Do you believe that morality is absolute or that it's relative and cultural?

Question

do you think there REALLY is a right and wrong regardless of culture, or do you think it should be defined by each person as he/she sees fit?

If you choose the latter, would you think that it would be a safe place?

Answer 1

Morality is relative for the most part. Very few things are moral absolutes, that is, things every one thinks are right or wrong. (murder, rape, etc.) Morality is defined by instinct in the broad perspective, and by culture in the sense of moral details. A perfect example of this is the burqa. The burqa is the garment Muslim women in some parts of the Middle East wear which covers their entire face and body leaving only small slits for the eyes. The original reason for the burqa was protection from lustful men. Over time, this garment and the attitudes that go along with it became the norm in Arab cultures, thus making it right. Now, try telling an American woman that she needs to cover her entire body otherwise the first man who sees her will fly into a fit of lustful rage and rape her. Go on, see what happens.

Morality, as stated before, is relative, but is societally determined, not determined by the individual. Society and instinct are responsible for the broad ideas of morality; killing is bad. The individual is responsible for filling in the details; killing is permissible in self defense.

As anyone with two eyes and half a brain can see, the world is not a safe place. There are problems with violence all over the place. These problems, with very few exceptions, are caused by societal attitudes. For example, the reason the US has so many problems with drunk driving and alcoholism is because alcohol is 1) a "forbidden fruit" with the ridiculously high drinking age, and 2) glorified in advertisements that basically say "it's not a party without beer."

In a word, societal norms have to change in order for individual ideas about morality to change. Many times society is actually responsible for useful, good norms such as freedom of religion, freedom of the press, etc. It is when individuals fill in the moral details from an angry or jaundiced perspective that the world becomes a more dangerous place.

Answer 2

If there is an objective truth, then there must exist a morality which is in accordance with that truth. Hence, morality must be absolute.

Granted, various cultures have different beliefs about what that objective truth actually is - and base their cultural ideas upon their own beliefs. But at the end of the day, all such beliefs will either be rooted in truth or they will be rooted in falsity. The mere perception of truth is not truth.

For example, a man may believe that he can outrun a leopard. This is his perception of truth. The leopard ate the man for dinner tonight. This is the actual truth.

These two ideas should never be treated as equally meritorious and perfectly acceptable alternatives. Basing morality on a false idea only accomplishes feeding the leopard.

Don't feed the leopard. It has eaten enough moral relativists already.

Answer 3

Basic Morality comes with us from our distant past. Even monkeys have some moral rules in their society. As far as it being defined individually? Keep in mind that many criminals, such as pedophiles, truly believe that what they do is right for some reason. The law of Karma, also known more recently as the golden rule, is the simplest moral standard to go by. But there again, with those deranged criminals, it would not work and society would have to enforce some rules.

Answer 4

My own belief is that morality is relative to culture and society. An absolute morality makes no sense since it's difficult to rationally prove that an action is wrong in any societal, historical, cultural or personal context.

Answer 5

I believe that morality is absolute. However, philosophers have disagreements about the fundamentals of morality, and most people, who dedicate less energy to such matters, may come to think it is all relative as a first approximation.

For instance, somebody can decide to walk around town naked. Such action, in this society, is wrong. In absolute terms, there is nothing wrong about walking around naked. There are even societies where nudity is normal. However, every society has what some call a social contract. Every member of society expects to achieve certain things in life, which imply a degree of cooperation with the fellow man, certain expectations. Such contract is enforced, even when it is broken. Given the goal of members in our society, it is as if we gave up the freedom to walk around naked in exchange for the cooperation of the fellow man. It is this contract that is broken when somebody walks around naked in my hometown. Simply put, we are willing to spend money on clothes, and to pay taxes to sustain a police, so nobody walks around naked.

That said, nobody is born with a full comprehension of morality. Everybody starts from little, and grows thru life. It is easier for a parent to say "Walking around naked is wrong" than to explain all moral ramifications. It is easier to say "In our society, walking around naked is wrong" than to explain the absolute terms to make such judgement.

Answer 6

Morality is great for those who want to feel guilty and who want to make others feel guilty.

Morality is subjective.

Developing religion and morality to avoid feeling vulnerable in the world is foolish in my estimation. We are not frightened little children.

Answer 7

There is right and wrong, it is all lay-ed out in the scriptures for us. But whether people choose to follow it or not, is a different story!

Answer 8

Everything is absolute. The only thing that is relative, is our perception. Have you ever think about that?