Moral Reasoning: A Dead End?
From David "Pink Tie" Brooks at the NYTimes:Socrates talked. The assumption behind his approach to philosophy, and the approaches of millions of people since, is that moral thinking is mostly a matter of reason and deliberation: Think through moral problems. Find a just principle. Apply it. One problem with this kind of approach to morality, as Michael Gazzaniga writes in his 2008 book, “Human,” is that “it has been hard to find any correlation between moral reasoning and proactive moral behavior, such as helping other people. In fact, in most studies, none has been found.”
This is basically another way of saying that the Law does not produce what it commands. Or that exhortative sermons don't work. Or that Christian bookstores will not solve your problems. Or that nagging the person you live with is a failed project. Which is why we need a Savior. Think about that the next time you feeling like giving advice.
Labels: Aaron M.G. Zimmerman, Everyday, Law
posted by Aaron M. G. Zimmerman at
11:10 PM
3 Comments:
Apart from his conclusion that all morality is biological, this is a gem of an article! thanks for drawing attention to it.
“The emotions are, in fact, in charge of the temple of morality, and ... moral reasoning is really just a servant masquerading as a high priest.”
So much for Socratic interpretations of "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" and "be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
incredible post
will be using in a sermon sometime soon
The problem is that the urge to "give advice" is no more rational than any other desire. So, it may be good advice not to give advice, but it always falls on deaf ears when the urge hits. Love doesn't "give advice" in the sense of thinking that its own urging can change anything. Where love is, advice is not. Dylan wrote a song about this: "Love Minus Zero, No Limit." My advice is, listen to that song one million times!
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