Are Moral Values Objective Or Subjective?

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Are Moral Values Objective Or Subjective?

To answer the question, we first have to establish the definition of morality and the difference in meaning between objective and subjective morality. Morality is the principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong. The term “objective” in philosophy refers to the idea that there are universal moral laws like good or bad, right or wrong and therefore these morals exist outside of any person, i.e. like the law of gravity, there is a moral law which exists independently of any person, that awaits to be found. Subjective morality however is where moral laws are based on personal feelings and thoughts, and therefore without any humans there would be no morality.

An important question to ask is, what motives have we for living morally? And how can one rationally justify a command such as, “Do not steal”? Some people may say that their motive for living morally is God, others may say to coexist for the existence of man, and others may simply have their personal interests at heart. If we were all to base our moral values on Gods’ commands then these values would be objective as God is universal and therefore so are the values. This leads many people to believe that there cannot be any objective morality without the existence of God. If one has their personal interests at heart when choosing to act morally, then these values are subjective as their choice comes from inside them and is based on their personal feelings and thoughts.

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Some people believe that morality is a private matter and therefore their motive for living morally is for their own personal interests. For this to be true then they must also believe that morality is subjective because for morality to be private then each individual must have their own moral opinions. The people that argue morality is a private matter claim that, “no one can know what is right for others, so no one can condemn others.” However taking the line that morality is a private matter is effectively isolating individuals and the counter argument to this line of ...

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