If
I was to answer the question what should be valued higher—the moral
backbone of a society and their shared ethics, or the individual
conscience of those being part of it—I could not give a proper
answer, as both go hand in hand. Are we not incredibly easy to
influence at a young age and make up our morals, as we are taught to?
We might rethink of course, but can we ever really leave of ethics,
that have been implanted into our brains by parents, teachers or
television? At the same time, any universal moral ideas would have to
made up of the understanding of ethics by the people, by us, society
consist of. The question would really rather be: How does change
happen, when we are constantly influenced by society, while at the
same time, we are part of it and potentially could influence it to
some extend? I would also like to take into consideration that any
universal moral ideas would be highly influenced by those in
power—namely companies or politicians, who would like to benefit in
one way or another. Modern ideologies, such as the system of
capitalism, have extensive influence on what we consider morally
acceptable on a personal basis.
As
Thoreau talks in his chapter “Higher Laws” about the consumption
of meat, I would like to use the concept of carnism as a springboard
here: In Why
We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
the author Melanie Joy describes an ideology to be “a shared set of
beliefs, as well as the practices that reflect these beliefs” (Joy
30). A little illustration might clarify how personal attitudes are
shaped by dominant ideologies and the moral ideas resulting from
them. Imagine being a father or a mother. You have a girl at the age
of seven—an age of many questions. From an early age on, you have
of course taught your child to be kind to animal, not to pull the
dogs tail or set bugs on fire. What you have been taught in you own
childhood and what you teach your daughter is simply ''normal''
behaviour, it is what all the other parents teach their children, as
you like your daughter to grow up and become a caring and generally
''good'' person. Little thought is put into this until your little
girl asks you, where meat is coming from. As in most families you eat
meat on a regular basis and are faced with the dilemma of explaining,
that meat comes in fact from animals—animals that, by the evolved
moral standards of your daughter should not be hurt. At this point
the parent becomes an agent of the ideology and its questionable and
quite purposeful morals.
So
in my opinion, yes, there can be universal moral ideas, which of
course we experience presently. For example racism and sexism is
considered wrong, eating animal products however is fine. A while ago
sexism and racism were widely accepted, even so fought by groups not
belonging to the majority. It took a while to take over, but
eventually did, when even the ones that benefited from slavery came
to see, that black and white are very poor categories of dividing
people into groups or classes. The individual conscience is
influenced by the current universal moral ideas, but as human beings
we have an aptitude for logic and the universal ideas taught us in
early years will influence our individual conscience more than we
might realize. As I personally consider the logic behind the ethic of
meat consumption, as outlined in the above example, quite poor, I
will, if I might ever have a seven year old child, express different
moral standards and therefore possibly change societies universal
moral ideas of the future.
E.J.
Works Cited
Joy, Melanie. 2010.
Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and
Wear Cowns: An Introduction to Carnism. San Francisco:
Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Print.
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