We belong to a generation that has rejected and ridiculed the rhetoric of morality and its appeals and calls to the good and honorable. We have despised it on the grounds of its poorly concealed pretentiousness and hypocrisy, the thinly veiled double standards and lies that we have seen permeating the morality of those generations that came before us. And so, in the midst of disillusionment, our recourse has been to find refuge in frank and forthright defiance. What our elders did in secret, we decided to do openly and flamboyantly, to celebrate it even. And by living freely without a masquerade of propriety, without trying to keep up a farce to please society, by making pretentiousness the greatest fault one could be guilty of, we have hoped that any lifestyle, lived to suit one's own desires, is excusable and above reproach. In breaking rules and violating the bounds of acceptability quite openly and fearlessly, our generation has assumed that we have raised ourselves above the hypocrisy of our elders and thus in some way (morally?) become superior to them.
Strangely enough, to our thoughts and sensibilities, the supreme sacrilege and offense is the crime of condemnation- to pass judgment on someone else's action, is a worse thing to do than the act itself. Perhaps our sensitivity to the insincerity and deceit of human judgements in general, has led us to these dire straits. In a way, it is good even, to be cautious of misjudging and unjustly condemning others- especially since we are all so imperfect and wholly unaware of an individual's inner heart and unique circumstances.
But I have felt a real and urgent need to caution this generation, of which I am also a part, of taking this fear and hatred of hypocrisy too far. We, of this age, are labouring under a most erroneous presumption that morals- the law of right and wrong, are nothing more than a creation of society. To us, morality is an artifice, it is only deception and trickery. I know most of my generation will disagree with me quite vehemently if I dare to insist that morals are more than just a social pretense. But I entreat you to be patient and hear me through, and you can leave with your beliefs unscathed and intact.
In his conversation with Euthyphro, the Greek philosopher Socrates made a startling pronouncement, “Social conventions don't make morality. It is morality that judges social conventions.” How this statement will grate upon our generation's hostile ears! So far, we have lived so freely and joyously under the exhilarating accomplishment of having broken out of the old, tiresome patterns of moral binaries that restricted those before us. Can morality possibly be something that is independent of society?
The explanations I could give in favor of this proposition would go on endlessly. So let me only use one delightful concept to illustrate how this could be so. Interestingly, this idea of the philosopher Emmanuel Kant, conceives of morality as a path to freedom from society! He called it the 'Categorical Imperative'- the knowledge of what one ought to do in a particular circumstance, sometimes even against one's own desires or what his society expects of him! According to Kant, to arrive at a knowledge of what one ought to do, is to thereby make an accompanying judgment that one is capable of doing it. This awareness places us outside the cause and effect pattern of our sensations, impulses, desires and the social circumstances or expectations that control them. It brings me a recognition of something greater and nobler, situated outside my immediate circumstances and bodily impulses; something to which I am held accountable and which thus reveals to me a higher calling which transcends that of the finite world (both physical and social) in which I am situated. Kant says that this stirs within us both reverential awe for the infinite and a feeling of deep purpose, for we thus gain insight into our own human nature- “We are finite beings, belonging to… and determined by the laws of causation. And yet, we belong too to the world of freedom; we can choose freely, our will is unconstrained.”
During the Second World War, there was an incident involving two farm boys from Germany who had refused to join the SS (a Nazi organization formed by Hitler for the mass murder of all political and racial enemies of the regime) and consequently faced execution. On the day before their murder, they wrote to their parents, “Both of us would rather die than stain our consciences with such deeds of horror. I know what the SS has to do." This is a perfect example of human action undertaken in response to a higher calling that transcends the limits placed on how one could act within the compulsions of social circumstance and self-interest. The boys, even now, inspire respect in us, because in exercising their moral freedom to live as they were capable of living and doing what ought to be done, despite the pressures that their society exerted on them, they became truly free…
It is to this now neglected and forsaken, even unknown dimension of morality that I wish to call our generation's attention. We need not think of morality in black and white- as a projection of society and human trickery- something solely oppressive and restrictive. Morality can also be conceived as a call towards freedom and individuality, to swim against the tide in spite of what society or friends (and foes) might think and say! It could take the form of something as simple as refusing to cheat in an exam even though you might fail and your peers are compelling you to join them in doing so. It could be speaking the truth in spite of knowing that it can hurt you and earn the disapproval of others. And it could even be humbling yourself enough to apologize to someone although it will wound your pride.
It is unfortunate that the past corruptions and failings of mere human beings, weak and fallible like ourselves, have poisoned our conceptions of the moral standards or certainties that they claim to uphold. A beautiful and precious jewel lying trodden and hidden in the dust and grime of the ground, would not lose its true authenticity and value because of the filth that it is encompassed in. Similarly, it is time for this generation to understand that the defilement caused by human error and hypocrisy is not a test for the beauty and nobility of virtue in its purest form. The hypocrisy of a liar who exhorts others to speak the truth always, reflects only upon his own character, not upon the rightness of the ethical proposition he is making. His personal failures are not a valid reason for us to question the virtue of honesty. Thus, the law of virtues and vices exists independently of human (mis-) behaviour and social opinion.
Displaying our shortcomings publicly and proclaiming our faults without apology does not release us from moral obligation or make us in some way superior to those who accede to it. Certainly, no human being can perpetually and unfailingly do what is right and honorable. But there is a certain nobility even in striving towards this end even though one fails again and again, and in holding oneself up to certain standards even when one knows how miserably one falls short of it.
As someone once said, "Your character is who you really are; while your reputation is merely what others think you are." It is not sufficient for us to live as we please and merely appear nice, accepting and loving in front of others. The truest and most honorable kind of moral observance is not one that carries with it the intention of appearing good, but to actually be good. Such an order of virtue is not subservient to the manipulations of society, nor is it answerable to its approval or disapproval. A truly moral man with integrity of character is therefore never the darling of his society or the masses; on the contrary he is a blight and a menace to it!
For us who are young, and yet so depressingly disillusioned, with none of the idealism that should mark our youth, it is time to look at the world of morals and ethics with fresh and hopeful eyes. To perceive once more the beauty and glory that girds virtue with an ennobling and elevating mist that must flood our young hearts with awe. I maintain with renewed earnestness this extremely 'unpopular' opinion- that there is more, much more unexplored depth and substance to morality than what our generation has been deceived into thinking…
“Far away there in sunshine are my highest aspirations.
I may not reach them,
But I can look up and see their beauty,
Believe in them and try to follow where they lead…”
~ Louisa May Alcott
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