Loose Morals

So far in this blog, I’ve done a lot of ranting about the role of randomness in the prevailing Western worldview and the resulting lack of “focus,” as defined in my first posting here. As I’ve indicated, I think it’s a wrong view of things, an inaccurate description, account or narrative.

But what difference does it make? What does it matter if scientists and economists and so on are working from a faulty conception of the overall cause and meaning of the cosmos? As long as they get the lower-level details right, and the electricity still makes my lights work and I can still click a link and look at stuff on the Internet, is there any reason to care about overarching theoretical stuff that may not be provable anyway?

Well, certainly in the case of economics, we’re seeing what happens when a wrong theory holds sway: Vast sums of money vanish in the blink of an eye, people lose their jobs, and political consequences follow.

In physics, there’s apparently some possibility that we might see even more disastrous results in a few months, when the big new CERN supercollider is fired up again, after it blew a fuse on the first try several weeks ago. Some physicists have expressed concerns that when their colleagues start smashing tiny bits of matter together, it might possibly cause the end of the world. Others scoff at that idea, though; I guess we’ll find out who’s right eventually.

However, I think we’re already living every day with almost equally disastrous results from this materialist-atomist worldview, because it leaves us with no “higher good,” no center-of-the-universe, no focus. What we’re left with is an absurdist value-neutral universe in which every action is pretty much as valid as any other. If, as Nietzsche proclaimed, “God is dead,” then by what standard do we judge our own or others’ words and actions?

The answer for Nietzsche and many others: the individual will, or what a lot of people might prefer to call the personal ego. From that perspective, “good” is what’s good for me, “bad” is what’s bad for me.

Amazingly enough, this position is in fact the stance of orthodox economics, though in that discipline the concept is sugar-coated with the notion of “rational agency,” which in essence claims that people (or at least those who make economic decisions such as whether to buy or sell stuff) act out of what some refer to as “enlightened self-interest.” Meaning that people are generally aware that the effect of their decisions on other people is something they need to keep in mind; for example, if you’re stealing food from others, you need to leave them enough so they don’t starve to death, if you want to be able to keep stealing from them.

But as we’ve seen in the banking industry, some people don’t get that part of the theory; instead, in their egotistical greed, they’re willing to burn their own house down to keep the fires lit. “Rationality” wouldn’t seem to have much to do with it, except in the sense that some of them were able to find plausible-sounding rationalizations for what they were doing.

Now, I’m not aligning with those upholders of religious orthodoxy who decry “situational ethics” and “moral relativism.” I think any ethics that doesn’t vary somewhat depending on the situation is too limited to be valid, and I think all morality is relative – relative to the true, final good.

I don’t agree, either, with those who claim it’s possible to establish a valid ethical system on a purely materialistic-scientistic basis. Any moral system that posits the “highest good” as some physical thing – prosperity, social order, the pursuit of scientific knowledge – will lead eventually to immoral results. For example, if you suppose that the highest human good is social order, you’ll inevitably end up making utilitarian compromises, seeking “the greatest good for the greatest number,” which means some “lesser number” will be hauled off to prison whenever it’s convenient, without violating your moral rules.

As for “scientific knowledge” as a “highest good,” it sounds nice and noble, but of course in the real world, research gets done when someone – the Pentagon, the pharmaceutical companies, the cigarette makers, etc. etc. – is willing to fund it.

So is there a way to find the true “highest good,” and to do so objectively, without recourse to traditional authority, such as religious dogma? I believe there is, and I’ll go into detail in a posting in the next few days.

Right now, I’d like to make a brief comment about reader comments. I’m delighted anytime anyone wants to leave a comment here. I’ve set it up so you don’t have to register or anything like that. I do say things from time to time that I think are fairly provocative, and I don’t mind anyone disagreeing or criticizing or challenging any of it. However, I won’t allow obscenity, libel or hate speech. So please feel free to critique, but please be grown-up about it.