blog post 3

Mills states that there should be "one fundamental principle or law at the root of all morality, or if there are several, there should be a determinate order of precedence among them."  I disagree with this statement.  I believe that morality is far too subjective and controversial to have just one right answer.  What about in the case of abortion? People are fairly divided on their opinions of what is moral in that case.  Some would argue that any form of abortion for any reason is morally wrong because it is exterminating an innocent and defenseless unborn child. Others would argue that abortion should be permitted in cases where the fetus is harmful to the mother, but only if it puts the mother’s life in danger.  Another view is that a baby isn’t a living person until it is actually born.  Any form of abortion, done for any reason would be completely moral because the baby isn’t, in their definition, living yet.  This case is far too subjective to have simply one right answer.  It is partially determined by people’s personal or religious beliefs.  Saying that just one of these options, or a fourth unlisted option, is solely correct is impractical.  Another example would be the death penalty.  People are generally either for or against the death penalty.  Some people feel that some criminals should simply not be allowed to live anymore due to the severity of their actions.  People who advocate for the death penalty believe that these criminals do not deserve to be alive and the world would be better off without them.  Also supporters argue that when the criminal receives the death penalty, it allows for the family or friends of whoever was wronged by this person, or even the person who was wronged themselves if they are still alive, to feel that some justice was done.  People who are against the death penalty argue that no person has a right to decide who gets to live or die.  It is no one’s right to judge whether or not someone deserves to die for their crimes.  I think that Mills is fairly farfetched when making the claim that there is one answer in terms of morality.  What is moral for one person may be completely different for someone else.  What someone deems moral is dependent on many factors and it’s important to take that into account.  It could depend on how someone is raised, their religion, their political party, their social class, and more.  Unless every person’s experiences and beliefs are the same, it’s impossible to say that there is just one fundamental principle or law at the root of all morality.