The book "The End of Morality: Taking Moral Abolitionism Seriously" deals with the issue of the end of morality from multiple aspects, presenting a set of ideas and perceptions that express directly and explicitly the great transformations that afflicted human society, in The past half-century in particular, which was reflected in the writings of a group of Western thinkers and researchers who adopted the theory of "moral error", which believes that all moral judgments are wrong, and this means that the world should abandon the moral heritage, and put in place laws and legislation that are more disciplined for behaviour and human morality.
The book does not talk about the end of morals as an embodiment of the state of moral collapse the world is witnessing, but rather calls for an end to morals and cutting off its religious and social roots. Although this intellectual movement remained, as usual, far from any serious, influential, Arab or Islamic contributions, its effects in the world in general, and in our countries, societies, and homes in particular, are no longer hidden from anyone.
What do they mean by morals? What is the theory of moral error talking about? And what successes have you achieved? What are its intersections with religion, politics, law, economics, and climate change? What is its relationship to the feminist movement, gender theory, sexual orientation, and its legislative and legal achievements to codify and legitimize freedom of sexual deviance in all its known and yet unknown forms?
What are the manifestations of these ideas? What are the mechanisms that helped it spread and influence? What are its implications for the world, our countries, our communities and our families? Do morals evolve? And how? Are there official and civil bodies responsible for dealing with morals, care and development, or fighting and ending?
What is the importance of ethics for society? Does the legal and constitutional legislation sing about it? Can society and man really live without morals? Why, then, do religions - especially Islam - celebrate morals so much, until the believer, with his good manners, reaches the degree of the one who fasts while standing? How are morals formed? And what prompts a person to comply with it? What are its implications? And what does it entail? Why do we always make sure to raise our children's moral education?
These and other questions I will try to answer in this series, with the aim of shedding light on these currents, understanding their nature, their positive and negative interactions, standing on their effects, and understanding the deviant immoral phenomena that invade the world and infiltrate all aspects of life and their areas of work.
Tricky Questions
The book "The End of Ethics: Taking the Abolition of Ethics Seriously" contains 12 chapters, each of which represents a paper by one of the thinkers and researchers. In total, it focuses on a critical examination of the options presented by the theory of moral error, and tries to answer the following questions:
Is it true that the more people are motivated by moral concerns, the more likely society is to be elitist, authoritarian, and dishonest? Is appealing to moral values a useful tool to help resolve conflicts, or does it actually exacerbate them? Can morality be removed from our thinking?
If we accept the theory of moral error, would it be feasible to continue to believe in morality in everyday contexts? Can moral discourse be usefully framed within familiar metaphorical language, in which we can convey useful and important truths through lies? Does moral reasoning support or undermine commitment to feminist goals? What role do ethical judgments play in addressing important decisions affecting the climate change crisis?
These questions systematically and deceptively reveal the intellectual aspects that are focused on in research, studies and opinion polls, to remove morals from people's lives, and demolish the foundations on which they are based, under systematic scientific banners. All those who contributed to the preparation of the chapters of the book, in addition to the editors who supervised the review and preparation, are those who stand by the theory of moral error.
The book was published in 2018, and it is one of the most important books that comprehensively researched the harms and benefits of moral thought, and what the world might be like without morals. It was edited by: Dr Richard Garner, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Ohio State University, USA, and author of the book “Beyond Ethics”; Dr Richard Joyce is a Professor of Philosophy at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and author of The Ethics Myth and The Evolution of Ethics.
The papers dealt with in the book focus on the "theory of moral error" formulated by Australian philosopher John Mackey in 1977, and he takes a position on morality similar to that taken by an atheist towards religion, in that he believes that "the world is simply not provided with the things, properties or relations necessary to make any true speech."
Dr Maha Ali Hassan Muhammad Yahya, in her book "Objectivity of Moral Values and Theory of Error in John Mackey's Moral Philosophy," believes that Mackey is one of the most important philosophers who raised the problem of the objectivity of moral values in contemporary thought. The theory of error that he presented was a revival of contemporary moral thought, With the controversy and criticism it raised, it provoked contemporary philosophers to him, and prompted them to search for reasonable evidence to support the objectivity of moral values.
In our discussion of the book “The End of Ethics” and the theory of “moral error”, in this episode, we wanted to highlight the importance of the moral issue, what it occupies in contemporary Western thought, and the serious intellectual efforts that are ultimately in favour of eliminating morality and removing it from our lives with its religious and social references, without thinking about the consequences that will result from that, or the price that humanity will pay in return, as the process of separating a person from his family and society quietly takes place, and turns him into a mere electronic number in the population, whose affairs are managed by governing authorities that have worked to neutralize religious and social references from human life, it gave full scope to legislation and laws that are prepared to achieve its interests.
What has become a cause for concern in our countries in the last two decades, in particular, is the many transformations they are witnessing that have affected the rates of moral commitment, for many reasons, on top of which is the role of Western educational institutions in our countries.
The excessive openness to the successive Western cultural waves that our children are feeding on for generation after generation, in addition to the role played by the Arab media, in the honest transmission of this culture with all enthusiasm and urgency, and in calling for its adoption and dissemination, without making an effort to examine it, understand its details, and know its repercussions on the structure of the state, society and individuals.
The issue of the end of ethics is no longer an intellectual and philosophical issue, after it has invaded all fields, and many United Nations programs and civil organizations have become nurturing it and preparing the atmosphere for it, so that it can succeed in the process of transforming the world, and moving it to a new stage that is capable of control and control in all its details and parts.