Subjective Morality?

[robvalue]

If you choose a book, and base your morality on that book, then that’s just as subjective as anything else. It’s also circular. Your only justification for why something is good is that the book says it is good. If you have any other justification than that, then you clearly have moral standards external to the book.

The book itself has objective text (although certainly not objective interpretations), but there are an infinite number of possible texts or fixed rules you could base your morality on. Everyone picks their own, in whatever way they think is best. I prefer to think things through and decide for myself. Deciding that you will never update your own morality isn’t a virtue, in my opinion.

You can go the circular route, but if you go to recognize morality through reflections and see the wisdom and reason of everything you follow, then it's recognition. The problem occurs when holy books are interpreted in a lousy way and it's not recognized, but rather those false interpretations are blindly followed.

So if you’re able to assess what the book says using wisdom and reason, then you already have a moral framework in place. You’re just seeing what fits into it, and what doesn’t.

What seems reasonable and wise to one person won’t be the same for the next, so interpretations are clearly not objective either. You will see someone’s version as lousy, and they will think the same about yours.