On Morality

[smoothmoniker]

what the hell time in the morning do you people get up?

Steve, Cat, here's the dichotomy that I'm trying to parse. It's an internal/external question. Without trying to dance among the angels on the question of universals, there seem to be generally normative moral principles that most people hold internally - I shouldn't kill, I shouldn't sleep with my brother's wife then kill her, I shouldn't stand on the street corner and openly mock the homeless, then kill them. You know, the basics.

My question is this. Since every functional moral code is an internal "ought", is it an internal impulse or an external pressure that causes them to step outside that sense of “ought”?

The “good person” handle is just shorthand for somebody whose normal intent is to adhere to that internal moral sense.

-sm