
<Moral Driver distinctions deleted>


Compare the Driver to an urge such as Jealousy, where there is an urge
and an "object". The jealousy does not technically exist until the object
is apparent. However, the capacity to be jealous is presumably still there
even though it is not detectable.

Your description of the Unbilical took me three passes to understand (!) but
I get the gist and I have to tentatively agree. I think our two definitions
can sit side by side without too much trouble, though. I haven't attempted to
define the reason behind the Moral Driver (only hinted through the essence of
each Moral). Your definition hints that animals are also capable of a
similar morality - Simians have a similar Social Order to ourselves and it is
easy to anthropomorphize with these animals. Is this possible or have I
misunderstood?


My p.s. thoughts falls roughly in line with John Stuart Mill and
his writings on Utilitarianism. I have no particular plan (except to do
my bit - personal ethics AND social work). My opinion (for what it is worth)
is that the Authority for each Moral must be increased somehow, and that this
will probably take several generations to be effective. I don't think that the
list of Morals has changed for Society significantly, though . The Authority element
may come from our authority figures and roles models (see Eric Berne and his
transactional analysis work [+ Mavis Klein] for references) and this is what
gives rise to a deterioration of moral standards in the long term.

I've had some more thoughts on my definitions:

I've was thinking that I should add Moral Character to the list of definitions
in order to get a dynamic version of the Moral Nature (ie. the interplay of
the Moral Code and associated Authorities). A suitable analogy might be a
graphic equaliser on a HiFi system - the Moral Nature being the set of
frequencies and the chosen 'amplitudes', and the Moral Character being the
spectrum over time.

Conscience is a little more difficult because I can't define it as the
reasoning of a person between actions in the context of his Moral Nature
because Conscience seems to cut in most of the time unbidden and often
unwanted. I think Conscience is manifest when a decision is made at a given
time which compromises one's Moral Nature. My Conscience fits in more with
Freud's SuperEgo (plus the Moral Driver) with the stimulous being the
urges or Freud's Id. The reasoning that I mentioned before is Freud's Ego,
I suppose. If the Moral Driver is part of the Id then the reason why
Conscience cuts in unbidden is partially explained. The question is "what
provides the stimulous to activate the Moral driver?". I think I need some
more time with this one.

That's about it for now!

David.

---
On religion: