Quote:
Originally Posted by TorqueDog
...You and I do agree on something, that morality is undoubtedly subjective...
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I missed this in my response to ToqueDog, but I wanted to ensure that I got it on record:
No. I emphatically do not think that morality is "subjective". I think that the principle of reciprocity is and should be the foundation of what is truly "moral". This is an objective measure by which we can check our own actions and those of others to ensure that we are acting within the best interest, period.
Furthermore, it is a measure by which we can evaluate the ideas and actions of past individuals and societies: slavery has and always will be evil. The marginalization of women has and always will be evil. wholesale slaughter and genocide by divine mandate has and always will be evil.
However, condemning outdated moral systems and their many flaws is not the same as passing judgement on past societies as themselves primitive, unenlightened, or evil. Understanding one's actions and motivations within his context, and as part of a dominant system of thought and behaviour should not be seen as impugnitive (not sure if this is a word) in the same sense that we might view the same actions and thoughts now. In other words, it will not do to insist that the Israelites who purportedly engaged in ethnic cleansing "should have known better".
...Does that make any sense?