My
younger brother was a late bloomer. No matter which development
phase, it always took him considerably longer to complete it than
other children. As time passed, he slowly caught up on his peers, and
when he entered elementary school, he was just as developed as any
other six-year old boy, except for one thing: He had not realized
that he had to follow the same rules as everybody else. Whether it
regarded household chores, homework or curfews, he was attentive that
everything was done correctly and nobody got around their duties, yet
he did not understand that those rules which he strictly enforced on
others applied to him as well; it was simply beyond him. Naturally,
this is just another stage of child development, but the fundamental
way of thinking—that is, applying double standards—can also be
observed in adults. The main difference is that most adults do not
fail to understand the principles, but deliberately exclude
themselves or certain aspects from them. Is it possible to justify
those kinds of exemptions without forfeiting moral integrity?
In
his famous book Walden,
nineteenth century transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau endorses a
vegetarian lifestyle and resolutely argues against carnivorousness,
stating that hunting animals “is a miserable way.” (Thoreau 207).
Subsequently, he explains his firm believe in a moral entity that
inheres every human being, which he calls “genius.” (Thoreau
208). This genius, Thoreau goes on, manifests certain ideas in the
individual's mind, and, though it might even lead to madness,
constitutes a vision so strong that “the faintest assured objection
which one healthy man feels will at length prevail over the arguments
and customs of mankind.” (Thoreau 208). In other words, he reasons
that what we, at the bottom of our hearts, deem ethically correct
will eventually overcome every socially established frame. So
according to Thoreau, there would be no need to apply double
standards in the first place since the only morality we need to
remain faithful to is within ourselves.
Another
attempt at unveiling the mechanisms of human morality can be observed
in Thomas Nagel's essay You
Can't Learn About Morality from Brain Scans
from 2013. The professor of philosophy and law breaks it down to one
essential issue, namely “whether the values tied to the personal
point of view, such as partiality toward oneself and one's
family,(...)should be part of the foundation of morality, or should
be admitted only to the extent that they can be justified from an
impersonal standpoint.” (Nagel). In other words: Are personal
standpoints such a profound part of the core of morality that
applying double standards in certain cases can be viewed as morally
upright, or does morality command to make everything consistent with
objectivity? Though Nagel does not directly answer this question, he
argues that letting go of personal bonds and behaviors in order to
get rid of confinements and and envisage “the realization of the
moral ideal, is to identify ideal morality as something more, or
perhaps less, than human.” (Nagel). Nagel chooses a more complex
approach toward the subject and hardly makes definite statements, yet
he agrees with Thoreau insofar as both act on the assumption that
there are two moral entities, one universal and one individual.
Regarding the initial question, according to Nagel, exempting certain
aspects from a moral code cannot be done without veering away from
the so-called moral ideal.
Nagel calls what I have tried to
discuss here “one of the hardest questions for moral theory”, and
I could not agree more. Though there appears to be a broad agreement
on the existence of the inner and outer moral entities, their
individual importance remains somewhat ambiguous. I for one am not at
all clear on my moral standards, and I honestly don't know anybody
who is. But if Thoreau is correct, in the long run our inner geniuses
will direct us onto the right path.
Works
cited:
Nagel,
Thomas. “You Can’t Learn About Morality from Brain Scans.” The
New Republic
1 Nov. 2013. The
New Republic.
Web. 19 Jan. 2014.
Thoreau,
Henry David, and Jeffrey S Cramer. Walden.
New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale University Press, 2004. Print.
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