Can You Be Moral? (IV)
Now to the book.
If you have read the preceding three parts, you know that we have been working toward answering the title question of Can You Be Moral? You also know that this question, which might ordinarily seem a trifle silly, is almost impossible to answer in today’s intellectual climate, with a profound exception.
We have noted that the dominant ethics today are either subjective on the Left or intrinsic on the Right.
The subjective people say that objective morality is impossible because truth and certainty are impossible, that one person’s truth is not the next person’s truth. Thus, they say the same about morality. Their standards are either personal (hedonistic) or, more popularly, groupism (collective subjectivity). The more people say the same thing, the more likely it is to be true, they proclaim. Liberals just love this type of sophistry. Theirs is true moral relativism.
On the other side, however, stand the intrinsic folks. They say that morality comes from the same source as truth, and that is from God through religious doctrines. What one thinks about any of it is irrelevant because one is supposed to accept it and practice it without question. Without this religious body of regulations, there could be no morality, only chaos, the intrinsicists assert. Conservatives believe all of this down to their toes.
We, on the other hand, say there is an objective morality which comes from reality and is understood by means of reason. We hold that man’s life is the standard of value, and each person’s life is the purpose of his morality. Morality is a code of values selected by choice to guide one's life. A rational ethics or morality comes from rational choices.
Craig Biddle has reduced the complexities of an objective morality to crystal clear common language in his book Loving Life (Glen Allen Press; Richmond, Virginia; 2002; ISBN: 0-9713737-0-1). He has chosen to write about THE ONLY objective morality that exists on planet Earth at this time. This is the Objectivist Ethics which were formulated by philosopher Ayn Rand and presented in fictionalized form in works like the novel Atlas Shrugged and in her book on ethics, The Virtue of Selfishness.
Mr. Biddle’s book requires no prior knowledge of Ayn Rand, Objectivism, or any Objectivist works by Ayn Rand or others. In fact, one need not have any prior foundation in ethics or philosophy. Any interested reader can take it all in from Loving Life because Mr. Biddle writes very clearly, with the non-technical reader in mind at all times.
What we have presented in the preceding three part article has been a tease to entice the reader to read Mr. Biddle’s book. It will be the best $12.95 one has spent in a very long time. And, it will be the beginning of the end of having to live with muck and murk for an ethics, absorbed from a hodge-podge of cultural sources. It will start putting one back in charge of his life, freeing him from the sticky wickets of moral contradictions and unidentified feelings he has for ethics right now. The results will not come effort-free, but the payoff will more than compensate for the efforts.
If you come to understand Mr. Biddle’s book, you will understand the basics of a rational, objective ethics that is pro-life on earth, pro-human, and pro- a lot of things which have become convoluted and distorted by what passes for ethics in the culture, including happiness.
Mr. Biddle’s presentation will lead you to the works of Ayn Rand. There you can reach depths and breadths of astonishing clarity and personal value. You can tease out so many ethical dilemmas or questions you may have now, because you will have the tools to use that distinctly human mind of yours, as its nature requires.
Oh, yes, that question: Can you be moral? We have not answered it directly although we have answered it fully indirectly. Can you be moral? As Mr. Biddle’s book and the philosophy of Objectivism show, YES, you certainly can be moral. And it won’t be some inadequate intrinsicist or subjectivist “morality.” It will be the real deal—an objective morality, one that you can really live and prosper with. It will involve your choices, never your duties. It will become your friend and stop being your enemy.
If you are unfamiliar with what I am advocating, then you are in for a gorgeous surprise, one that will be worth your every effort.
If you have read the preceding three parts, you know that we have been working toward answering the title question of Can You Be Moral? You also know that this question, which might ordinarily seem a trifle silly, is almost impossible to answer in today’s intellectual climate, with a profound exception.
We have noted that the dominant ethics today are either subjective on the Left or intrinsic on the Right.
The subjective people say that objective morality is impossible because truth and certainty are impossible, that one person’s truth is not the next person’s truth. Thus, they say the same about morality. Their standards are either personal (hedonistic) or, more popularly, groupism (collective subjectivity). The more people say the same thing, the more likely it is to be true, they proclaim. Liberals just love this type of sophistry. Theirs is true moral relativism.
On the other side, however, stand the intrinsic folks. They say that morality comes from the same source as truth, and that is from God through religious doctrines. What one thinks about any of it is irrelevant because one is supposed to accept it and practice it without question. Without this religious body of regulations, there could be no morality, only chaos, the intrinsicists assert. Conservatives believe all of this down to their toes.
We, on the other hand, say there is an objective morality which comes from reality and is understood by means of reason. We hold that man’s life is the standard of value, and each person’s life is the purpose of his morality. Morality is a code of values selected by choice to guide one's life. A rational ethics or morality comes from rational choices.
Craig Biddle has reduced the complexities of an objective morality to crystal clear common language in his book Loving Life (Glen Allen Press; Richmond, Virginia; 2002; ISBN: 0-9713737-0-1). He has chosen to write about THE ONLY objective morality that exists on planet Earth at this time. This is the Objectivist Ethics which were formulated by philosopher Ayn Rand and presented in fictionalized form in works like the novel Atlas Shrugged and in her book on ethics, The Virtue of Selfishness.
Mr. Biddle’s book requires no prior knowledge of Ayn Rand, Objectivism, or any Objectivist works by Ayn Rand or others. In fact, one need not have any prior foundation in ethics or philosophy. Any interested reader can take it all in from Loving Life because Mr. Biddle writes very clearly, with the non-technical reader in mind at all times.
What we have presented in the preceding three part article has been a tease to entice the reader to read Mr. Biddle’s book. It will be the best $12.95 one has spent in a very long time. And, it will be the beginning of the end of having to live with muck and murk for an ethics, absorbed from a hodge-podge of cultural sources. It will start putting one back in charge of his life, freeing him from the sticky wickets of moral contradictions and unidentified feelings he has for ethics right now. The results will not come effort-free, but the payoff will more than compensate for the efforts.
If you come to understand Mr. Biddle’s book, you will understand the basics of a rational, objective ethics that is pro-life on earth, pro-human, and pro- a lot of things which have become convoluted and distorted by what passes for ethics in the culture, including happiness.
Mr. Biddle’s presentation will lead you to the works of Ayn Rand. There you can reach depths and breadths of astonishing clarity and personal value. You can tease out so many ethical dilemmas or questions you may have now, because you will have the tools to use that distinctly human mind of yours, as its nature requires.
Oh, yes, that question: Can you be moral? We have not answered it directly although we have answered it fully indirectly. Can you be moral? As Mr. Biddle’s book and the philosophy of Objectivism show, YES, you certainly can be moral. And it won’t be some inadequate intrinsicist or subjectivist “morality.” It will be the real deal—an objective morality, one that you can really live and prosper with. It will involve your choices, never your duties. It will become your friend and stop being your enemy.
If you are unfamiliar with what I am advocating, then you are in for a gorgeous surprise, one that will be worth your every effort.
posted by George Mason @ 4/07/2005 06:27:00 AM
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