this question of is there an overall theme to ethics/morality or to
Justice, or to the legal… requires some thought…or, or is
all three simple working off of “ad hoc” beliefs and actions?
if we make shit up as we go along, then there doesn’t seem to
be a plan or goal or a starting point…so what can be
a possible starting point for ethics/morality? what can be
a starting point for justice? what can be a starting point for
the legal? and is there some means and ways of connecting the three?
how do I create a “universal” ethics/moral or a “universal” justice or
a “universal” legal without a connective device or organizing principle?
we don’t see to able to start from the “universal” and work our way down
to a single person action being “Universal”… what that means is
how do I turn one action into a “universal” law or rule or theory?
like Newton and his Apple… how do I go from the one to the all?
the only possibility seems to be imagination… I use imagination to
fill in the blanks in going from the one to the all…
is an act of say, adultery legally or morally or just, in some
form or another? and how do we get to a “universal” legal, moral
or just system from one act of adultery?
I imagine that adultery is going to damage the family unit,
is going to damage the social structure, is going to damage society
in economic, social, political ways… so, we ban adultery…
and so what, people will still engage in adultery even given some sort
of harsh punishments, legally, socially or economically…
and why? because people are invested into achieving their goal
of meeting their needs…and in their minds, their needs outweigh
the social, economic and political costs associated with
adultery…
so this brings up another point, why do we engage in such damaging
behavior to ourselves, our family, the society? Just to meet a need?
so we must also then face the question of the ethical/moral, the justice
and the legal in terms of needs…how can I achieve my needs given society
“need” to contain such behavior because of the damage the pursuit of those
needs create… Let us say, I need to meet my need of sexually assaulting children…
and this conflicts with the society need to protect the children… my personal
needs are in conflict with the social, legal, moral and justice needs of the society…
the problem lies within this need I have… but at no point can I ever really be able
to justify my need for assaulting children… there is no moral, legal or just reason
to assault children… that can be considered to be a “universal” standard… if I am
unable to create any sort of justification for the meeting of my needs…
but I may be able to justify it in my mind with “my needs outweigh” the needs
of the children or the society… the one, me, has needs that must be met…
but I can’t using any standard I know of to justify it to another individual or group
or society at large…
we can make it a law that allows me to sexually assault children but that doesn’t make
it moral/ethical or just… the legal standard can be created but it doesn’t allow
a moral or just standard…
let us try this, what if we create laws that allow just, legal and moral actions only…
we can act only if the legal, moral and justice is met…
so what is legal, moral and just, all at the same time?
Kropotkin