👍 Morality

Definition

• Morality consists of principles and values that attempt to distinguish right from wrong.

Morality through the lens of the 3L Philosophy

• Many moral principles are widely accepted, like honesty, fairness, kindness, and tolerance - these are reflected in 3L’s Aspirational Values, which can be summarized as ‘be an excellent human’. Or, be exemplary. There is little dispute among the great moral movements of the world on these basic points.

• The common fundamental root of the moral values shared by all reasonable people is that we should not aggress against each other. The 3L Philosophy enshrines this in the Legal Principle, the only mandatory principle of the two.

• Beyond this, 3L’s Aspirational Values are neither prescriptive nor mandatory because there is substantial dispute about whether objectively ‘correct’ morality exists, and if so, what it encompasses. Endless debates about the nature of morality have persisted for over two thousand years and are not likely to be resolved anytime soon.

  • Many people believe morality is a personal preference and situationally dependent, meaning that what is ‘right’ action in one time and place may be ‘wrong’ in another. Others disagree.
  • Because of endless disagreements about what constitutes ‘moral’ behavior, conflict arises when one group forcefully imposes its moral beliefs upon another. Indeed, this is probably the most significant source of conflict in the world since humans have existed.
  • Democracy is often wrongly used as a tool for the majority to force its moral views onto the minority; the tyranny of the majority. Even if we completely agree with the current majority, that majority’s morality could change over time, or a different majority could arise with entirely different views. So it’s likely that you will one day find yourself in the minority, being subjected to a moral framework that you disagree with. We must end this bottomless source of conflict.

• Achieving global peace requires that moral preferences are taken out of the law, leaving the law to be that upon which all reasonable minds agree: that we ‘don’t aggress’.

• In the absence of using force, we can still define, hold, and promote our preferred morality via reasoned argument and living by example.

‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ - Mahatma Gandhi

Summary

• We have two choices regarding morality and law:

  1. We endlessly struggle for control of the law to force our moral judgments on others. or
  2. We resolve to keep our moral judgments outside the law.

• We must permit people to live as they legally choose, even if we conclude their choices are immoral, unhealthy, or unwise.