4/4/08
Eta
Draft 4
Morality
moral solutions to things. However, the problem is that most of the religious morals that
people are trying to use don’t have relevance in today’s society. The moral values that
philosophies. But the world has changed significantly since the advent of Christianity,
There is no way to prove a moral or ethic right or wrong, society can’t ever be
sure that what it’s doing is the best thing to do. Morals are not strict barriers that separate
good and bad and wrong and right. They’re mostly guidelines to help us keep things in
perspective. They should not be treated like laws, but for some reason society often treats
them that way. Nietzsche believed that the morals we use today were created by ancient
societies in order to create balance and harmony. The societies claimed that God created
the morals and wanted everyone to abide by them. The fact that god said it, gave the
morals esteem, nobody wanted to go against the “words of god.” Unfortunately, the
morals stuck around because religions were created around them. “A code of morals was
nothing more than a system of customs, law and ideas which had its origin in the
distinctive desire of some definite race to live under conditions which best subserved its
own” (Mencken, 44). What Nietzsche meant by this was that the morals we’re familiar
with served a purpose when they were created, and that purpose was specifically for the
society that created them. The morals were created to suit the needs of that ancient
society, but not the needs of our current society. Therefore, the morals should be changed
According to Jewish philosophy, morals and ethics are completely made up. There
is no definite right or wrong way to live your life, because you can’t prove morals or
ethics with science. They are merely guidelines that people created for certain purposes in
society. “Ethical principles are not discovered, but invented. Logical positivism has gone
so far as to deny any cognitive significance to ethical beliefs, since, unlike scientific
beliefs they are not verifiable by empirical methods” (Wurzburger, 41- 42). Essentially,
ethics are made up. The ethics that we live by today, were decided upon by someone or
some group of people a long time ago, and we should not treat them as if they were the
absolute right way to behave. Unlike some kind of mathematical formula that can be
proven correct using calculations. However, people do view ethics and morals as
something definite and true, as if the word of some divine being could prove it to be a
years ago, we should create our own individual moralities to suit ourselves, and the
society we live in, unfortunately, he forgot to think about caring for people other than
ourselves. His opinion was that we needed to protect ourselves first and foremost in order
to survive and that we needed as much personal gain as possible. “In a word, he should
put behind him the morality invented by some dead race to make its own progress easy
and pleasant, and credited to some man-made god to give it authority, and put in the place
of this a workable personal morality based upon his own power of distinguishing between
the things which will benefit him, and the things that will injure him” (Mencken, 55). He
believed that we should create our morals strictly to keep ourselves from being injured,
and to make our individual lives abundant regardless of how that impacts other people.
Sadly, if everyone did that and only looked out for their own lives, people would only
help each other if it was convenient or in some way beneficial to them. People wouldn’t
think about the effect that their actions had on others if those actions were for their own
benefit. A lot of people don’t think about others when they make decisions for their own
benefits, and that’s why there is so much crime and corruption in today’s society. So,
The Dalai Lama says that people can’t help but want the best for themselves. It’s
something that we can’t control for some reason and it’s natural. He says that we
shouldn’t be ashamed of it because it’s part of being human. “I think that every human
being has an innate sense of “I.” We cannot explain why that feeling is there, but it is.
Along with it comes a desire for happiness and a wish to overcome suffering. This is
quite justified” (Lama, 20). Nietzsche would argue that the feeling of “I” comes from the
underlying will to survive and to be the best. “In all the complex whirlpool of the
phenomena we call human life, the mere will to survive is at the bottom of everything”
(Mencken, 36). Nietzsche claims that every human action is a survival instinct. He would
argue that to attain happiness, one must meet their basic needs, but they must also feel
superior to other people. The more power people feel like they have, the happier they are.
Because power makes people feel like they have control over the happiness they can
generate for themselves. When people have the ability to generate more happiness for
themselves, it makes them feel superior and powerful, which in turn brings them more
happiness. That feeling of superiority makes people feel really good, Nietzsche claims
that feeling superior is the only way to be truly happy. But if we built our individual
moralities around that concept, it wouldn’t bring anyone happiness. People would
constantly be putting each other down and trying to have the best of everything before
anyone else could have it. In a way, that’s how the capitalist American society functions,
but that behavior and ideology is rather immoral. Morals should have to do with
compassion for others as well as preservation of ones self, and how is anyone going to
achieve happiness if they can’t be satisfied what they have because it has to be better then
states that, although you should strive to survive and be happy, you shouldn’t do so at the
expense of others. “Murder acts of sexual immorality or idolatry may not be committed
even if the perpetration of these crimes is deemed indispensable to the saving of one’s
life.” According to Talmudic opinion, “It is preferable to throw oneself into a burning
morals in this way, there would probably be a lot less crime and corruption, because
people would be thinking of something beside themselves. Unfortunately, people are not
approaching morals in that way. People are thinking less and less about what’s good for
others and more and more about what’s good for them, just like Nietzsche’s philosophy
about feeling superior to others and taking care of yourself. This idea is being endorsed
by the capitalist system in out country. Cornell West describes this phenomenon in his
book, Democracy Matters. He talks about three “dogmas” that are leading to the demise
of democracy. One of them is about the fact that consumerism is eating away at our
compassion for others, and the democracy in our government. “In short, the dangerous
Dogma of Free-Market Fundamentalism turns our attention away from schools to prisons,
from workers’ conditions to profit margins, from health clinics to high-tech facial
surgeries, from civic associations to pornographic internet sites, and from children’s care
to strip clubs. The fundamentalism of the market puts a premium on the activities of
buying and selling, consuming and taking, promoting and advertising, and devalues
5). Cornell West comments on the selfishness that is being promoted by the United States
government and how people are changing their focus from things that will benefit the
citizens of the United States, to the things which will benefit the individual. But that it
individual citizens.
