Morality: Objective and Subjective Morals

Morality refers to human acts and to whether the human acts you choose are good or evil.

• Deals with decision-making regarding practical issues and how individuals live them out.

  • Positive and negative effects of our actions on others and ourselves.

Morals are objective, not subjective — allow us to distinguish between good and evil.

• Objective: there is a set, concrete right and wrong.

• Subjective: the rights or wrongs of actions vary from person to person.

Objective morality gives standards of conduct that are universal rather than conditioned by culture or personal preference.

Morality gives us a good foundation and ability to understand and interpret the world around us.

Requires an understanding of what Catholic thinking can offer.

Moral Relativism (subjective morality) refers to the view that there is no absolute or universal moral law or truth, resulting in a morality determined by cultural factors or personal preferences.

• Indifferent to the good

• Moral judgments are only true or false relative to a particular standpoint, not a universal fact.

• Leads to the need for something more substantial to ground our understanding of happiness, morals, and the human person.