Moral universalism (synonyms: moral objectivism , universal morality ) is a meta - ethical position according to which an ethical system is possible that effectively regulates the behavior of members of any community, regardless of culture , race , gender , religion , nationality , sexual orientation , or any other distinctive features. . Moral universalism is opposed to moral nihilism and moral relativism . Being some traits close to moral absolutism and value monism, moral universalism has certain differences: many forms of universalism, such as utilitarianism, are not absolutist, and some, such as the Isaiah Berlin belief system, can be considered examples of value pluralism .
In addition to the theories of moral realism , moral universalism includes both cognitive theories, such as the subjectivist theory of the ideal observer and the theory of divine intervention and noncognitivist theories of universal prescriptivism .
Content
Origin, Rationale and Distribution
The source of moral universalism is considered human nature , in particular, the susceptibility of man, his ability to empathize ( empathy ), to reason and the consequent need for argumentation for persuasion. On the other hand, the simplest rationale for this point of view is the obvious observation that there is a common core among all known moral codes that have proven their viability : respect for life, health, property, and personal dignity, not only their own, but equally alien. In a classical abstract form, this thesis is formulated in the golden rule of morality : "Treat people as you want them to treat you."
Since with such an approach attention is shifted to unifying principles, in moral universalism the contradictions between the most important moral systems fade into the background, in particular, the contradictions between religious and secular morality. As a result, atheism or agnosticism , deism (understood in the spirit of Enlightenment ), monotheism (as examples, Abrahamic religions , Hinduism ) and polytheism (as an example, Buddhism ) are simultaneously considered models of moral universalism. Different systems of moral universalism may differ from each other in the meta-ethical question about the nature of morality, as well as in the specific normative content, but they all agree on the question of universality.
Linguist and political publicist Noam Chomsky believes that [1] [2]
| ... if we accept the principle of universality, then when an action is good (or bad) for others, it is good (or bad) for us. Those who cannot rise to the minimum moral level of applying to themselves the standards applied to others can in fact not be taken seriously when they talk about expediency, about good and bad, about good and evil. |
| In fact, one of the principles is probably the simplest, it is the principle of universality, namely, if something is good for me, it is good for you, and if something is bad for you, then it is bad for me. Any noteworthy moral code contains this in one form or another. |
History
A huge number of cultural traditions and individual thinkers to some extent express the views of moral universalism, from ancient Platonists and Stoics , through Christians and Muslims , to modern Kantians , objectivists , supporters of natural law , human rights and utilitarianism . The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights can be considered an expression of the philosophy of moral universalism.
See also
- Morality
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Moral absolutism
Notes
- β Chomsky, Noam Terror and Just Response (inaccessible link) . ZNet (July 2, 2002). The date of circulation is October 8, 2013. Archived January 13, 2013.
- β Schivone, Gabriel Matthew. On Responsibility, War Guilt and Intellectuals (English) // CounterPunch : magazine. - 2007. - 3 August. Archived October 4, 2009. Interview.