Constructing Morality
Constructing your own person morality isn't a difficult challenge. One can start with one of, or a mix of, those on offer from the major religions. This is not a requirement. It is easy enough to do without. I do hear folks who claim they would have no morals if it weren't for religion. Nonsense. Perhaps they do not possess the mental acuity to understand the source of what they do possess.
The religions are not a half bad source for this. These ideas have been road tested for several centuries. There are down sides to this course of action, and you need not. A perfectly acceptable result may be constructed from whole cloth.
The first thing to do is to recognize that you exist in an already functioning social structure. This means, very directly, that a system of morality is being suggested to you. Well, 'suggested', is an inadequate word. 'Insisted' is better. You have been absorbing this system since birth. There is a very good chance you don't realize this (or at least all of the details). It's quite insidious.
This structure is one that you must be in conformity with. Well, you must, more or less, appear to be in conformity with. I want to stress that you do not have to believe in every aspect so long as you make a show of outward conformity. Should you flout these rules in an obvious manner the punishment will arrive. Such punishment can range from mild disapproval, though ostracism, up to and including death. Society will punish those behaviors it does not like. This is a powerful reminder to you to make the appearance of conformity.
One side note. These rules vary widely from culture to culture. Many of them are arbitrary. They suit the local power structures. The rules of the hamlet you grew up in are not universal. Forgetting this variability can cause you grave (or even fatal) difficulty.
So, I've said, you must appear to conform. You must internalize these rules to the extent you can display them publicly when called upon to do so. You do not, however, have to internalize them as if they were some kind of platonic truth. Many of these rules are entirely arbitrary. In this regard a reading of Leviticus is instructive. There are quite reasonable social rules mixed in with obvious nonsense. Flouting any of it, in that era, carried, quite obviously, severe social penalties (anyone up for being stoned to death for sleeping with the 'wrong' person?).
These societal rules are for display purposes, they are not necessarily who you are. You can (must!) retain the right to have different views. You retain the right to the privacy of your own mind (and hopefully the privacy of your own house).
Another side note. If you wish to retain the company of other humans you must give them what they expect or persuade them otherwise. This latter course almost never works.
There are a series of ideas that I value. These are: kindness, honesty, knowledge, reason, and self restraint. I do not claim these to be intrinsically of value. I am permanently suspicious of arguments of this sort. Arguing intrinsic value frequently has no rational basis and tends to distinctly favor the speaker.
A lot of the reason I like my values is their sheer utility. Use frequently accomplishes what I want to accomplish. There is the added benefit that these ideas do commonly mesh well together. This synchrony does have a certain harmony.
To be sure, a lot of the reason for my choice is personal taste. I don't enjoy cruelty (either giving or receiving). I, for instance, don't enjoy the comedy that rests on embarrassment. Cruelty is always evil for me. I don't watch a lot of comedy for this reason.
Being honest and interacting with honest folk greatly reduces the paranoia which would otherwise entail. The reduction in mental effort is tremendous.
For me reason and knowledge are two sides of the same coin. They are the method to a better understanding of the world. I am endlessly curious and so this scratches a permanent itch. There is a utility here as well. A better understanding means you have the opportunity to operate more effectively.
Self restraint has to be mostly a personal taste. Folks usually come to little or no harm for a lack of restraint. I find such folk annoying. Even here restraint has utility. That money you don't spend today will be there tomorrow.
The religions are not a half bad source for this. These ideas have been road tested for several centuries. There are down sides to this course of action, and you need not. A perfectly acceptable result may be constructed from whole cloth.
The first thing to do is to recognize that you exist in an already functioning social structure. This means, very directly, that a system of morality is being suggested to you. Well, 'suggested', is an inadequate word. 'Insisted' is better. You have been absorbing this system since birth. There is a very good chance you don't realize this (or at least all of the details). It's quite insidious.
This structure is one that you must be in conformity with. Well, you must, more or less, appear to be in conformity with. I want to stress that you do not have to believe in every aspect so long as you make a show of outward conformity. Should you flout these rules in an obvious manner the punishment will arrive. Such punishment can range from mild disapproval, though ostracism, up to and including death. Society will punish those behaviors it does not like. This is a powerful reminder to you to make the appearance of conformity.
One side note. These rules vary widely from culture to culture. Many of them are arbitrary. They suit the local power structures. The rules of the hamlet you grew up in are not universal. Forgetting this variability can cause you grave (or even fatal) difficulty.
So, I've said, you must appear to conform. You must internalize these rules to the extent you can display them publicly when called upon to do so. You do not, however, have to internalize them as if they were some kind of platonic truth. Many of these rules are entirely arbitrary. In this regard a reading of Leviticus is instructive. There are quite reasonable social rules mixed in with obvious nonsense. Flouting any of it, in that era, carried, quite obviously, severe social penalties (anyone up for being stoned to death for sleeping with the 'wrong' person?).
These societal rules are for display purposes, they are not necessarily who you are. You can (must!) retain the right to have different views. You retain the right to the privacy of your own mind (and hopefully the privacy of your own house).
Another side note. If you wish to retain the company of other humans you must give them what they expect or persuade them otherwise. This latter course almost never works.
There are a series of ideas that I value. These are: kindness, honesty, knowledge, reason, and self restraint. I do not claim these to be intrinsically of value. I am permanently suspicious of arguments of this sort. Arguing intrinsic value frequently has no rational basis and tends to distinctly favor the speaker.
A lot of the reason I like my values is their sheer utility. Use frequently accomplishes what I want to accomplish. There is the added benefit that these ideas do commonly mesh well together. This synchrony does have a certain harmony.
To be sure, a lot of the reason for my choice is personal taste. I don't enjoy cruelty (either giving or receiving). I, for instance, don't enjoy the comedy that rests on embarrassment. Cruelty is always evil for me. I don't watch a lot of comedy for this reason.
Being honest and interacting with honest folk greatly reduces the paranoia which would otherwise entail. The reduction in mental effort is tremendous.
For me reason and knowledge are two sides of the same coin. They are the method to a better understanding of the world. I am endlessly curious and so this scratches a permanent itch. There is a utility here as well. A better understanding means you have the opportunity to operate more effectively.
Self restraint has to be mostly a personal taste. Folks usually come to little or no harm for a lack of restraint. I find such folk annoying. Even here restraint has utility. That money you don't spend today will be there tomorrow.
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