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The Wells School of Philosophy
Roll Call
17th October 2023, Hare Lane, 1000-1200 hrs:
Tutors:
Linda (L),
Steve (S)
Discussion Leaders:
David (D),
Margie (M),
Pupils (not in order of merit):
Julia (JA),
John (J),
Patricia (P),
Alexis (A),
Colin (C)
Scribe:
Gavin (G)
Part One: Our moral journeys through life and how we arrived at our moral code
In particular:
- Was it derived from our upbringing, family, religion, education, institutions such as our governments and legislation, and so forth?
- Or is it possibly something inherent in the human being, which has been conditioned by living within a society, which has enabled us to develop our individual idea of what is moral behaviour? In other words can one be good without God (or any other source of moral authority)?
A handy definition:
- Moral authority is authority based on principles or fundamental truths which are independent of written or positive laws.
- One is granted moral authority to lead only when one has earned that right from one's people (who do not grant it lightly). The best leaders are those who show moral authority and can inspire people to go to places they would have never have gone to by themselves.
Some of the attendees then spoke of their upbringing:
- φιλόσοφος α: born into a working class family with aspirations and respect for church and politicians — the wealthy were referred to as plutes — mother imparted two principles: "Do as you are done to" and "Conservatives keep what they earn, but Liberals and Labour share it".
- φιλόσοφος β: several negative memories of childhood — strong sense of justice emerged at primary school, despite an appalling headmaster who hit the boys for offences such as snivelling — father read the Daily Mail — tried the local church (very high) but obtained no moral sense from that experience.
- φιλόσοφος γ: did not go to school until nearly 8 — was isolated and with few friends — was then shocked on arriving at a new school to discover extent of organised religion, including two services on Sundays.
- φιλόσοφος δ: did not come from a religious family — studied classics at university, which introduced him to humanism — believes many of us are humanists without realising it — plans to try attending HTC.
- φιλόσοφος ε: Catholic upbringing — attended a nuns' school in North Kensington, then Wimbledon College — was amazed at being told what to believe — untroubled by the routine of confession — no alternative views of the world were presented by the Jesuits — now living an incense-free life — couldn't say what his moral code is; perhaps others can.
- φιλόσοφος f: a product of his experiences: boarding school education and later time in the TA developed Stoic ideas but boredom with organised religion — on going to university, two close friendships were shattered when they were swept up by evangelicals in the first term — turned to philosophy to combat their thinking — 30 years in sales and marketing left him depressed by the corner-cutting, dishonesty and cynicism employed to get things done.
- φιλόσοφος ζ: working class background in a working class neighbourhood — class was not an issue — went to church for a while as a teenager, but didn't find it logical — church didn't give her any moral sense — believes children have an innate sense of right and wrong, and that all religions are about command and control, so strongly against religious schools — didn't go to university, but felt she benefitted from a subscription to the Guardian while at college.
- φιλόσοφος η: disparate parents: Presbyterian mother, atheistic Jewish father who had been a Cambridge wrangler before switching to medicine, yet never known to have lost his temper — private schooling, very good academically and at sports, so had little spare time — experience has created his sense of right and wrong, to do things for other people — turned down many opportunities during his career on principle.
- φιλόσοφος θ: attended girls' grammar school — remembers vividly an early talk from a teacher about feminism: "You can do anything the boys can do", with the expectation that hers would be the first generation to experience equality — enjoyed her time at a Brighton girls grammar school where she could attend the boys school for some A-level subjects — learnt much from teaching for 15 years in the East End where much talent was wasted: some parents wouldn't let their daughters take up a grammar school place if their elder brothers hadn't already done so.
- φιλόσοφος ι: mother ordinary Anglican, father a Christian Scientist — the writings of Mary Baker Eddy made sense of the Bible: God within each of us; you can do everything for yourself — slightly wild teenage years: was going to Eel Pie Island at 15, joined the theatre, then the BBC — best experiences have been teaching dyslexics — her father remains a very happy, spiritual man, despite approaching the end of his life.
Part Two: Moral Authority in Society today
Moral authority thus develops within us, informed by events and experiences. We explored where in the past we have found moral authority which could guide and regulate individual and societal behaviour. Both the Church and politics were felt to be disappointing in that regard today. Suggestions included:
- The Guardian
- The BBC
- The Times
- Times Radio
47% of adults now rely on social media as their source of news.[1]
The BBC faces repeated campaigns against it, often led by politicians who don't like what it says.
Do young people today accept the concept of moral authority? In a consumer society, people expect to pick and choose all their influences, and move on when they don't like what they hear.(G)
Some resent the idea of organisations trying to change their views, such as the Nudge unit in UK government.(C)
Does the existential threat of climate disaster confer moral authority?(S)
Social media makes debate much more superficial. We need to return to face-to-face communications, in part because of non-verbal signals.(S)
Organisations are using bots to sway opinion on social media.(D)
The BBC now has a fact-checking department called Verify.(A) It has also appointed a disinformation editor.(S)
Perhaps the concept of the OBR could be extended to other, non-financial aspects of government.(D)
It's back to Plato: beware of the mob!(S)
People don't know where the information they get from the Internet comes from.(A)
In both the Brexit vote and the 2016 election of Trump, social media was vital in the success of the winning side.
Hume distinguished between the normal justice of small communities where everyone knew everyone, and the artificial justice employed in the checks and balances of the legal system.(L)
Social media undermines one's sense of agency.(S)
Social media is said to be eroding democracy, but is democracy necessarily a good thing? Should we choose politicians by lot, as Athens once did?(J)
Have we lost sight of representative democracy today because of the prevalence of populism?(S)
For PR to work, you have to have a leader who listens to people, and they currently seem to be very few on the ground.(C)
Are we losing consciousness?(S)
Are we relying on the Internet to be our memory?(G)
Other topics touched on
- Inheritance tax
- Fairness to the next generation after us
- Claygate Parish Council
- Captain Tom and the erosion of public confidence
- All avoidance at the Labour Party conference of the fight against inequality
- Do we have the moral authority either to prevent certain species becoming extinct or to revive extinct species?
Books Plugged:
- Sebastian Faulks (2023). The Seventh Son. Penguin.
Films Mentioned:
- The Old Oak. (2023). [Motion Picture]. Directed by Ken Loach. UK, France, Belgium: Studio Canal, Sixteen Films and Why Not Productions.
References
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