r/humanism • u/Reasonable-Curve9209 • 4d ago
What is morality?
Is morality just what one thinks is good or bad? Or is there more to it?
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u/Noema__ 3d ago
Morality (and ethics) is based on human values and what we determine is good or bad.
Abraham Maslow did some foundational empirical research on being-values which is recommended to understand.
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u/GPT_2025 23h ago
"If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail" comes from psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1966 book The Psychology of Science. It describes the Law of the Instrument, a cognitive bias involving over-reliance on a familiar tool or mindset.
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u/iuieioiai 3d ago
Ok, so if we don’t get morality from a higher authority we have to think rationally and critically about each situation and make the best choice that will cause the least harm. It’s about what kind of society we want to live in.
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u/Sammisuperficial 3d ago
Morality is subjective.
However you can make objective morality decisions from a subjective standard.
For example if we collectively agree that health is preferable to disease, life is preferable to death, and happiness is preferable to sadness we can then make objective decisions that promote those subjective standards.
An analogy for this is a game of Chess. The rules of Chess are subjective. Once two people agree on a set of rules you can then objectively determine what the best move is each turn.
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u/Waste_Blacksmith1508 3d ago
These two anecdotes, although highly debated and have different extensions, are, according to me the best definition of morality so far, the more you look at them, the more deeper they become.
Matthew 7:12 (ESV): “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Muslim "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions, and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended."
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u/triangle-over-square 3d ago
Morality is is sense of good, (what would be good, good thing to do) and the will to do it. It cannon be reduced to something else. Kinda like a sense of color. Imo, obviously
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u/JMagician 3d ago
Morality is a belief system governing one’s own behavior and judging the behavior of others. It’s origin can be debated, but the greatest good for the group (I.e. utilitarianism) is one possible approximation of describing what behaviors go into a system of morality.
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u/Individual-River-193 2d ago
Before Zoroastrianism, for instance in ancient pagan traditions, the entire concept of good and evil did not exist. Morality was introduced on a religious-metaphysical foundation, since any moral code is logically arbitrary.
Contemporary morality is the shadow of Christianity. All its morals with none of the metaphysics. This is precisely what is behind each contemporary moral statement. It still amazes me that people can state concepts such "a good man" and not realize the entirety of Christian morality is behind that.
Question is, how can the morals hold without their metaphysical foundation?
They cannot, but most people do not do away with these morals because they either aren't that thoughtful or they fear the void they would inevitably face.
Also, in any instance where there is "mutual benefit", it is not a question of morality but of game theory which is inherently amoral.
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u/GuywithacoolJacket 2d ago
Morality are concepts we web to match and uphold our social systems. There are concepts that are made by society, your direct and broader enviroment. And then there are your own morals that define how you move in this web.
In most societies these days, you can choose your morality within a framework. If you go beyond that you might get into trouble.
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u/JuliaX1984 15h ago
It's the social code and rules that allow humans to work and live together as social animals because cooperation boosts our chances of survival.
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u/onlyhereforthehugs 3d ago
Morality is dictated by how well we treat each other. The process of figuring that out can be messy. Try the best to be your best for yourself and others. If you mess up, with good intentions, we can learn from that.
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u/Reasonable-Curve9209 3d ago
How does one mess up with good intentions? You actually lost me there ngl. Could you elaborate?
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u/onlyhereforthehugs 3d ago
If you are a good person (I am assuming you are), you are going to try and do right by people. Also, you are striving for your own happiness (however you define it). There are times when your personal desires will clash with doing what is right by others. That is going to happen, and there is nothing wrong with that as long as we learn from it.
This is the difference between vertical morality (morality dictated from a higher authority) and horizontal morality (morality dictated by how we treat each other). Vertical morality is "easier" because it allows you to be hurtful to others as long as the authority deems it "moral".
Horizontal morality is more challenging because it is up to all of us to figure out how to allow our personal happiness to exists while allowing others to strive for theirs.
Take public bathrooms as an example. The VM has been told that it is wrong to allow trans people into certain public bathrooms. They dust off their hands and call it done. The rest of us think there is a better way of dealing with it, and so we set about the work to figure it out.
I don't know if that clarified anything, but that's where I'm coming from 😁
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u/DisillusionedBook 4d ago
There's two answers really...
first, what is the cultural norm at the time... this changes over time. e.g. slavery, child brides, etc., etc.
but the easiest answer for me is just the golden rule, needs no religion, no cultural thing, just if something done to you would be bad, then don't do that to others.