[From Rick Marken (2005.04.20.1315)]
In honor of the election of the new Pope, I suggest that we discuss the
notion of moral relativism, an idea to which, I hear, the new Pope is
implacably opposed. I think the Pope believes that there are moral
absolutes, in the sense that there are rules that always apply; they are not
context dependent. So, for example, the rule "do not use birth control" is
true no matter what -- overpopulation, AIDS, danger to the mother, etc.
I think the idea that some rules always apply, no matter what -- the idea of
moral absolutism -- is similar to the idea of what might be called "rational
absolutism" -- the idea articulated in Alan Randall's essay
(http://home.ican.net/~arandall/Phenomenology/). In his essay, Randall
argues that the perception of the truth of a logical proposition, like 2 + 2
= 4 is more certain or real than the perception of, say, the existence of a
ball. In his review, Bill Powers (2005.04.17.0805 MDT) notes that the essay
is a good example of "what happens when one lives too exclusively within any
one level of perception and control", in this case, the level of logic and
reasoning. When one views the world only from a particular perceptual
perspective, one becomes (in Bill's words) "subject to [its] restrictions ..
without any critical judgments from a higher level...". In Randall's case,
the restrictions are those of logic and reasoning. Those restrictions make
it impossible for him to perceive anything other than the fact that 2 + 2 =
4 is absolutely true. What he can't see from that level is "that under
different premises and in different contexts, 181 + 181 = 2 (degrees modulo
360)".
I think that a similar "one level" approach to experiencing reality may be
the basis of the belief in "absolute morality". People who experience the
world mainly in terms of rules (which is also at the level of logic and
reasoning) would tend to see such rules as absolutely true, just as Randall
saw 2 + 2 = 4 as absolutely true.
Another possibility, however, is that belief in moral relativism is simply
part of one's desire to force other people to follow certain rules. These is
some evidence for this explanation in the new Pope's own writings, some of
which were printed in the LA Times today. Here's what I think is a
particularly telling passage:
Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia.
For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the
application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not
for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy
Communion. While the church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war,
and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it
may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have
recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion
even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not,
however, with regard to abortion and euthanasia.
This is part of the text of a memorandum sent by then Cardinal Ratzinger to
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington last year. Here, I think,
Ratzinger is saying that some rules (the one's concerning war and capital
punishment) are less absolute than others (the one's concerning abortion and
euthanasia). So, while Ratzinger may deplore relativism, he's clearly not
above being relativistic. My guess is that the rules he considers absolute
-- the one's about abortion and euthanasia -- are the one's he wants others
to follow; the rules he considers relativistic -- the one's about war and
capital punishment -- are the ones that he's more permissive about.
I think both of these explanations of the belief in moral absolutism -- a
one level approach to experiencing reality and a desire to make other people
behave as we think they should behave, ie. A desire to control them -- may
be involved in moral relativism to different degrees in different people. I
think the "one level" explanation applies to many of the lay people
interested in having the 10 commandments posted all over our public
buildings. I think the "behavior control" explanation applies to many of the
religious leaders who are railing against the relativism and secularism in
society.
Best regards
Rick
···
--
Richard S. Marken
MindReadings.com
Home: 310 474 0313
Cell: 310 729 1400
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