one people to another, and the unneccessary suffering of the innocent (a redundant phrase, I realize). The list goes on and on. And some of these questions will be a lot more difficult to answer than others, but, in the end, they will be dependent on the type of society we create.

Answer 3

Society is governed by morals. But no society seems to ever be perfect. While it may be true that a society can never be completely without immoral behavior, it is also true that many will live their lives according to their understanding of their morals, and they will govern their behavior according to those morals. Some people actually do try to live good lives, while others go out of their way to live lives of corruption.

Answer 4

Yes, a society can be immoral. Many have been. Many are today.

Morals do not ultimately depend on society. Rather society, or more precisely civilization, depends on morals. Those morals come from different places for different people, but arguably there are a few moral issues which are essentially universal: prohibitions against murder, rape, and other forms of force and violence, for example. Not that we don't find exceptions to moral rules, as the prohibition against stealing when you have a starving child to feed, as in "Les Miserables." (Sorry, French-literate people. I'm not at all sure I spelled that right.)

Answer 5

Morals depend on culture yes.What is fine in one society can be a capital offence in another.

The only way a society can be immoral would be if nothing was considered bad I suppose.

Answer 6

Yes, they depend on society. And no society can be truly immoral.

Answer 7

Most of society is immoral. If we choose to follow society, we too will be immoral. But, if we choose to follow Biblical standards, we will set high morals for ourselves. Of course, it's easy to do what's wrong. But, it takes a lot of integrity to maintain good morals.

Answer 8

can a society as a whole be immoral? no.

morality refers to the concept of human ethics which pertains to matters of right and wrong — also referred to as "good and evil" — used within three contexts: individual conscience; systems of principles and judgments — sometimes called moral values —shared within a cultural, religious, secular or philosophical community.

so individual communities make up their own morals.

Answer 9

No- my morals are based on Jesus Christ. I don't know what country you are from but the US is becoming more immoral everyday. As there are fewer righteous people the immorality will increase due to liberalism and more people discrediting and believing the Bible is not God's Word to us. Drugs, divorce, sex outside of marriage, school shooting, and such will continue to increase as time goes by.

Answer 10

morals depend on who you grow up around and where you grow up. the society influences your morals. but also your main influence on your morals come from your family and your family values and all that your parents taught you.