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Moral universalism (also called universal morality) is the meta-ethical
Meta-ethics

In philosophy, meta-ethics is the branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical property , and ethical statements, attitudes, and judgments....
 position that some system of ethics, or a universal ethic, applies universally
Universality (philosophy)

In philosophy, universalism is a doctrine or school claiming universal facts can be discovered and is therefore understood as being in opposition to relativism....
, that is, for "all similarly situated individuals", regardless of culture
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
, race, sex
Sex

In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetics traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into male and female types ....
, religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
, nationality
Nationality

Nationality is a the relationship between a person and their state of origin, culture, association, affiliation and/or loyalty. Nationality affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the state....
, sexuality
Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation refers to "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to men, women, or both sexes." According to the American Psychological Association, "it also refers to an individual?s sense of personal and social identity based on those attractions, behaviors expressing them, and membership in a community of...
, or other distinguishing feature. Moral universalism is opposed to moral nihilism
Moral nihilism

Moral nihilism, also known as ethical nihilism, is the meta-ethics view that morality does not exist; therefore no action is preferable to any other....
 and moral relativism
Moral relativism

In philosophy moral relativism is the position that Morality or Ethics propositions do not reflect Moral objectivism and/or universal moral truths, but instead make claims relativism to Society, Culture, History or personal circumstances....
. However, not all forms of moral universalism are absolutist
Moral absolutism

Moral absolutism is the meta-ethical view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong, devoid of the context of the act. Thus lying, for instance, might be considered to be always immoral, even if done to promote some other good ....
, nor are they necessarily value monist; many forms of universalism, such as utilitarianism
Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is the idea that the morality of an action is determined solely by its contribution to overall utility: that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all persons....
, are non-absolutist, and some forms, such as that of Isaiah Berlin
Isaiah Berlin

Sir Isaiah Berlin, Order of Merit was a philosopher and historian of ideas, regarded as one of the leading liberal thinkers of the twentieth century....
, may be value pluralist.

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Moral universalism (also called universal morality) is the meta-ethical
Meta-ethics

In philosophy, meta-ethics is the branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical property , and ethical statements, attitudes, and judgments....
 position that some system of ethics, or a universal ethic, applies universally
Universality (philosophy)

In philosophy, universalism is a doctrine or school claiming universal facts can be discovered and is therefore understood as being in opposition to relativism....
, that is, for "all similarly situated individuals", regardless of culture
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
, race, sex
Sex

In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetics traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into male and female types ....
, religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
, nationality
Nationality

Nationality is a the relationship between a person and their state of origin, culture, association, affiliation and/or loyalty. Nationality affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the state....
, sexuality
Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation refers to "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to men, women, or both sexes." According to the American Psychological Association, "it also refers to an individual?s sense of personal and social identity based on those attractions, behaviors expressing them, and membership in a community of...
, or other distinguishing feature. Moral universalism is opposed to moral nihilism
Moral nihilism

Moral nihilism, also known as ethical nihilism, is the meta-ethics view that morality does not exist; therefore no action is preferable to any other....
 and moral relativism
Moral relativism

In philosophy moral relativism is the position that Morality or Ethics propositions do not reflect Moral objectivism and/or universal moral truths, but instead make claims relativism to Society, Culture, History or personal circumstances....
. However, not all forms of moral universalism are absolutist
Moral absolutism

Moral absolutism is the meta-ethical view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong, devoid of the context of the act. Thus lying, for instance, might be considered to be always immoral, even if done to promote some other good ....
, nor are they necessarily value monist; many forms of universalism, such as utilitarianism
Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is the idea that the morality of an action is determined solely by its contribution to overall utility: that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all persons....
, are non-absolutist, and some forms, such as that of Isaiah Berlin
Isaiah Berlin

Sir Isaiah Berlin, Order of Merit was a philosopher and historian of ideas, regarded as one of the leading liberal thinkers of the twentieth century....
, may be value pluralist.

Overview

According to R. W Hepburn, to adopt moral objectivism is

Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky

Avram Noam Chomsky is an United States linguistics, philosopher, cognitive science, political activist, author, and lecturer. He is an Institute Professor emeritus and professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology....
 states that

The source or justification of a universal ethic may be thought to be, for instance, human nature
Human nature

Human nature is the concept that there are a set of characteristics, including ways of thinking, feeling and acting, that all 'normal' human beings have in common....
, shared vulnerability to suffering, the demands of universal reason
Reason

Reason may refer to Mind#Mental faculties that consciously create explanations in order to judge, decide, solve problems, generalize, and give examples, among other activities....
, what is common among existing moral codes, or the common mandates of religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
 (although it can be said that the latter is not in fact moral universalism because it may distinguish between Gods and mortals). As such, models of moral universalism may be atheistic
Atheism

Atheism is the absence or rejection of belief in deity, or the explicit view that Existence of God.Many list of atheists are Skepticism of all supernatural beings and cite a lack of empiricism evidence for the existence of deities....
 or agnostic, deistic
Deism

Deism is a religious and philosophical belief that a supreme natural God exists and created the physical universe, and that religious truths can be arrived at by the application of reason and observation of the natural world....
 (in the case of several Enlightenment philosophers
Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a time in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century, in which rationalism was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority....
), monotheistic
Monotheism

In theology, monotheism is the belief that only one god exists. The concept of "monotheism" tends to be dominated by the concept of God in the Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the Neoplatonism concept of God as put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite....
 (in the case of the Abrahamic religions), or polytheistic (in the case of Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
). Various systems of moral universalism may differ in various ways on the meta-ethical question of the nature of the morality, as well as in their substantial normative content, but all agree on its universality.

History


An enormous range of traditions and thinkers have supported one form or another of moral universalism, from the ancient Platonists and Stoics, through Christians
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 and Muslims
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
, to modern Kantian
Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant was an 18th-century German Philosophy from the Kingdom of Prussia city of K?nigsberg . He is regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of modern Europe and of the late Age of Enlightenment....
, Objectivist, natural rights
Natural rights

Some philosophy and political science make a distinction between natural and legal rights. Natural rights are rights which are not contingent upon the laws, customs, or beliefs of a particular society or polity....
, human rights
Human rights

Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, i...
 and utilitarian
Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is the idea that the morality of an action is determined solely by its contribution to overall utility: that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all persons....
 thinkers. The United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
' Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Guinness Book of Records describes the UDHR as the "Most Translated Document" in the world....
 is an example of moral universalism in practice.

See also

  • Natural law
    Natural law

    Natural law or the law of nature is a theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by nature and that therefore has validity everywhere....
  • Natural rights
    Natural rights

    Some philosophy and political science make a distinction between natural and legal rights. Natural rights are rights which are not contingent upon the laws, customs, or beliefs of a particular society or polity....
  • Moral absolutism
    Moral absolutism

    Moral absolutism is the meta-ethical view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong, devoid of the context of the act. Thus lying, for instance, might be considered to be always immoral, even if done to promote some other good ....
  • Moral relativism
    Moral relativism

    In philosophy moral relativism is the position that Morality or Ethics propositions do not reflect Moral objectivism and/or universal moral truths, but instead make claims relativism to Society, Culture, History or personal circumstances....
  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights
    Universal Declaration of Human Rights

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Guinness Book of Records describes the UDHR as the "Most Translated Document" in the world....


External links