Subjective Morality?

[bennyboy]

Yes, but this doesn't really support a subjective morality -- change in moral interpretation can happen under objective morality as well.
In fact, the very idea that people argue over morals -- you mentioned the gay transformation --  suggest that they think it meaningful to argue over such morals, aka, that people recognize their own morality as better than another and are capable of transmitting that to people who don't yet hold that morality. How? Shouldn't a moral interpretation be self sufficient, if subjective? Why would anyone change their morals?

That last question constitutes a meta-morality: why should we be moral? But that hints at infinite regress-- any reason FOR moral thought instantly becomes part OF moral thought, and then you ask again-- why should I care about that? And so on.

The answer isn't a moral answer, but an observation: we are a social species, and our social instincts include feelings of justice, empathy, outrage, forgiveness, and so on. Since morality is an expression of our humanity, then it will attempt to reconcile those various feelings with the environment, social and otherwise.

You could argue that a general moral sense is truly objective, since there are signs of it in animals which lack the capacity for language. My dogs, for example, show jealousy and offense when I favor one over the other. If they could speak, they'd tell me how immoral it is that I sometime run with only my beagle, or sometimes let only my Yorkie out of their enclosure to sit on the bed while I read to my son.

As for specific mores, or their collation into moral systems, surely those are a reconciliation among instinct, ideas, and environment. Since we are evolving technologically, the way in which we have to deal with our instincts, and the way in which we are presented with moral ideas (instantly from around the world, for example, rather than just in the local church) constantly imposes moral questions on us: how do I really FEEL about homosexuality? About freedom of speech? About democracy? About women's equality? And then, if the way I feel about it isn't approved by my social context, I will decide how I feel about angry forum posts, or losing my job, or being shot in the face. As the picture emerges (for me), I will pick my battles, surrender others, and attempt to continue living my life.

That's how morality is sorted out, in my view.