Q&A: Morality Is Something That Changes from One Period to Another
Morality Is Something That Changes from One Period to Another
Question
How can one know what is truly moral and what is not? After all, if I had lived hundreds of years ago, I would have been sure that slavery was completely legitimate and that there was no moral problem with it. Most likely, it would never even have occurred to me that there was a problem. Could it be that morality changes from generation to generation? Could it be that we are simply living under illusions about morality, as though it were something completely clear, when in fact it is a social construct?
Tough questions
Answer
If you had lived a hundred years ago, you would have been sure that Newtonian mechanics was correct, and you would never have imagined relativity and quantum theory.
Discussion on Answer
There’s another difference: “morality” starts with an m, and “science” starts with an s. And it’s just as relevant.
And seriously, the claim is probably that science is an empirical matter that relies on discoveries, so it makes sense that new things are discovered. By contrast, morality is more of a norm, or at most non-empirical insights, which makes us doubt its reliability.
You’re conflating completely different questions. One question is whether non-empirical domains can be trusted, and the other is whether, when some field of knowledge changes, it can still be trusted. I showed you that these are two different questions. I’ve already answered each of them more than once. Once you decide what your question is, formulate it, and I can discuss it or point you to it.
The difference is that I don’t make fateful decisions based on Newton or quantum theory, but I do make fateful and everyday decisions based on current morality. So if morality is fluid (or only temporarily up to date), that’s troubling.