 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
In previous chapters it has been argued that the rightness or wrongness of an act depends upon its probable consequences, and not upon its belonging to some class of acts labelled virtuous or sinful without regard to their effects. It is possible to accept this view in the abstract without realizing how contrary it is to received usage. The word “ethics”, and still more the adjective “unethical”, commonly implies some mysterious and inexplicable quality which an act is known to possess in virtue either of a traditional tabu or of some supernatural revelation. This point of view governs the ethical judgments of most people and deeply affects criminal law. It is this point of view that I am calling “superstitious ethics”.
Source: Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, (1954), chapter 12：Superstitious Ethics, n.1
More info.: https://russell-j.com/cool/47T-1201.htm
* a brief comment (Translated with DeepL.com)
Russell follows this up with the following group of propositions as ‘superstitious ethics ’. There are many customs and beliefs of other countries that seem strange to the Japanese, many of whom have no religion, but this does not mean that the Japanese are without prejudice. Think of something that you think is a prejudice of the Japanese.
It is wicked to eat pork;
it is wicked to eat beef;
it is wicked for a widow to evade suttee;
it is wicked to work on Saturdays;
it is wicked to play on Sundays;
it is wicked for two godparents of the same child to marry;
it is wicked to marry one’s deceased wife’s sister, or one’s deceased husband’s brother;
it is wicked to fornicate;
it is wicked to have sexual relations with a member of one’s own sex;
it is wicked to commit suicide.