Morality and change

That what is moral is defined by what rules we accept, explains the contingent nature of morality. But it does not explain how change comes about. For if we all would accept as moral what is dictated by the current rules, then change becomes inexplicable. But change does occur, and its sources reside in what individuals consider moral irrespective of what counts as moral in the community. Individuals ‘go against the grain’ and thus provoke change. This going against the grain is rooted in something that differs from what the community accepts, i.e., from what counts as moral. It resides in a basic moral intuition. To be sure, that intuition, too, is contingent, changeable, dependable on circumstances, … . But, and this is the crucial point, whatever shapes this intuition, it is different from the communis opinio.

Martin Stokhof
from: Aantekeningen/Notes
date: 15/09/2020