Chapter 20
The source of morality
There are conflicting theories about the source of morality. People of faith say God is the source of morality. Atheists say morality doesn't have a source, it's just common decency, the source of which is unknown or not to be investigated. Philosophers point to God, "a priori ideas", evolution or comiseration as potential sources. Psychologists have established that morality is deeply rooted in the human psyche, but they have not identified a source for it.
Does morality have a single source that we can ascertain? Let's first see whether the question is relevant and valid.
Some people claim they are not moral because of some factor, they're moral because they want to be moral. These people represent a tiny minority in society. Everyone else claims to be moral for some reason or other, whether it's God, law-abidance or humanism. The question regarding the source of morality is thus a relevant and valid one for the vast majority of people.
The fact that there isn't a single source we could agree on seems like a problem, but the solution is that most people need a source, ANY source for morality. Morality has to have a reference, i.e. I'm moral because of some factor I call... (insert the name of your source here).
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