In order to create a new morality we have to keep things in perspective and think
logically. For example, why isn’t it illegal to lie, when it’s illegal to have people of the
same sex marry? “Deviations from the truth, which are prompted by considerations of
something that is completely for the benefit of the individual, and it doesn’t do anybody
else any good. In fact, lying can really hurt people. There are no cases of lying that are
not for the benefit of oneself. For example if you lie to your friend, and tell her that she
looks good in a really hideous dress; It doesn’t do her any good for you to lie and let her
walk around all day looking foolish. But it’s easier to make yourself seem kind by not
criticizing her. Also, it’s easier for you not to have to deal with making her feel bad.
Logically, it makes sense not to lie when you think about the way it makes people feel.
The problem of lying is still relevant to our society, just like it has been relevant to many
previous ones. For example if a witness lied in court it wouldn’t help the case because it
wouldn’t be reliable evidence, and it would be for their own personal gain. But
condemning things like gay marriage doesn’t make any sense today.
had compassion for each other. The Dalai Lama says that we must always take into
nature as our sense of “I.” If we want to get respect, we have to show respect. He also
says that compassionate people are a lot more pleasant to be around. They put you at ease
and make you feel comfortable. We are all human, and we want the same things, and we
all have the same right to be happy. “To be genuine, compassion must be based on respect
for the other, and the realization that others deserve to be happy and overcome suffering
just as much as you do” (Lama, 22). Nietzsche’s philosophy about creating individual
morals didn’t take into consideration the feelings and similarities between human beings.
But having compassion for others is just as important as taking care of yourself because
in a way, you are taking care of yourself, that is, if everyone treated each other with equal
compassion.
When we set up individual moralities, we should keep in mind the fact that world
doesn’t revolve around the individual. It is the combination of billions of individuals who
want the same basic things. We want to be happy, to overcome suffering, and more
simply, to survive. The only way that the world can work is if people think about what’s
best for them, and if it is for the greater good of society. Religion has become a huge part
of our society. A 2001 survey found that 78.9% of the population of the United States
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Religious_affiliation,
1/15/08). The government gets a lot of pressure from the Christian population to
incorporate their religious morals and values into the laws and legislations made for the
country but is that really doing us any good? Logically, it doesn’t make sense to ignore
scientific facts, because they don’t fit into your rigid belief system. The only reason that
people care so much about it is that religion gives them an easy explanation for the
unexplained, and science negates the validity of religious stories. If you think about it, all
religion is, is a story created to keep people living by certain morals and having certain
values. Scientifically a virgin birth is impossible. The basis of religion sounds like a
fictional story. In this book called The Virtual Tourist, Mick Brown quotes a
concretize the scientifically implausible” (Brown, 203). For example, why is there
proof to back up Darwin’s theory of evolution. Yet, for some reason, Christians believe
science to back it up, but because the bible said it happened, people are willing to believe
it.
Morals are not something to impose on others. They are codes to help us survive
and avoid suffering while not causing harm to anybody else. The United States
government should not be influenced by Christian morals and values to make decisions
about laws and legislations for the country. Because they aren’t taking into account the
great diversity of this country and the fact that people should be allowed to follow their
own morals and not have Christian ones imposed on them. The government should
instead create new morals, not based on religion, but based on a combination of the
morals proposed by the Dalai Lama, Nietzsche, and Talmudic philosophy. That would
protect the wellbeing and safety of the country and it’s citizens without causing harm to
anyone or any other country. Our government should take into consideration compassion
for its citizens and should not lie to make a few powerful people more money than they
deserve.
Each individual should create morals that keep them alive and don’t hurt other
people. Laws should be made for the greater good of the people and should be decided
logically based on compassion and understanding of people’s needs. Things like abortion
and gay marriage should be legal without any fuss, they are only immoral because
somewhere in the bible it says so, and Christians believe that everything the Bible says is
right. However they are not looking for proof of any kind. Therefore, Logical reasoning
and empirical fact should take the place of religious morals in government; while
compassion and healthy concern for the preservation of your life should take the place of
1. Brown, Mick. The Spiritual Tourist. NY, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 1998.
2. Lama, Dali. The Essential Dalai Lama. NY, NY: Penguin Group, 2005.
3. Mencken, HL. The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Tucson, AZ: See Sharp Press,
2000.
6. West, Cornell. Democracy Matters. New York, New York: Penguin Group, 2004.