Towards a universal morality

OK ATS...here's a challenge for you: Is it possible to draw up a universal moral/ethical code? And if so, what kinds of items would it contain?

Here are the parameters as I see them:

-It must be basically acceptable to all religious faiths and also to atheists/agnostics.

-It must maintain a good balance of detail and generality. That is, if it contained only the injunction "Be good," not many would argue. But what exactly is "good?" It needs to be more specific than that. However, if it is TOO specific ("thou shalt not backpedal on a tricycle whilst playing a kazoo, except for the third Thursday of every month"), it cannot possibly be "universal."

-By "universal," I am thinking "among all humans on earth." The ambitious among you can perhaps stretch the net farther, to include other forms of life or potential extra-terrestrial intelligence, for example. But I think we have enough trouble agreeing among ourselves to start with.

-There will always, ALWAYS be somebody who refuses to agree with any injunction, so by "universal" I don't necessarily mean "100% agrees, all the time." But it should strive to be as close to this ideal as possible.

-All known forms of life must consume energy to survive, must defend their bodily integrity, and must compete with each other and with other species for energy, space, and so on. Given this, it seems to me some violence and conflict is an inherent part of the process of life itself. Thus, the ethical purity of any moral code will be strained by the demands of reality. Nevertheless, we can try to get as close to ethical ideas as possible.

-If this thread attracts any interest to begin with, I suspect it will soon tend towards squabbling and disagreement. That's OK. However, in the interests of "universal morality" itself (that is, if you think it is possible), the concept is probably most effectively approached with as broad a mind as we can muster.

Will you accept the challenge, ATS?


[edit on 1/29/10 by silent thunder]

I would like to see everyone take personal responsibility for their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing.

Though I'm not religious I think the basis of the 10 Commandments is also a good foundation.

Treat each other with honour based on truth, love and peace.

Allocate free energy, sufficient wealth and universal health for all.

The Golden rule
+
respect differences
+
accept diversity
+ ?

But IMO, calling it a code is no different than most doctrines have tried. Everyones trying their own methods for peace it seems like, but if you don't do it my way, then your're wrong. For the most part I don't think we need a unified anything, we just need to learn how to communicate better.

[edit on 29-1-2010 by juveous]

not to bring in religion, but yahshuah's (jesus's) message was good.

Love your brother.

now, getting people to FOLLOW it is another story...

"An harm to none do what thou wilt"

That sums it up for me. I'm not really into Wicca, but that is probably the best statement approaching universal morality. Trying to expand on it just complicates or confuses.

But I guess you have to get into what harm really is, etc. But morality isn't perfect. It's purely rational. So for that side of the coin, I choose one statement. On our consciences may be a different thing.

But the worst thing we could ever do with this is mistake our conscience for our morality, and vice versa.

Shameless self bump from January.

There has been so much anger and hate on ATS recently I'm just going out of my mind trying to find some common ground. Maybe this will help, maybe not. If not, just ignore.

Peace on earth and goodwill among men (and women and others).

Originally posted by vyrox
not to bring in religion, but yahshuah's (jesus's) message was good.

Love your brother.

now, getting people to FOLLOW it is another story...

That isn't Jesus's teaching... he take sthat for granted. His more emphatic message was love your enemies.... he made a point of reminding people that even the worst person on earth still loves their close ones.

As for a universal morailty - it's worth rehashing the whole secular philosophy of morality from Plato to Kant first.

reply to post by silent thunder


Nice post, but, sadly, I do not see it as a possibility.

As a previous poster said, we could trying loving one another, but that's not going to happen.

We could even stop fighting each other - but that's not going to happen.

Personally, I have come to the conclusion that we were meant to fight and hate each other and then see what happens.

Sounds like some teenager playing a game - maybe it is.

Yes. I think you could (In theory).

At their core much of the worlds religions are compatible in what they expect their faithful to do (the expected behaviours, if not the reason why).

Where they come unstuck is the deity belief thats used to frame the rules and provide the carrot and stick incentive (you cant have multiple 'one true gods' having a cozy fireside chat).

If you boil them all down to the fundamental tenets and strip away the cultural bias you could construct 'fundamental moral principles' that most of the worlds population could agree with. If you could get all religions and secularists agreed on a common core moral principles it would be helpful.

Unfortunately in the real world religions are competitive power structures and they don't like to work with the competition....