How can we know?

Bear with me for another post or two ... I know, this is taxing some folks ability to follow, not because they're not able, rather, if I'm right, they're just tired of trying to figure it all out. Wasn't there a time when the world was simpler? Wasn't there a time that was just better? Unfortunately, the answer is "no" on all counts. We, as humans, only have our nows. We can learn from the past -- if we want to -- and we can aim at the future, but every decision we make today is a decision for what's to come.

So, how do we figure out what's good or bad ... and this apart from any religious doctrine? Is this even possible? I think the answer is yes, and I want you to accompany me through a little thought experiment. Follow along and ask yourself if this makes sense:

A baby in its crib is either asleep or awake, full or hungry, clean or soiled. In the former instances, s/he is generally content; in the latter, s/he lets the environment know that all is now well in the world. In other words, if s/he is content, it is good; when s/he is not content, it is bad. I'm not saying that's what the baby is thinking, far from it. But this is the foundation of all morality, wouldn't you say?

A bit later, the child begins to think along similar lines, but having to deal increasingly with others (such as at school, or on the playground, or ...) the mode of thinking changes. We start recognizing a kind of I'll-scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine, a one-hand-washes-the-other mentality arising. We have our friends and best friends and best-best friends and most of all these finely tuned classifications have to do with what you do for me and what I'm willing to do for you. What is good depends on that reciprocal relationship that we establish with others.

A bit later, say, around adolescence, we notice another change. Quite often, kids realize who's really in charge, who has the power, namely adults, so there is a sense of if I please the adults (only as much as necessary, just enough to make them like me), I can get what I want, and that's good, isn't it? In other words, we find a nice-girl/nice-boy kind of morality. By the time most of us are in high school, however, we realize the limitations of this approach.

And it is here that rules come in. What is fair or unfair is determined by the rule, the regulations, the laws. People talk and debate and discuss and (at least in the West) by majority rule, decisions are made that are good for all of us: laws are established that help us get along with one another. This is what we might call a law-and-order morality.

Make sense? I thought it would. All along the way there is a certain give-and-take (the technical term for which is "reciprocity", and each of these attitudes helps us establish what is good, right and proper. But, does it end here? As we will see next time, no.