Much has been written on ethics in philosophy and elsewhere, but in fact it all boils down to this in the end:
“How can morality be defined?” This is one of the ageless questions, asked by man. It is a question that has been answered from almost the moment it was asked. The problem is that the simple answer to this quandary for the most part goes ignored. This blog is dedicated to ending that ignorance. Morality is following the Monolaw. AND THE MONOLAW IS THIS: Behave regarding others, as you would have others behave towards you.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Scot // Feb 18, 2007 at 23:17
But the monolaw doesn’t really “define” morality. It’s more like a rule of thumb as to whether an action is “good” or “evil”. It works well in general cases when survival is not an issue (no murder, no theft, etc) but breaks down once external pressures (especially survival) kick in (such as famine - is it better to starve or to steal). It also doesn’t deal very well with issues that are considered to be “questions of morality” that don’t really relate to “doing unto others”, such as polygamy or dietary restrictions.
2 guenther // Feb 20, 2007 at 20:34
Hello Scot,
of course you are right there - but, on the other hand, there is no such thing as “absolute” morality. Morality for a tiger is different than morality for a human, so we are always thrown back to the “conditio humana” - and the Golden Rule/Monolaw gives us a good heuristic, a starting point, for fleshing out more detailed rules. Also, it is important that when we speak of the monolaw we assume a normal/average human being, ie not someone who does not feel pain etc.
(Disclaimer: I do eat meat from time to time).
In conditions of severe stress, where survival is at stake, we can also draw on the monolaw: when somebody is starving and he steals an apple from your orchard, you would probably consent (this is where the “standard” human comes in again).
Dietary restriction - in case of vegetarianism - is a perfect case of the Monolaw - you don’t want to be eaten - and an animal neither
And things like polygamy are, in my opinion, not a case for morality, but rather local customs.
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