Philosophy Now Forum

"About this performance
Belief in the literal existence of God is on the decline. But what will replace this moral framework if it disappears altogether? Mary Warnock makes a case for how we will survive morally in the changed world."
http://iai.tv/video/rescuing-morality

Unlike Joel Marks who recently announced in PhilosophyNow magazine that morality does not exist, Mary Warnock believes that morality precedes religion.

Further, the foundation for morality is the fact that the world is a dangerous place and we are all in the same boat. Hence, we should do good and avoid doing harm. If I heard her accurately, her basic morality is identical or at least very similar to the Golden Rule and Syndersis, http://www.iep.utm.edu/synderes/ the first principle of the natural law according to Aquinas.

It is a joy to be able to see and listen to such a learned philosopher. (Lets all thank God for the Internet!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Warno ... ss_Warnock
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2000/de ... philosophy
http://www.giffordlectures.org/Author.asp?AuthorID=240

I suppose it depends on how one defines morality. However, the golden rule is definitely not a moral principle. The Christians used it as their basis to slaughter Jews during the Crusades. After all, they would rather be dead than live the life of an infidel, so, by killing others, they were doing what they would want someone to do for them. Furthermore, a murder-suicide is also consistent with the golden rule. It's a rule that scraps by in popular opinion because people assume, mistakenly, that other people applying the rule have good "morals."