#69: What’s Morals? (PART 1)

【Custom & Norm?】
An ancient Greek historian from around 2500 years ago, Herodotus wrote of an astonishing custom of Callatians, a tribe that lived in the region now known as India. According to his book The Histories – often credited as the first ever history book written – Callatian people customarily ate the bodies of their dead fathers.
 
Upon hearing of this fact, perhaps as many of us would do today, the ancient Greeks exclaimed, “Unbelievable, it’s morally wrong for us to eat dead people!!”
 
Then, the ancient Greeks explained about their own customs of cremation/burial to the Callatians, who likewise exclaimed, “Unbelievable, it’s morally wrong for us to burn and throw away our dead fathers!!”
 
In all fairness, when we elevate ourselves to adopt a broad perspective, we can surely show at least a certain degree of understanding to both arguments. For most of us modern-day people, cremation/burial is a familiar practice, and we regard it as the fitting way to respectfully dispose of the dead, to bring the surviving family a closure. Yet, when we take a moment and deliberately remove that ingrained bias, we can begin to see that the two arguments – eating vs cremating/burying – are a mere difference in customs and really nothing more.  
 
And as we deep dive into this difference in customs, at some point we’ll come across the concept of Cultural Relativism. This concept challenges our ordinary belief with objectivity, and asks us to accept the unfamiliar cultures even when they appear completely foreign to our own. That is, when we apply Cultural Relativism, we humbly admit that any one custom cannot be construed as “correct” or “incorrect” just because they’re different from our own. From a perspective of accepting the unfamiliar, this idea is truly a noble starting point.
 
For the ancient Greeks and us modern-day people, our custom of cremation/burial of the dead is the norm. It’s because that’s what’s familiar, a seemingly fitting way to respectfully dispose of the dead.
 
Likewise, for the Callatian people, the custom of eating their dead fathers is the norm. Again, it’s because that’s what’s familiar, a seemingly fitting way to respectfully dispose of the dead.
 
Naturally, a good reason often accompanies any practice that evolves into a custom or the norm. For example, in the case of the Callatian people eating the bodies of their dead fathers, that reason may perhaps be a spiritual one, that the surviving family members wishing for their father to live on within their own bodies.
 
On the other hand, in the case of the ancient Greeks and us modern-day people cremating/burying the dead, that reason may also be a spiritual one, that all came from the ground shall return to the ground. Or, it may be a public health reason, to prevent an epidemic.
 
As disparate as these customs may appear, in truth, they’re likely founded upon a common ground that reflects our affection and respect for the loved ones who‘ve passed away.
 
And it simply means that a certain practice is continued because there’s a good reason to do so. When such practice is carried out and carried on by the majority, that practice becomes a custom or the norm. 
 
What’s more, as times change, it’s fairly common for some customs to live on even when the original reason is no longer relevant. In such cases, a new reason takes over, which may be as simple as that’s how we’ve always done it.

Nonetheless, as we deepen our thoughts into the concept of morality, despite such practice deemed a custom, the norm, or derived from a good reason, that in and of itself doesn’t make it morally correct. 
 
So then, if it’s not a custom or the norm, what’s morals?

Read Next: What’s Morals? (2)【Moral Boundary】
 
Complete Series: What’s Morals? (1)～(8)
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Read Theme: Morality