Objective morality

[Neo-Scholastic]

…far as reality is concerned, neither harmony nor conflict can be inferred as the natural state of things…As of now, your metaphysical assertion of ultimate reality is unsubstantiated…Your assertions about its characteristics such as being self-integrated is even more so….

An axiom cannot be substantiated. The integrity of the All is one such axiom. Integrity means being a complete whole. The All is reality taken as a whole. Suppose the opposite were true. The sum total of reality, the All, lacked something real. The All cannot be the All if it lacks a real thing. The missing thing plus the apparent All would be the actual All. Thus integrity is a necessary characteristic of reality.

If we consider the elegance of how physical reality fits together with all its constants and forces in perfect balance, harmony doesn’t seem to be that much of a stretch. I just don’t know how to get to there yet.

…your moral standard has [not] what it takes to be universal… If your standard was universal, then it'd be applicable at all times and to all choices where morality is relevant…

True. What I mean by universal is everywhere the same for all moral agents, even Klingons and Hutts, although application of the universal moral standard would differ according to the issues specific to their species. A standard is not the same as a code. A standard is like a ruler. You may choose to draw lines without it, but if you want to draw a straight line you let the ruler guide you. You can also use the ruler to determine the straightness of lines already drawn to determine which are true. Just as straightness is a real relationship within reality, we can compare approximately straight lines to the ideal truly straight line. (darn, I had to use the word ideal!) And no, straightness is not a made up construct of the human mind; it is a pre-existing relationship within reality that we learn to recognize.

…An objective moral code need not be universal. Principles applicable in a particular time and place may differ without affecting the objectivity…

Hmmm…objectivity refers to real things, actual objects with true relationships between them. I am saying that there is a relationship between moral agents as parts of reality to the whole of it, the All. In that relationship, parts only partially manifest attributes of the All, in this case the integrity of the All and its presumed harmony.

you have not been able to provide a good reason to follow your integrity-oriented moral code.

Because making reference to the moral standard guides one toward happiness. We strive for virtues that make us and our local environment more complete and harmonious, to make full the glass half-full.