Thoughts on morality and culture.

Moral and ethical principles cannot be said to exist in any meaningful sense. We attempt to rationalize and systematize our innate moral sense but all systematizations fail when tested against that same moral sense. Ethical philosophy is replete with examples given by each of the various schools of ethical thought that expose the contradictions inherent in any system of ethics. Kantian ethics fall before the runaway train argument, utilitarianism is haunted by utility monsters, etc., etc.

But the moral sense, the feeling that some things are right and others are wrong, lingers. What is this sense? A part of the social instinct, the urge to adapt to the group. Morality is defined by culture.

That sounds wishy-washy if you don't understand the power of culture. We are dominated by culture. Culture is more powerful than most of us imagine. Consider Jerry Sandusky. A coach at Penn State, he parlayed his high status into a charitable front for preying on young children. To us, today, this is horrifying, disgusting and disturbing, and most would not object to Sandusky's execution.

But consider his actions in another cultural context. Had Sandusky been an Athenian in the 5th century BCE, his behavior would have been normal, even commendable. He would have been viewed as bestowing a great honor on the low-status pubescent boys he molested. Their careers would have been given a boost, their families would have been quite pleased to see their children draw the interest of such a prestigious older man.

So consider again Jerry Sandusky and your revulsion at his deeds: that revulsion is culturally conditioned. Do you feel the power of culture now?

Tyler Cowen says that torturing babies is objectively wrong. I cannot myself think of a more abhorrent idea. But here again we find the fingerprints of culture. We have very strong reasons to believe that the ancient Phoenicians and their Carthaginian relatives practiced child sacrifice, and not simply of the children of enemies or slaves. The children of high-born families may have been viewed as a particularly effective offering. The texts tell us that the children weren't killed swiftly or left to die of exposure, either. They were burned to death. Even today, child sacrifice endures.

Our culture tells us what the acceptable and unacceptable forms of sexuality are. Our culture tells us how to treat our children. We are dominated by culture. Why?

Culture is the primary means by which humans adapt to their environment. We are nearly helpless as individuals, capable of little more than bare existence. In groups, we become the dominant species, altering the environment at will and leaving our mark everywhere on Earth and even beyond. Culture binds the group together and provides the set of adaptations needed for survival in the group and the environment. We are not eusocial insects, drones driven by chemical signals, but neither are we lions, functioning better in a group but capable alone. We need society, but we also need to be individuals. Culture splits the difference, binds us powerfully but not mechanically, irresistibly. The ability to resist cultural conditioning gives us child molesters but also permits progress and change.

Saying that morality is the product of culture is not to say that morality is meaningless or feeble. Culture is as powerful as your loathing of child molesters. But it does mean that we cannot couch our arguments for adopting new political, legal, or behavioral norms in moral terms. The ultimate test of any norm is whether or not it is adaptive, whether or not it furthers humanity's adaptation to our environment. And this test is a factual, empirical one, one that can be measurably passed or failed. Theoretical reasoning can give an indication of what norms could be more or less effective, but only outcomes give the final proof.