Freedom, License,
and a Way Out
 

“The 19th century was about economic freedom. The 20th century was about political freedom. This century will be about Americans deciding for themselves what’s moral and what’s not.”
 -Alan Wolfe, The New York Times Magazine, March 18, 2001

Many today would agree in describing this age as one increasingly of freedom from moral codes; be they philosophical, social, religious or other types of moral codes.   

All too often, it seems that character, virtue and moral codes don’t seem to matter to Americans. Bill Clinton absolutely demolished George Bush about ten years ago when Bush tried to make character into a campaign issue. Americans tend rather to be interested in “pragmatics,” and in the pocket book issues.   

But isn’t freedom always a good thing, however applied by humanity?  I think not. The 19th century saw serious abuses of the working man including the horror of human slavery; the 20th century brought the political disasters of an elected Führer in Germany, the reaction of Communism, and voter polarization and alienation in America. So this coming century of “moral freedom” may produce abuses equivalent to slavery and Auschwitz. Quite a sobering thought. But how can this happen (again!), you ask?

There are many areas of potential danger in this young century, but the largest dangers lie in the area of medicine. The scientific developments here are most astonishing: soon we shall even map the entire human genome! This will give us unprecedented power and control over human life.  “Moral freedom” from all constraints other than law makes it likely that some truly offensive experiments will take place, and dangerous practices can develop. Without moral rules, or a shared understanding of the moral order, why not eventually clone people? Why not have acres of warehouses stocked with cloned people used for spare parts? Now there’s a new and innovative form of slavery! Presumably, it will eventually be possible for any couple (or individual!) to breed children for the exact characteristics desired. That power and control over nature will surely impact society, evolution, the ratio of males to females, among other things.

Moral discussion can take place on at least five important levels, as you can see in the chart below.

Is there a shared moral code in effect on any of these levels (see table) that will stop these potential nightmares? I don’t think so. Is there even enough moral discourse in our society that might bring about a shared moral understanding about character (virtues), moral principles, or moral rules? Clearly not. Individuals exercise their freedom increasingly apart from the traditional sources of moral discourse: the churches, certain civic organizations, and academia.  So what are we to do to develop a shared moral understanding and thereby avert disasters in this “century of moral freedom?” 

It seems to me that only a creative re-appropriation of our religious, civic, and philosophical traditions can offer us hope.  The re-energizing of all the custodians of moral tradition--those that form our character, give us principles to live by, set rules and boundaries--is essential.  Traditional custodians of moral discourse and hope include the nuclear family, the extended family, neighborhood associations, churches, the Boy and Girl Scouts, the PTA, etc.  Who can doubt that the ties that bind these groups together are weakening? I believe their re-energizing is our largest hope.

We do have reason for hope. For example, I look forward to the “faith-based” initiatives by the present (national) administration. Perhaps they will be successful in re-integrating religious institutions into the pluralistic diversity of American life.  There also seems to be a renewed understanding of the need for families and the community in raising children to be responsible adults. It “takes a whole village to raise a child” some say. Let us hope that such understandings are matched with appropriate action.

Level	Description
Meta ethical	Why even be moral?
The Person	What type of character (virtues) should be aspired to?
Principled	What general principles should be followed?
Rules	What specific rules should guide us?
Concrete Judgments	What is mandated in a particular instance?

Richard Bayer, Ph.D. is an ethicist, an economist and an author on employment economics. He is also co-chair of The Employment Roundtable and COO of The Five O’Clock Club.