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For liberals, morality derives mostly from fairness and prevention of harm. For conservatives, morality also involves upholding authority and loyalty Interesti
by kirse 17y ago
For liberals, morality derives mostly from fairness and prevention of harm. For conservatives, morality also involves upholding authority and loyalty
Interesting how liberal morality is vague and needs defined (i.e. how do we define what is "fair" and what is "harmful"), while the conservative morality is rooted in unchanging, definitive principles that are intuitively identifiable.
Authority and loyalty aren't something that needs defined, you know them when you see them and instantly recognize it when there's a lack of them. On the other hand, what is "fair" or "least harmful" among a given set of decisions is always up for huge debate.
- yummyfajitas 17y agoIt is worth noting that those positions may have reversed, roughly around Jan of this year. Nowadays, it mostly seems to be liberals promoting authority and loyalty, while conservatives talk about fairness.
- kirse 17y agoRepublican/Democrat != Conservative/Liberal. Regardless, can you name a few examples of what you're talking about?
- anamax 17y agoThe White House press secretary said yesterday that opponents of Obama's SCOTUS nominee should choose their words carefullywith nary a peep from Dems. When Bush's press secretary said the same thing, Dems went ape-shit.
- jibiki 17y agoNo, it's a spectrum. There are no conservatives who believe that authority is always right, and no liberals (at least, very few liberals) who believe that it is never right. > Authority and loyalty aren't something that needs defined, you know them when you see them and instantly recognize it when there's a lack of them. On the other hand, what is "fair" or "least harmful" among a given set of decisions is always up for huge debate. It is impossible to base your decisions on authority and loyalty alone, because you might end up being loyal to an authority who enjoys genocide. As noted above, conservatives also take fairness into account. Think about abortion, for instance...
- philwelch 17y ago"There are no conservatives who believe that authority is always right, and no liberals (at least, very few liberals) who believe that it is never right." If only because believing that authority is always right is a decent characterization of fascism, while believing that authority is never right is a descent characterization of anarchism, which are respectively more right-wing/left-wing than conservatism and liberalism. This just maintains the spectrum while showing that conservatism and liberalism are not at the extremes.