Michael Shermer Quotes

Moral liberty is the power of following, in all circumstances, our sense of right and wrong, or of acting in conformity to our reflecting and moral principles, without being controlled by any contrary principles.

One might rationally argue that individual human beings should be free choose what moral behavior they approve of, and which they don't, subject to the constraints of the law.

The cause of all human evils is the not being able to apply general principles to special cases.

Our moral traditions developed concurrently with our reason, not as its product.

There is no particular Socratic or Dimechian or Kantian way to live your life. They don't offer ethical codes and standards by which to live your life.

I would like us to think about it more explicitly, and not take our intuitions as the given of ethics, but rather to reflect on it, and be more open about the fact that something is an ethical issues and think what we ought to do about it.

There's a great deal of difference between thinking reflectively about moral issues and achieving higher standards of ethical behavior.

Kant taught us that we should follow just those rules of conduct that we would want everybody to follow. Few find this generalization of The Golden Rule a great help.

If you say morality is just what you like, you lose the metaphysical level of what in the history of philosophy is called 'categorical imperative.'

More important than your obligation to follow your conscience, or at least prior to it, is your obligation to form your conscience correctly.

To be moral involves taking a position towards that matrix, thinking critically about what is taken for granted.

It is fairly easy to grasp abstract moral principles; it can be very difficult to apply them to a given situation, particularly when it involves the moral character of another person.

[R]eason is... given to us as a practical faculty, that is, as one that influences the will.

The great thing about being the only species that makes a distinction between right and wrong is that we can make up the rules for ourselves as we go along.

If we try to define our own moral universe, there's a price for that.

The first duty of man is to take none of the principles of conduct upon trust; to do nothing without a clear and individual conviction that it is right to be done.

Conscience, man's moral medicine chest.

The rules of morality are not the conclusion of our reason.

All moral laws are merely statements that certain kinds of actions will have good effects.

My work is based on the assumption that clarity and consistency in our moral thinking is likely, in the long run, to lead us to hold better views on ethical issues.

They tend to be pretty abstract ones then, like doing what will have the best consequences; obviously you wouldn't specify what consequences are best, they may be different in some circumstances, so at a lower, more specific level, you may well get differences.

What can I know? What ought I to do? What can I hope?

The power of choosing good and evil is within the reach of all.

One has only as much morality as one has philosophy and poetry.

The individual makes a clear effort to define moral values and principles that have validity and application apart from the authority of the groups of persons holding them and apart from the individual's own identification with the group.