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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
An instinct?  Again, not sufficient.  Because the authority of conscience is absolute.  Instincts can be ignored or overcome--indeed, sometimes, they SHOULD be overcome.  Note the word "should.". That "ought to" is the authority again. Instinct is like the keys on the piano, while authority is like the sheet music. Still looking...

A society's decision?  This position, while popular (such as PP's ideas of an evolutionary trait that is necessary for humans to live together in groups, or certain political theorists, like Rawls), has never been espoused by residents of concentration camps, slaves on plantations, and prisoners of Chinese political prisons.  Think French Revolution, Stalinist Russia, Mexico in the 1920s, etc. etc.  Again, not sufficient for an absolute, binding authority common to all human beings.
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Don't those things point to a morality determined by reason and society? People can do atrocious things because they "know" they are doing it for a greater good. It may not seem to benefit the greater good from where we sit, but they believed it at the time. Reason and societal norms determine morality. Please do not underestimate the power of peer pressure, including the kind that is never spoken. There is no absolution in morality.

We can probably all agree that smothering our own children is immoral, right? Not only does is go against our basic instincts of protecting our young, but it violates societal norms. I will give you an example that I read in a study about morality. A village is being invaded by a group that is going from town to town carrying out ethnic cleansing. A woman is home with her children and elderly parents. They decide to hide in a cellar to avoid being found. The youngest of her children, a baby, starts to cry just when she hears soldiers coming. Attempts to quiet the baby fail. She has to choose to suffocate her own baby or let it cry. Being found means the entire family will be killed. Is it wrong to suffocate the baby or is it wrong to let all of your children and parents be slaughtered? It's not an easy question to answer. We all know killing our children is wrong, but are there some circumstances in which it is the right and moral decision?

Open to interpretation =/= absolute[/quote]

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