History of Moral Thought - Kenan Malik
What can the history of Morality tell about nature of morality and about human beings?
Nitche
enforcing power morality is an expression of power
power assertion of morality
declared God is dead
Christianity infected the healthy body of civilisation with a poison of compassion
The malice of the modern world lay in a morality that defended the weak and docile and deprecated the aristocratic and the strong
the strongest and evil sprit done the most for the advancement of humanity
amorality - rejection of god
Argument for religion / theism: without religion there is no anchor for moral truth. values become a matter of personal preference or political need
individual had to pick and choose ones values.
even gods views are not universally accepted.
jihadis moderates and liberals read the same book and interpret is in different ways.. so brining their own values..
this is true of monotheistic and non-monotheistic faith..
As societies changes.. so do moral values and believers interpretations of god's will.
Religious injunctions may appear absolute and inviolable… but how humans understood them changed with time
The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values is a 2010 book by Sam Harris
Values are in essence facts about the world and must be studied by science in particular neuroscience.. science will decide which is right.
moral certainties anchoring in something beyond us?
how man is and how man could be
3 major historic shift
- axiol age.. 1000-2000 BCE
morality arise from structure of the community - the structure that is given
faith a social reality and there was no evading it..
human life defined by inevitability of death and universality of sorrow and suffering
how to define right and with within structure of society
everyone had a fixed position in society.. it defined their role and duties
morality was wisdom and reason - monotheistic
idea of human dignity takes
humans - rational being
changed the relationship btw humans and freewill
agency of will - all humans are tainted
morality made rule bound - god is the end and means was known
individual - related to community - the coming of modernity
Emanuel Kant
communities n social structure changed.
religion & morality separated
The idea of individual.. separate from society
humans are capable of acting rationally and morally without guidance from beyond
death of god… fall of man (sucking out of optimism.. darker view of human nature.. 20th century)
material progress do not mean moral progress
Asian revolution - anti colonial movements
opposition to European rule - opposition to European ideals - they had to develop their own..
Separatist movements
ethics is part of life and shaped by social material..
so moral arc is subjective n matter of taste?
he says no..
moral questions have rational answers
earlier
what actions were rational in the given society..
modernity
what social structure is rational
- new forms of social conversations.. political and moral debates moved to a wider participants and not just elite. printing press and mass media.. everyone can participate in the debate..
- new social tools - democratic process.. social movements strikes liberation struggles.. enable to transform social conditions
new kind of social conversations not only within but between societies.. detached from specific social structures..
questions of morality do not have objective answer as in scientific terminology.. but it is not a matter of taste alone.
moral values are non arbitrary… not because it is fixed in transcendental sphere or fixed objectively by science, but because it has evolved through humanity's collective judgement and to bring reason to bear upon social and to define rational objects of moral question
this requires social engagement .. breakdown of this engagement is problematic in recent times.
without this people turn to god, science … an external authority to draw a moral line..
nitche wrote god is dead.. but his shadow looms…
god is a metaphor..
Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe - trouble with death of god.. because people continue to act as if he is still alive..
old methods - should or ought
modernity dethroned god but Kantianism utilitarianism defined new morality as set of rules.. but they no longer had any figure.. so no proper foundation or no meaningful employment of moral concepts.. morality became incoherent.
We still think of morality as a rules to follow…
but history of morality teaches us that, every problem needs to be understood in context and to apply wisdom and experience in this context as we try to think and act morally..
truth
- scientific truth
- social / political truth - comes from interaction.. engagement.. in polarised world everyone has their own truth… and no engagement or working out what's needed collectively.
- in europe america people talk about breakdown of post war consensus.. breakdown of populism,.. from mainstream politicians and institutions.. market forces.. has optimised societies.. social life
and rise of identity politics..
breakdown of social movements that embodied universal values.. (civil rights movement - equality, democracy etc)
old order is coming apart.. - Inability to have conversations and see world beyond narrow group.
did language shape our understanding of morality..
no.. the problems.. questions faced is common in bhudhism.. confusious and many moral schools of though.. problems with which we are confronted are
our own nature
other people
the world we live him
so all confront same kind of problem and come up with same kind of solution
morality in Policy making / public decision making in india.. should constitution be north star…
constitution is a framework for law.. morality and law are different
immoral are legal
illegal are moral
distinct legal question from moral question
something fixed like constitution can not answer moral questions
moral issue require conversations -
to shape a moral debate
- principles - not rules
what it means in certain context needs to be decided / debated. - Open minded
- any moral argument must be reasoned out - not quote a scripture or law.. it has to make a case for it ..