OK Alex, my 2¢ is that morality for me seems to spring from reason. Now maybe others measure its source from religious teachings. There are certainly those that are fond of backing their views with Scripture, acting like government clerks and saying "There's nothing I can do, these are the rules." Maybe for them morality stems from the outside, from their religion, from there acceptance that if the Scripture says that, then that's they way it should be.
For me it stems not from the fact that society has adopted specific standards of behavior, but that "I reason that my behavior should be so." My should is derived from reason, the reason of reconciling in a rational way that I am alive, and so are other people. That respecting others as my self, that this is a stable system of interaction. If I take all that I can, then this is not a stable system of interaction. It devolves into the survival of only the very strongest, or the meanest. For me it is this singular observation in all it's forms (Do unto others. . ., etc.) that forms the foundation of my morality. I need no God to dictate this to me, nor do I need the laws of society tell me what is right. (Interesting note: it seems that laws are designed to describe the things not to do. But morality seems a little more general in that it also tells us the things we should do.) |
