Subjective Morals

Steve F. Sapontzis

doi:10.5771/9780761856863

Summary

Is morality a good thing? Is moral relativism a bad thing? Traditionally, moral philosophers have presumed that the answers to both questions must be yes. In today’s world, however, many moralists feel obligated to ban gay marriage or censor whatever they deem offensive, and others feel morality commands them to bomb abortion clinics and fly planes into buildings. Unfortunately, it has become all too common for such true believers to use moral values to justify their often destructive behavior. Today’s moral zealotry leaves the value of morality questionable and makes traditional moral philosophy feel pale and irrelevant. Subjective Morals breaks with tradition to provide a careful analysis of moral values and the goods and evils they produce. This work explores the subjective and objective bases of moral values and details the kinds of truth and justification of which they are and are not capable. After analyzing the concepts and categories that structure our moral practice, Sapontzis concludes with recommendations for how we may enjoy the benefits of moral values while minimizing their evils.