RE: The Struggle to do Good
June 7, 2020 at 8:15 am
(This post was last modified: June 7, 2020 at 8:22 am by The Grand Nudger.)
People who require moral prompting aren't expected to be competent moral agents. Children, for example.
A moral realist notes that children and other less-than-competent moral agents are only in this position because they are not yet (and may never be) in possession of the relevant body of facts, and that even if they were, they may not have a fully developed set of moral tools to assess this body of facts with. Deontology is a shortcut to get people over this hump.
Thus all of the lists of does and don'ts we cram into the mouths of gods. We're attempting to communicate the product of a body of facts. The statements made from that body of facts are true (or false) regardless of whether a pixie actually said them...and regardless of whether the pixie even exists.
A moral realist notes that children and other less-than-competent moral agents are only in this position because they are not yet (and may never be) in possession of the relevant body of facts, and that even if they were, they may not have a fully developed set of moral tools to assess this body of facts with. Deontology is a shortcut to get people over this hump.
Thus all of the lists of does and don'ts we cram into the mouths of gods. We're attempting to communicate the product of a body of facts. The statements made from that body of facts are true (or false) regardless of whether a pixie actually said them...and regardless of whether the pixie even exists.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
