Philosophy - What Moral Terms Can Mean
By www.menhealthonline.biz
People often make moral claims. They will call an action moral by calling it morally "good" or "right" or by otherwise claiming it has some special value that means one "should" do it. They can claim the inverse by calling the action immoral, bad, wrong, or so forth.
But what does it mean to call an action morally good or morally bad? Different people use those terms to mean very different things. Let's look at some of the most common meanings.
Personal Disgust or Appreciation - Often when people call an action immoral, they simply mean they feel disgusted by the action in some way. When these people call an action morally good, they simply mean that they appreciate or admire it in some way. For example, if a woman says that torturing animals is immoral, she may simply mean that the idea of it disgusts her very much. If she refers to helping the homeless as morally good, she may simply mean that she admires people who help the homeless.
Recommendation - People also sometimes use moral terms to express a recommendation. When they call an action morally good, they simply mean to say that they recommend others do it. When they call an action immoral, they simply mean that they recommend others do not do it. For example, when a mother tells her son that doing drugs is immoral, she may simply mean that she recommends he does not do drugs because she believes it will cause him more grief than pleasure. When she says he "should" brush his teeth, she may just mean that she recommends he brush his teeth because she believes he will regret it if he doesn't.
Social Values - Sometimes people use moral terms to express common social values. For example, if a person calls it immoral to wear yellow clothes, the person may simply mean that most people in a certain society frown upon those who wear yellow clothes. This can also include extreme social values enforced by violence-namely laws. For example, when people refer to murder as immoral, they may mean that the people in society want it stopped