Is morality an invention of the weak to limit and deter the strong?

Question

Philosophers, thanks to all your answers. Have a great day!

Answer 1

a popular argument in Plato's work and has been echoed by philosophers like Nietzsche and Foucault but I personally think that granted the statement is true, why can't it be true on the other end? Is it possible that morality actually protects the strong?

In a sense the statement I made can be true. Morality has always been a dictate and a construct of a limited elite group e.g. religious and political leaders, educated intellectuals or economic magnates (influencing political leaders). They instituted morality to protect and preserve their vested interests. At the end of the day morality especially public policies (or laws) are made to protect the strong (who were on top of the social ladder in the first place) from the weaker ones who can at one da may unit or unilateraly depost them from their ivory towers.

Answer 2

If the weak are capable of deterring or limiting the strong then the weak are equal to the strong so "weak' sort of becomes an obsolete word because what constitutes weakness is being overcome and not overcoming the strong

If morality is an invention, then the weak are doing nothing "wrong" or "right" by enslaving people to rules

Answer 3

Morality will transgress the weak and the strong.Beyond the physical. Beyond the mental. It is , in fact , the shield for the character of an individual.
Between the extremes of the strong , with sheer physical force and the weak , buckling under the prressure there is this large layer of people , with character strengthened by moral values. We donot have to seek far to understand this. One Gandhi, one Nelson Mandela, one Martin Luther King was enough .

Answer 4

I used to think so but now I think it's more: Morality is an invention of the group to limit and deter people who would go against the group.

Answer 5

My friend, TCM Warrier used to joke, "Morality is lack of oppertunity for some!". But think: is it really so? or can it really be so?

Machiavalli in his prince and other writings say that "a prince need not have the supposed qualities, he simply has to deceive people into believing that he has such quallities". Further, machiavalli says that if one is a prince, then he knows how to deceive people into bellieving such things, such ideological deceptions.

Now if you follow this pattern of logic and reason, then you will have to say what you poseted as the question. But does the world end with Machiavalli?

India has its own Philosophy culture and tradition for tens of thousands of years, which are still an on going pehnomena. There is nothing wrong in saying that these are time tested Philosophies, which are still as they used to be. They call these "Sanatana" meaning permanent. For Indian Philosophy, in one word, morality is performing ones duty to family, society, nation, God and unnto oneself. It is simply being what one ought to be. This is entirely different form what you conceive as morality.

Answer 6

Morality is a gift from God. Which is stronger: to live 38 years or to live 85 years? In the USA, the moral religionists live to about age 85 on average; the immoral mortals with AIDS and other defective lifestyles live to only about 38 years on average.

Count the cost.

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Answer 7

Could strong people be limited by morality? What do you mean by morality and strong after all?
In the real sense of the words, strong people get stronger by morality.

Answer 8

Every reason of good intention and bad.

Is shame and guilt an invention? Those possibilities were existent before the mind of ancient and modern philosophy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erick_Erickson

'The Erikson life-stage virtues, in the order of the stages in which they may be acquired, are:

hope- Basic Trust vs. Mistrust
will- Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (Can I or can't I, will I or won't I)
purpose- Initiative vs. Guilt (I could have done something)
competence- Industry vs. Inferiority (Am I worth what)
fidelity- Identity vs. Role Confusion (ideology: self for self, self for others or both and why and how and who and where and when)
love (in intimate relationships, work and family)- Intimacy vs. Isolation
caring- Generativity vs. Stagnation
wisdom- Integrity vs. Despair
'
The Will is positive, the Judgment is negative.

Answer 9

No. Strength comes from inside you -- yourself no one can limit it unless you allow them to. Morality is just a compass to judge your own strength by. I am constantly testing my morality and I find it is still strong and in tact. It is part of what makes me a stronger individual.

Answer 10

blames empathy