Objective Morality and Moral Absolutism

[DISCLAIMER]

As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.

Using REBT, I often encounter beliefs which are absolute (having no restriction, exception, or qualification). This tends to occur with moral and ethical perspectives which are subjective (characteristic of or belonging to reality as perceived rather than as independent of mind).

A moral is a person’s standard of behavior or belief concerning what is and isn’t acceptable for the individual and other people. Morals thus relate to what’s considered good, bad, right, wrong, or otherwise acceptable or unacceptable.

An ethic is a set of moral principles, especially those relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct. Whereas morals relate to what is thought of as pleasing or displeasing behaviors and beliefs, ethics – based on morals – are the social rules by which we pledge to live.

For context, a principle is a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption that serves as a rule or code of conduct with habitual devotion to this subjective morally and ethically right standard. Thus, principles are a form of values (something intrinsically desirable).

As an example, a person may hold the absolutist belief in objective morality (a universal principle of right or wrong, expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without distortion by personal feelings, prejudices, or interpretations). On this topic, one source states:

Moral objectivism, as I use the term, is the view that a single set of principles determines the permissibility of any action, and the correctness of any judgment regarding an action’s permissibility. Does this view deserve the label ‘moral objectivism?’ I think it does.

Although it doesn’t claim that moral principles exist independent of the people who hold them, or that moral properties such as justice exist independently of moral principles, it forthrightly states that some actions are right and some are wrong, regardless of the judgments others may make about them.

In making that claim, I am in conflict with the relativists and nihilists, both of whom assert that moral objectivism is poorly grounded compared to alternative metaethics. (A metaethic is a view about the nature of morality. It is not a particular moral view.)

These philosophers maintain that moral objectivism requires that we can only validate an action’s moral status or a judgment’s moral correctness by resorting to some beyond-human authority – some moral reality external to people which serves as the source of whatever set of principles a moral objectivist believes determines moral values and correctness.

These relativists and nihilists claim that objectivism needs something like God, but they disbelieve there is anything like God, so they conclude that moral objectivism requires something which does not exist.

I share the relativist/nihilist rejection of any form of supernaturalism. I do not believe in God, or in any other external authority that grounds moral objectivism. Indeed, I do not think morality can be grounded in any external source.

Yet I am a moral objectivist, and I think there is a good chance you are too. In what follows I do not defend the content of my moral beliefs, nor make any presumptions about the content of yours.

I do, however presume that many of you take the content your moral beliefs as seriously as I do mine. I will seek to persuade you that moral objectivism is at least as rational, as well-grounded, and as consistent with reality, as any alternative metaethic. The fundamental error of relativist and nihilist arguments against objectivism is the implicit claim that morality can be judged from nowhere.

I’ll spare you any further citation from this source, while adding that I think it’s worth reading in full. Personally, I found its argument for objective morality unconvincing. Similar to the views of moral relativists and nihilists, I’m uncertain as to the existence of universal moral standards.

Perhaps this is because I’m agnostic (a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality, such as a supreme being, is unknown and probably unknowable). Thus, I reject the claim of moral objectivism. Noteworthy, the American Psychological Association thusly defines absolutism:

[T]he philosophical position that there are absolute ethical, aesthetic, or epistemological values. Phenomena are believed to have a fixed reality; thus, what is regarded as true in one circumstance will be regarded as true in all others as well.

For example, a particular action will always be deemed immoral regardless of its outcome or any other individual or subjective consideration. Such a position involves a rejection (in whole or in part) of relativism.

To me, terms such as “all” and “always” indicate propositions which are irrational (not in accordance with both logic and reason). Life empirically mustn’t function in terms of absolutes, because there is quite often some form of nuance that can negate absolutistic moralizing terms.

Stated succinctly, one source posits, “Moral absolutism is a metaethical view that some or even all actions are intrinsically right or wrong, regardless of context or consequence.” I could agree with a “some” value in this regard, though not the absolutistic “all” proposal.

Thus, I reject the claim of moral absolutism. Of course, some elements of Stoicism – which is fundamentally intertwined with REBT theory – tend accept claims of objective morality and moral absolutism. For instance, authors of The Daily Stoic quote Seneca who stated (page 250):

This can be swiftly taught in very few words: virtue is the only good; there is no certain good without virtue; and virtue resides in our nobler part, which is the rational one. And what can this virtue be? True and steadfast judgment. For from this will arise every mental impulse, and by it every appearance that spurs our impulses will be rendered clear.

I reject Seneca’s objective moralist and moral absolutist claim. To his stance, I apply Hitchens’s razor—what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence. As well, I apply the Sagan standard— extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Personally, there’s no credible evidence supporting objective morality or moral absolutism. Thus, the notion that virtue is “the only good,” and that “there is no certain good without virtue,” is dismissed without evidence, because such claims require extraordinary evidence.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

Photo credit, Designed by Freepik, fair use

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