Assignment 4: Are Nagel and Thoreau right? Can there be universal moral ideas, at the same time, our individual conscience are authoritative arbiters of right and wrong?

In “Walden; or Life in the Woods”, Henry David Thoreau questions in his chapter “Higher Laws” the eating of animal food. He states that the carnivorous instincts of human being are accomplished in a “miserable way” through slaughter of animals. “Whatever my own practice will be , I have no doubt that it is part of destiny of human race , in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came in contact with the more civilized.” (Thoreau 140) He is convinced that the human being will stop eating animals, such as the savages stopped cannibalism when they became civilized.

“Though the result were bodily weakness, yet perhaps no one can say that the consequences were to be regretted, for these were a life in conformity to higher principles. If day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet scented-herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal, -- that is your success. All nature is your congratulation, and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself. The greatest gains and values are farthest from being appreciated” (Thoreau 140).

We have to consider if eating meat is morally wrong now? To answer this question the definition of morality is needed. According to Merriam-Webster, it’s the “beliefs about what is right behavior and what wrong behavior is.”

When an individual is confronted with a crisis and doesn’t know what to do, he would consider the experiences he already made and decide what action to take. To decide whether it is right or wrong, it depends on his experience of life and social area. Since the beginning of life you are told by your authorities what to do and what not to. What is right and what is wrong. Universal moral ideas exists in society which we experience day-by-day. That is why lying, stealing, killing, or racism is seen as a wrong and bad. While honesty, modesty, courage, or forgiveness is seen as a good. Also, all actions are influenced by family structures, culture, religious belief, economical system and more. With those moral values in life you are able to direct your behavior.

For instance, a moral code states “One should treat others as one would like the others to treat oneself”. It is constructed by society or individuals and this leads to the fact that some people might see something as normal which is not seen as normal for the others. Therefore, moral values are independent on human beliefs, and right morally values depend on the viewer.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden; or Life in the Woods. USA: Dover Publications, 1995. Print.