Morality is an offshoot of responsibility. If God gave us no choice, there'd be no responsibility and no morality. The most basic responsibility we have is to ourselves. If we were hermits, that which is called "selfish" and that which is called "greedy" would be good traits. But we're not hermits, we live and depend on others. Morality is the dance between responsibility to self and to others.

The gravest responsibility is responsibility FOR others. The most obvious of this is that of the parent. Then there are those whom society entrusts with responsibility for its members. Civic leaders, soldiers, police, emergency workers, doctors, teachers and on down to cab drivers...folks who are entrusted to care and protect.

Perhaps the most interesting responsibility is that of the moralist. The person who instructs others as to their own moral responsibilities and duties. Some of these interperet social morays, rather difficult to do, similar to what a songwriting critiquer does when they analyze poplular styles then measure a songwriter's work against the analysis. Though these critiquers may be accurate in their analyses and assessments, there is a common "ad hominem" argument against their conclusions when the critiquer's own work is found to contain examples that do not measure up to said conclusions. This also happens with the cultural moralist. The cleric, preacher, pundit, essayist, or internet philosopher's own lives may not measure up to their message, which makes them, by definition, hypocrites. It does not, however, logically disprove their message. AA figured this out, it takes a drunk to tell a drunk why they shouldn't drink.

So I try to not blame philosophy for philosophers' failings.




You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

Mike Dunbar Music