Many people claim that there is some absolute basis for morality, that the attempt to discard or form one's own, relative moral values is tantamount to narcissism and arrogance. However, could it not be said that those who ascribe to traditional moral values are simply parroting the views of people who could be said to be equally narcissistic and arrogant, but whose views over time have come to be adopted by a large portion of the populace? Since any knowledge as to the nature of reality I may have may be merely an illusion, and it is possible that the nature of knowledge is such that it may merely manifest and give form to what is "known", with the knower not realizing that it is the knowledge itself, and the process of obtaining it which gives it influence over an illusory reality, and that a real reality is beyond knowledge and the forms created by it, I will accept the possibility that transcendent power may illuminate a mind and give it access to a form of morality which is beyond my comprehension and is absolute. However, in this case I will address the issue of morality from a more down-to-earth standpoint.
If one were to examine "traditional morality", they could always trace back the system of morality to someone who was a moral innovator. Now, if one is a moral innovator, does not this put him in the same boat as the person who creates his own system of morality? The person who says that we must ascribe to traditional morality is saying exactly this: "We must not create our own system of morality; we must adhere to the moral principles created by someone who created their own system of morality."
How exactly does this make any sense?
If one were to examine "traditional morality", they could always trace back the system of morality to someone who was a moral innovator. Now, if one is a moral innovator, does not this put him in the same boat as the person who creates his own system of morality? The person who says that we must ascribe to traditional morality is saying exactly this: "We must not create our own system of morality; we must adhere to the moral principles created by someone who created their own system of morality."
How exactly does this make any sense?