In the current moral system, there are three stages which we use to identify and validate a movement. The intention, action and the consequences. These three stages are the prime way to identify the validity and the use of an action and its moral standing.
Lets examine the main stage used in analyzing an act, the action itself. Considering this stage is the most simple, there is not much to examine, but lets compare this to my theory of the origin of morality, control. I showed how the origin of morality could possibly stem from control, how that a moral action is given its status by how beneficial it is for the group as deemed by the leader. Look at contemporary moral actions, murder, theft, rape. Not only are they deemed harmful for the continuation for society, but they are also ethically damned by the public community. I'm not saying abolish these laws for the sake of their origin but we need to see that one can never place a moral value on the action itself, hence this examination.
Now to examine the first stage of moral validity, the intention. Oh how unbelievably subjective this stage is. As far as I can tell, intention is only useful for avoiding reprehension, but to manipulate this intention for the sake of the consequences, this is a talent entirely in itself.
The best example is a man on the witness stand, he has committed a murder, but nobody knows why. We know the murder victim was an evil woman, we know she was planning to murder others. The judge asks him why he killed her. He has two options at the point.
He can say "I killed her because I wanted to kill, I wanted to know what it would feel like to take her life. It was a once in a lifetime thing". Hes morally reprehensible, hes sick and deluded and the judge sentences him to life
He can say "I know she was going to kill someone else, check under her floorboards, there are several cases of ammo and a plan to attack this crowded area" He is now a public figure, a moral crusade, but he still murdered someone. He is sentenced to 50 years.
Lets assume that for both of these statements, neither is true, he is me, he is testing the public for shock value. Lets assume he NEVER had any intention, he was blank for the act. What moral value do we place on him now, we cant do that yet.
Now, consequences, to every man like me, all moral value should be placed on the consequences of an action. But how far should we look forward to in order to place this value. Should we examine this on a temporal basis, moral basis or a beneficial basis. The fact is, there are too many ways to see how we can identify how far reaching the consequences are, therefore, there are an infinite amount of moral values we can place on it.
Now lets examine intentions, actions and consequences as a whole. As with consequences, how can we place moral value on such a complex system. As much as it pains me to relate to something so subjective, the key lies with the intention, the first stage. Only intention can influence action, and thereby it influences consequence. Lets remove all forms of subjectivity from the equation, lets examine this as my theory of origin demands, control. We place moral value on intention because the controllers dont want anybody thinking of wrong action, we place moral value on action for obvious reasons, and we place moral value on consequences because in the end, consequences deem where those that hold the control will end up. Those that control are smart enough to see where decay of any of these stages will lead. The case of the murderer is also a prime example of control, the controller being the judge, but the fascinating thing is, he cannot base his decision of punishment purely on the consequence of the murderers action, but on the consequence of his own action for his decision of punishment.
So you see, moral value cannot be placed on an individual's WHOLE action, at least not in the vast majority of cases, there are an infinite number of ways which intention and consequence can play a part of. Morality can only examine the act itself to remain truly impartial
No comments:
Post a Comment