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0 pointsclose046y ago0 comments

> there is no such thing as the morals of society

Isn't it like saying "there's no image, only individual photons or pixels"?

> For example, in my morals

But if you take a few steps back you notice individual morals blending into something that could be called society morals. Society overall considers something (un)acceptable or (im)moral regardless of whether you disagree.

Look at interracial or same sex marriages. Decades ago society saw them as immoral even if some individuals disagreed. Today society sees them as moral even if some individuals disagreed

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3 comments · 2 top-level

zzzcpan6y ago· 1 in thread

Some people at the top of the hierarchy push it and promote it, doesn't mean other people agree with any of it, they are just powerless against it. Why do you take it as society agrees I don't know, but I can understand why those at the top of the hierarchy would like you to think there's the morals of society.

close04OP6y ago

Ok, this seems like a different argument from the one you made above, that morality is purely individual.

If the overall morals of society (as represented by the majority) don't get transposed into law then we go back to my original comment:

> in a functioning systems the law should be adapted to the morals of society

In a democracy the top of the hierarchy is chosen to represent the views of individuals that elected them.

Edit: Whether the morals of society are dictated by the few (rulers) or by the many (people) it doesn't change the conclusion. At some point the balance regarding society's view on the morality of certain things tips. And as an individual you are still very much the product of society. Can we agree that there are things now where there is a societal consensus regarding their morality?

There are actually very few things where societies over time consistently agreed on their morality (like theft).

soulofmischief6y ago

This misses the point I was trying to make. We were further away from the Grand Unified Law back then. But not all of us. Some people even millenia ago were ahead of the curve and promoted progressivism even in the face of a government which did not recognize individual freedom. Just ask my patron saint, Joan of Arc.

The morals of society are a useless tool for measuring objective morality.

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