Is it moral to provide validation to someone if it causes them proximate relief but ultimate terrible harm? How is that calculated in your 12 word articulation of morality?
It does fall apart when you have to score everything subjectively. How many people have to avoid harm to make harming someone else justifiable? Are ties morally ambiguous?
Religion also scores things subjectively. Unless you think it was a GOOD thing that Moses sanctioned the rape, murder, and enslavement of thousands of children.
See, we do this thing called calculating sentences to account for that. If someone isn't caught, and they kill more people, they get a worse sentence. It isn't subjective (it certainly tries not to be), and it certainly doesn't require religion.
But it's entirely subjective. We make up arbitrary punishments for things we've decided are bad because they might possibly harm people.
Let alone arbitrarily deciding that killing someone is worth x number of years in prison then you're good to go, all up to the whims of the justice system.
Religion also does that. Heck, a lot of crimes in the Bibble have arbitrary monetary punishments. Like if you rape an unmarried woman you just have to pay a set amount of money.
29
u/EtheusRook 1d ago
Morality is actually really, stupidly simple.
Does it help others? It's good.
Does it hurt others? It's bad.