Moral absolutism

Moral absolutism is the position that there are absolute standards against which moral questions can be judged, and that certain actions are right or wrong, regardless of the context of the act. It is a subset of moral objectivism, and stands in contrast to situational ethics, which hold that the morality of acts depends on the context of the act.

Moral absolutism and religion

Many religions have morally absolutist positions, regarding their system of morality as having been set by a deity or deities. They therefore regard such a moral system as absolute, (usually) perfect, and unchangeable. Many philosophies also take a morally absolutist stance, arguing that the laws of morality are inherent in the nature of human beings, the nature of life in general, or the universe itself. Ironically, many who make such claims often overlook evolving norms within their own communities. For example, today almost no religious group endorses slavery whereas in the past many communities held it to be perfectly ethical. The historical character of religious belief remains the fundamental problem with religious moral absolutism .

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Graded absolutism

Many Christians regard Christian theology as teaching a hierarchy of moral absoluteshttp://www.tektonics.org/qt/tellalie.html ? a view called graded absolutism.http://www.souldevice.org/ethics_gradedabsolutism.html Here, if there is a conflict between two absolutes, the duty to obey the higher one exempts one from the duty to the lower one. And the order is duty to God > duty to fellow humans > duty to property. Under this system, Corrie ten Boom was morally justified to lie to Nazis about the Jews her family was hiding, because protecting lives is a higher moral value than telling the truth to murderers. Norman Geisler defends this view in his book Christian Ethics (Baker Book House, 1981).http://www.equip.org/free/DE198.htm

Related Topics:
Corrie ten Boom - Nazi - Jew - Murder - Norman Geisler

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