I’m skeptical as to whether the affirmed moralities play a causal role in their behavior. I don’t think this is obvious. Cultures that differ in what we call moral behavior also differ in culinary tastes but we don’t think one causes the other; it’s possible that they have their behaviors and they have their explanations of their behaviors and the two do not coincide (just as astrology doesn’t coincide with astronomy). I’m also therefore skeptical that changes over time are caused by moral deliberation; obviously if morality plays no causal role in behavior it cannot change behavior.
What anthropologists call moral behavior and what most non-philosophers would recognize as moral behavior tends to coincide with superstitions more than weighty philosophical issues. Most cultures are very concerned with what you eat, how you dress, who you talk to, and so forth, and take these to be moral issues. Whether one should rescue a drowning child if one is a cancer researcher is not as big a concern as who you have sex with and how you do it. How much genuine moral deliberation is really going on in society? How much influence do those who engage in genuine moral deliberation (i.e., moral philosophers) have on society? I think the answers are close to “none” and “not at all.”
michael vassar,
I’m skeptical as to whether the affirmed moralities play a causal role in their behavior. I don’t think this is obvious. Cultures that differ in what we call moral behavior also differ in culinary tastes but we don’t think one causes the other; it’s possible that they have their behaviors and they have their explanations of their behaviors and the two do not coincide (just as astrology doesn’t coincide with astronomy). I’m also therefore skeptical that changes over time are caused by moral deliberation; obviously if morality plays no causal role in behavior it cannot change behavior.
What anthropologists call moral behavior and what most non-philosophers would recognize as moral behavior tends to coincide with superstitions more than weighty philosophical issues. Most cultures are very concerned with what you eat, how you dress, who you talk to, and so forth, and take these to be moral issues. Whether one should rescue a drowning child if one is a cancer researcher is not as big a concern as who you have sex with and how you do it. How much genuine moral deliberation is really going on in society? How much influence do those who engage in genuine moral deliberation (i.e., moral philosophers) have on society? I think the answers are close to “none” and “not at all.”