Is morality an invention of the weak to neutralize the strength of the strong?

Question

Thank you so much philosophers for all the answers. Have a wonderful day!

Answer 1

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgvzENLoPoh7AfjXIdzsgjTty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071001065354AAssRUp


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

Morality is self reflection, the presence of self consciousness, consciousness of and for self. It is intrinsically human as is the use of the pronoun 'I'.

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_Erick...

'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 2

Morality is an invention of the strong to differentiate from and keep away the weak. Exhausted by the overwhelming forces of the strong, the weak have no more strength to invent morality. Be wary of the strong.

Answer 3

Since morality is more of a belief than an invention I don't think it can neutralize the strength of the strong. Which by the way makes no sense either. So no it is not.

Answer 4

Morality, upheld by the strong, will protect the weak. The "weak," as your question is specifically worded, would not be able to to muster up enough "morality" to neutralize a fly. But the weak, using morality, can actually be as strong as the morally strong, and stronger than those who only have political or physical strength.

Answer 5

Absolutely not. Take morality out of the equation, and the world will be even MORE engulfed in betrayal, war, and death. "Strong" is a relative and ambiguous term, anyway. We can be more strong in collection than as individuals, and morality is a must in keeping cohesion within a group. So ultimately, if everyone acted morally, everyone would be stronger. Cohesion and cooperation drive the economy and makes society strong. That is not possible without morality. I'll put it this way: had Hitler won WWII, his empire would have fallen within a decade. His economy would have crumbled under the weight of his immorality. That is essentially what happened in the Soviet Union, too.

Answer 6

Some would say that morality is simply dictated by God, not an invention at all.

But if you accept the notion that it is an invention of man, then even then you are off track. We are social beings who live cooperatively in a social setting. Morality then emerged as the best way to deal with one another. At the heart of things moral are transgressions commit ed by one person upon another. When one commits transgressions against someone others will perceive at least an irritant and at worst a danger to themselves and others around them. It is in the best interest of the group to stop such transgressions. Moral codes emerged.

Answer 7

Not necessarily. It could be that morality was invented by the strong to stop the weak from causing trouble.

Answer 8

it makes possible a society which long long ago superceeded the biological urge of the strong to go around killing others without resort to any kind of morality.

it is an invention of the strongest who long ago realised that force has its limits and the 'biologically weak' can be very valuable in other areas and it's best to keep them alive to add to your overall strength -thus civilisations grew!

If you see how I see - that morality is value: you conclude that morality is the singlemost important factor in our evolution in the right direction

Answer 9

I think morality was probably a result of the strong seeking to protect the weak.

Answer 10

no, i don't think so. morality comes from the ability to empathize. if you can put yoursel in someone elses place and see that an action would be harmful in some way, and then not do it because you don't wish to cause harm, then that is moral and empathetic. to many i think that this is almost instinctual. i can't recall ever being taught that to harm another is bad, i think even as a child we just know.