What is moral equivalence?* Would you not say that it is having equal moral value? What then is ‘moral value’? Major premise: A thought or an act has moral value if it leads to an ideal; the Good, virtue, justice. What is the moral value of war? What is the moral value of civic service that James advocates? Do we regard military service as having a higher moral value than service as a police officer? What about service as a food inspector? How would you rank the moral value of the service of the following: doctors and nurses, public prosecutors and defenders, Peace Corps volunteers, Salvation Army members, present-day politicians?
All of these are service providers. Their moral value lies in the ideals
they are in the service of. Morality is what we humans do, how we act toward
others. The measure of our morality, our moral value as members of the human
race, is our responsiveness to the needs of all of the other humans on this
planet. Our moral obligation is to be responsive to those needs and make this
world a better place. It is our obligation to each other. We make the world the
way it is through our actions. Working, in however small the way, to make it
better is a damn good ideal to be in the service of.
We can serve in many ways, especially through civic service. JFK
inspired a generation to public service when he said on that cold January day
in 1961, “[a]nd so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country
can do for you – ask what you can do for
your country.” He created the Peace Corps, through which thousands of young and
old have served addressing the needs of others and in the interests of our country, and who have
experienced in themselves the rewards
of service. James was saying in 1906 what JFK was saying in 1961.
Making the world a better place is not easy. It is not avoiding the struggle or harm’s way; it is responding to it. It is, as he has said, “life answering to life.” Effective public service benefits from the martial virtues. As James said, “we must make new energies and hardihoods continue the manliness to which the military mind so faithfully clings.” Onward civic soldiers, marching on as if to war. — Ed Craig
*See William James, The Moral
Philosopher and the Moral Life, for a discussion on moral obligation and the
ranking of moral values.
Thanks, Ed. Nicely advocated.
ReplyDelete(FYI,class, Ed is an emeritus alum of this course, a proud 2021 graduate of MTSU, a distinguished former public servant and legal professional. Some of his reflections can be caught on YouTube under the moniker "Grandfather Philosophy"... ask him about "The Moral Philospher" and "The Gospel of Relaxation," he's an expert.)