C.S. Lewis confronted the problem of morality in accordance to the Law of Human Nature and how humans perceive it in "The Poison of Subjectivism". Lewis states, "Against this view the modern mind has two lines of defence. The first claims that traditional morality is different in different times and places- in fact, that there is not one morality but a thousand. The second exclaims that to tie ourselves to an immutable moral code is to cut off all progress and acquiesce in stagnation. Both are unsound."
George Bernard Shaw once stated that "progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything". Progress is inevitable in the world around us. We constantly are confronted with new and better technology. Looking back only a decade ago, I can already see the different lifestyles and mindsets that people had. Although progress is essential to the lifestyles we live, I do believe that some ideas have always been constant. Lewis gives the example of how space has always been and yet is not stagnant nor does it cut off progress. "Space does not stink because it has preserved its three dimensions from the beginning. The square on the hypotenuse has not gone moldy by continuing to equal the sum of the squares on the other two sides".
Lewis also addressed the fact that there is evidence throughout history that ideas are connected from different time periods. Lewis gives examples of connections and advancement from different times on similar concepts. "From the Stoic and Confucian, 'Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you'; to the Christian, 'Do as you would be don by' is a real advance." There are many connections just like this found throughout history.
I find it hard to believe that some people argue against one set moral code. If we do not have a main idea of what is right or wrong, then how can we defend any of our moral ideas? There has to be one long lasting moral code that we took in order to base all of our beliefs off of.
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Hey Kristen, I liked that you brought up how the world around us is constantly progressing and changing. I agree that some ideas have been constant throughout time. One example of this is God's church. No matter what was going on in the world at the time, God always preserved His church. I find it strange as well that some people think there is more than one set of moral code. How can something bad change into something good throughout the course of time, and why would our ideas about that change? Great post!
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