The very first sentence of the book.

So I started paging through the book and lo and behold, the very first sentence of the book grabbed my attention.

"Moral philosophy is the effort to understand the nature of morality and what it requires of us - in Socrates' words, to understand "how we ought [emphasis mine] to live" and why."

I think Socrates hit the nail on the head.  Morality, moral codes, ethics all have ideas on how people ought and ought not live.  Many, many people think that morality is subjective, i.e. up to the individual to figure out for himself.  If this is the case then any sort of behavior can be rationalized and justified by the individual.  True, these same moral relativists will say that society has made up rules for people to follow, but isn't a society made up of individuals?  Individuals whose morality is up to them?  Furthermore what gives a society (any society, take your pick) of individuals the right to tell me what I ought and ought not do?

If the root of morality is the rule that there are no moral rules, it would be contradictory of a moral relativist to say that there are actions and behaviors that you should and shouldn't do.  Yet, this is exactly what we see all the time.  Out of one side of their mouth people say, "Well that's true for you, but not for me" and out of the other side saying, "You should not oppress the poor by harvesting their organs!"

Why is it that people have this idea that deep down inside there are things that are wrong?  Not just wrong as in an opinion, but wrong as in wrong for all people in all places and at all times.  Well, all people, no matter who, no matter where, no matter when, all people have the law of God written on their hearts (Romans 2:15).  As creations of God all people bear the imprint of their creator and cannot escape it although many people will actively try to suppress this knowledge (Romans 1:18-20).  It's funny that those very same people who believe that there is no God will feel that their rights are being trampled by those who claim that we 'ought' to follow God's laws!  The only way the non-Christian can argue against the Christian God's moral standard is to assume that there are objective morals in the first place.  And objective morals can only exist if God does.


* Page 1, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, sixth edition, by Stuart Rachels, McGraw Hill, New York, 2010
Note to self: I need to check on the correct procedure for footnotes.  There might be English teachers reading this.

Calvin on the ends justifying the means.

Because I love Calvin & Hobbes and there is no moral compass quite like Calvin...

Welcome!

Oh frabjous day!  I get to take an ethics class at a community college!  Our textbook is called:
The Elements of Moral Philosophy (sixth edition)
by Stuart Rachels
Copyright 2010
ISBN: 978-0-07-338671-3

Table of Contents
1. What is Morality? (I've got a couple of ideas)
2. The Challenge of Cultural Relativism (Call me crazy, but I think the author just shot himself in the foot)
3. Subjectivism in Ethics (If ethics is subjective, then why does this book have so many chapters?  Couldn't we just have one page explaining it's all relative and be done with it?)
4. Does Morality Depend on Religion? (In a nutshell, yes.  Specifically, it can only depend on the triune God of the Bible who lives.  Bring it, Euthyphro!)
5. Ethical Egoism
6. The Idea of a Social Contract
7. The Utilitarian Approach (Ahh, John Stuart Mill.  More on him later)
8. The Debate over Utilitarianism
9. Are there Absolute Moral Rules? (If you answer no, are we morally obligated to follow that rule?)
10. Kant and Respect for Persons
11. Feminism and the Ethics of Care (Darn, if only I had a bra to burn...)
12. The Ethics of Virtue (Wait, if virtues are relative, then would the ethics of virtues ALSO be relative?)
13. What would a Satisfactory Moral Theory be Like? (I've could give you an idea of about 10 rules that would make the ultimate moral theory.  But this other guy boiled them down to only two.)

So my plan is to post regularly on what is going on in this class.  Hopefully I can keep it current, keep it entertaining, keep it informative, and stay sane during the whole process.

Class starts Monday!

(... Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe; all mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe...)