Moral

[Aleksander Krstic]

Why are all people on this forums against living a moral life?

Moral means in correlation to other people, so what's wrong with it? When living a moral life, others benefit from it.

[Cran]

And why the heck would I want OTHERS to benefit?

Moral is a social construct. It has no truth in itself.

[Aleksander Krstic]

Well perhaps I misunderstood the contribution concept.

[Brutha]

Why are all people on this forums against living a moral life?

What exactly do you mean with the term "moral life"?

Additionally there is a difference between being against something and not caring about something.

[Aleksander Krstic]

Sorry, I thought I'd post a very good quote of Angela about how she think of morality, if need be but I forgot which thread it was in.

[Michael Chui]

Originally Posted by Aleksander Krstic

Sorry, I thought I'd post a very good quote of Angela about how she think of morality, if need be but I forgot which thread it was in.

You're probably talking about this:

Conscious Sexuality (Blog)

To which I would respond:

Originally Posted by Cicero

"But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?"

"On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains."

As I know Angela, she's not a hedonist nor deliberately immoral. I'm sure she'll speak up for herself eventually.

The problem with morality is that people have different ideas of what it is. I happen to find this breakdown pretty: Six Domains of the Polynomic System of Value: but I admit I haven't really looked into at depth.

I also wrote about this in The Preacher and the Sage, though I was asking a question, rather than posing an answer.

Morality, at its apex, is self-chosen, not handed down. For myself, I've accepted an unestablished system, outlined in very broad strokes by a respected friend, and am developing it on my own. Do I live a moral life, according to my own immature set of principles? Sometimes. And sometimes not. Being as lazy as I am in working it out is probably immoral.

I would have to presume that Angela has simply taken up a different system of ethical principles than you or Riddle have, and that this offends you and/or your sensibilities.

[aelle]

Originally Posted by Aleksander Krstic

Why are all people on this forums against living a moral life?

Moral means in correlation to other people, so what's wrong with it? When living a moral life, others benefit from it.

In what aspects do you find people here are against living a moral life?

I'm not sure what your definition of moral entails, so I'll tell you how I see it. To me the difference between morals and ethics is that being moral is living according to a set of absolute values imposed on us - by our patriarchal societies, religions or family. Living ethically, however, is questionning each of your actions, assessing whether they work towards the greater good and modifying them if necessary. It's living according to a set of consciously chosen values.

Many would argue that sexual freedom, homosexuality, non monogamous relationships are immoral, while I consider them ethically neutral. On the other hand, eating (some) animals has no moral or immoral charge in our society, while I believe it is unethical.

I certainly don't care for living a moral life ; actually I find the set of values I was born in disempowering, shaming, misogynistic, classist, bigoted and generally reinforcing quite a few other inequalities. I am however very committed to living an ethical life. This is one of the bases for personal growth, isn't it? Questioning who you are, what you do and determining if that is the best you can do. I hope this makes sense to you and gives you food for thought.