On Morality

Let us once again visit etymological roots. Morality is “moral qualities,” so what is moral? From the Latin moralis meaning “proper behavior of a person in society.” Alright, let’s keep going. What is “proper”? “Adapted to some purpose, fit, apt; commendable, excellent.” In the context of moralis, behavior most adapted to, fit, or apt for life in society. Interesting. Morality, then, is the collection of qualities in behavior that is most compatible with everyone in society, or in other words, the principles of action most conducive of coexistence and cooperation. Behaviors like murder, theft, and assault are objectively immoral because they are improper, or unfit, for life in society. From here we could determine the moral standing of all sorts of behaviors, the study of which is called “ethics”. And that’s today’s two cents.

Skyler.

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Founder and editor of Everything-Voluntary.com and UnschoolingDads.com, Skyler is a husband and unschooling father of three beautiful children. His writings include the column series “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” and “One Improved Unit,” and blog series “Two Cents“. Skyler also wrote the books No Hitting! and Toward a Free Society, and edited the books Everything Voluntary and Unschooling Dads. You can hear Skyler chatting away on his podcasts, Everything Voluntary and Thinking & Doing.