Objective Ethics and Morality - is there such a concept?

During the past few days an interesting discussion developed on my blog and Kylopod’s at http://kylopod.blogspot.com/2006/10/moral-philosophy.html with the particiaption of Rabbi Joshua Maroof of http://vesomsechel.blogspot.com/ about morality and it gave me a better insight into the story of Adam and Chava in Eden that we read just last week.

In MN 1:2 (discussed in detail in the excellent Interpreting Maimonides by Prof. Marvin Fox A’H, a worthwhile study of how to read MN. See also his chapters 5, 6, and 7 relating to our discussion here), Rambam proposes that it describes the different components of a human being. The Sechel, rational part deals with true and false. It analyzes data and extrapolates from it in a methodical rational way arriving at conclusions that are either true or false. It is a purely scientific method for which man utilizes his Tzelem Elohim. Another part of a human being is his ability to discern right from wrong. That is a subjective method where cultural and personal preferences are the arbiters.

“The right and the wrong are terms employed in the science of apparent truths (morals), not in that of necessary truths, as, e.g. it is not correct to say, in reference to the proposition" the heavens are spherical," it is" good" or to declare the assertion that" the earth is flat" to be" bad”: but we say of the one it is true, of the other it is false. Similarly our language expresses the idea of true and false by the terms Emet and Sheker, of the morally right and the morally wrong, by tov and rah. Thus it is the function of the intellect to discriminate between the true and the false -- a distinction which is applicable to all objects of intellectual perception… When Adam was yet in a state of innocence, and was guided solely by reflection and reason -- on account of which it is said:" Thou hast made him (man) little lower than the angels" (Ps. viii. 6) -- he was not at all able to follow or to understand the principles of apparent truths; the most manifest impropriety, viz., to appear in a state of nudity, was nothing unbecoming according to his idea: he could not comprehend why it should be so. After man's disobedience, however, when he began to give way to desires which had their source in his imagination and to the gratification of his bodily appetites, as it is said," And the wife saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to the eyes" (Gen. iii. 6), he was punished by the loss of part of that intellectual faculty which he had previously possessed… Hence we read," And ye shall be like Elohim (1) knowing good and evil," and not" knowing" or" discerning the true and the false”: while in necessary truths we can only apply the words" true and false," not" good and evil."

Morality has meaning because man’s imagination is the cause of physical desires. Imagination consists of the memory of past experiences which man wants to repeat. Desires make man narcissistic and selfish bringing about aggression and conflict. For society to function there is a need for ethical behavior and rules of conduct. A moral and legal system has to be put in place. These are not issues that we rate as true and false; they are cultural and are rated as good and bad.

After setting out the two components of a human being, the story continues with man thrown into the real world, constantly yearning for intellectual perfection. He has freedom of choice and if he strives for intellectual perfection, he will try to balance the two, sometimes-conflicting parts of himself, to do the right thing. Rambam in Hilchot Teshuvah 5:1 finishes the story as follows:

רשות כל אדם נתונה לו: אם רצה להטות עצמו לדרך טובה ולהיות צדיק, הרשות בידו; ואם רצה להטות עצמו לדרך רעה ולהיות רשע, הרשות בידו. הוא שכתוב בתורה "הן האדם היה כאחד ממנו, לדעת, טוב ורע--כלומר הן מין זה של אדם היה אחד בעולם, ואין לו מין שני דומה לו בזה העניין, שיהא הוא מעצמו בדעתו ובמחשבתו יודע הטוב והרע ועושה כל מה שהוא חפץ, ואין לו מי שיעכב על ידו מלעשות הטוב או הרע. וכיון שכן הוא, "פן ישלח ידו" (שם).

Man has free will to do good or bad. He sets the criteria through his own thinking. If he wants to “know” objectively what is “good and bad” he needs to avail himself of “true and false” and integrate the two. The last words “Pen Yshlach Yado” is read as a wish and not negative. God is saying wistfully, let man take from the tree of life (true and false) when he deals in “good and bad” issues and he will live forever. (See also Shemona Perakim chapter 8 page 251 in Sheilat edition).

What exactly does it mean bringing these two components together? How does “good and bad” become “true and false”? The search for God through nature, trying to find the First Cause through His creation, through science follows the path of scientific inquiry. It follows the path of “true and false”, of objective analysis. When man understands the universe’s perfection in the sense that it is eternal, when he tries to emulate God in how He runs it, when he develops a system of ethics and morals that emulates Him, man uses his understanding of “true and false” to set the criteria of what is “good and bad”. Morality and ethics based on this type of thinking is grounded in objective and absolute norms. It is no longer just cultural but a single universal morality.

Rambam started the Moreh introducing this concept of the difference between “true and false” and “good and bad” suggesting that there is a way of integrating these two ways of thinking. He ends the Moreh with how this integration works. In MN 3:54 –

“The prophet thus, in conclusion, says," For in these things I delight, says the Lord," i.e., My objective [in saying this) is that you shall practice loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. In a similar manner we have shown that the object of the enumeration of God's thirteen attributes is the lesson that we should acquire similar attributes and act accordingly. The object of the above passage is therefore to declare, that the perfection, in which man can truly glory, is attained by him when he has acquired-as far as this is possible for man-the knowledge of God, the knowledge of His Providence, and of the manner in which it influences His creatures in their production and continued existence. Having acquired this knowledge he will then be determined always to seek loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, and thus to imitate the ways of God.”

To Rambam this is the goal of Judaism and the search for God, the integration of physics, metaphysics, ethics and morality thus setting objective criteria for the latter two turning “Good and Bad” into “True and False” .


Note
(1) Rambam earlier in this chapter and in 2:6 explains that the word Elohim here refers to judges and legislators rather than God. It is an equivocal word.