Morality is Objective

I want to make clear, from the start, that, to fulfill my BOP, I must only show that whatever valid morality that exists is objective – I do not have to defend any specific system of morality or its individual tenants. If I merely show that any valid moral system has to be objective, regardless of what it is, I still win the debate. Metaphysical and Epistemological Assumptions I will take it to be undebatable that the following statements hold true in all circumstances: that all things have specific identities, that contradictions cannot exist in nature, and that human reason is, at least to some extent, able to find truth. The truth of these statements cannot be reasonably rejected, since doing so would undercut any merit the rejection would otherwise have. To reject reason or its foundations by the use of reason is absurd, so the truth of the previous statements is a given (unless, of course, my opponent wishes to try and argue against them – that will not be very wise, though). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We must first look at what a system of morality is in order to determine the qualities of valid moral systems. Quoting the definition given in R1, morality consists of the “principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.” The search for the correct moral system, then, is a search both for what is the right and good so that it can be done, and for the wrong and bad so it that it can be avoided (to say that the bad should be done and the good should be avoided would be unreasonable, using the common definitions of the words). Two things are clear from the outset – that life is necessary for a moral system to be held and useful, and that all must accept at least some moral system. The first is plain enough, considering that the dead don’t have much of a use for distinctions between good and bad. If those principles cannot guide action, then they become useless. The second can be seen by looking at the motivations for any action. For example, by agreeing to have this debate in the first place, my opponent has implicitly accepted that doing so was the right thing to do – otherwise he would have done something which he did not think was the right thing to do, which is absurd. The fact that all actions are, by definition, chosen because the actor determines them to be the correct choice shows that, no matter what, all who make choices must have some kind of moral system. Even those who attempt to embrace moral nihilism are asserting that nihilism should be chosen, and, as such, their position is self-defeating. Because of this, no appeals to nihilism are tenable and I will not need to address nihilistic ideas any further. If moral systems are necessary to any living man, then, the question is not “do we need morality at all?”, but rather “what is the specific system of morality that we need?” The answer to the asked question can be found by looking at the prerequisites for any useful moral system. If it is true that only those entities with life can choose how to act, and if it is true that morality is only useful to those who can choose how to act, then it follows that only entities with life need a system of morality. A rock cannot ethicize because it is inanimate and cannot make choices, but a man is alive and can choose. Any valid systems of morality, then, must promote life, and, specifically, human life (for humans are the only entities that can reason, so they alone can benefit from rational principles). What promotes human life? Since man is the rational animal (i.e. man’s distinguishing characteristic and primary means of survival is the use of reason), and since things have to act in accordance with their identities regardless of any feelings or whims one may have, it follows that a moral man must follow reason over all else. Any other method of living will only lead to the negation of life, and, by extension, the negation of morality – to say that that which negates morality can be moral is self-defeating, so that which is anti-life (i.e. anti-reason) cannot be moral.Why should life be valued/pursued at all? Why should morality be followed? These questions undercut themselves - the asker has, by necessity, already chosen to value life. Every action and every reasoning must take place within the framework that life is to be desired for its own sake. Since reason is the faculty which identifies and draws conclusions from sense-data, there is nothing which may bend it. No matter how much one hopes or feels that something should be otherwise, reason will always be unchanging and absolute – reason is only dependent on reality and nothing more, and preference plays no part in deciding what is rational. The following syllogism captures my argument: P.1: A valid morality is objective if it is not founded in preference. P.2: A morality based on reason, a valid morality*, is not founded in preference. C.: A morality based on reason is objective. * This has been established by the arguments showing that all men must hold some moral system (it is impossible not to), and that no morality that is not pro-life and pro-reason can be valid/be a moral system that does not defeat itself. In other words, it was shown that there must be some valid system of morality, and that any such system, to be valid, must be rational. Since I have shown that a valid and objective moral system exists and is directly based on the requirements for any proper moral system, I have fulfilled my BOP. I'm eager to hear Con's case.