'Should We Be Moral Relativists: Reflections on Addiction in North America

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'Should We Be Moral Relativists?'
Reflections on Addiction in North America

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Bernard Gert, defines morality in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy*:

"The term 'morality' can be used either:

• Descriptively to refer to some codes of conduct put forward by a society; or some other group, such as a religion; or, accepted by an individual for her own behavior.

• Normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons."

Moral relativism explains that moral judgments may be formed differently by many different people and across various human cultures. The concept can be examined in the following three contexts.

• Descriptive moral relativism argues that some people (individually and culturally) disagree about what is considered moral.

• Meta-ethical moral relativism sets out that in such disagreements, individual or cultural, moral points of view should not be considered in terms of being 'right' or 'wrong'

• Further, 'Normative moral relativism' argues that without attaching judgements of right or wrong to individual, or cultural, moral points of view, we must then tolerate others behaviour, even though we might disagree in terms of the morality of the behavior. (Moral Relativism: Wikipedia: 2014).

This invokes the question:  Should we practice moral relativism as a society?  For the sake of example, lets discuss morality and relativism, by examining a most marginalized groups of human-beings in North America: the drug-addicted.

We might all agree that 'law' alone establishes our cultural definitions of morality in North America.  Illicit drug-use is against the law, so it must be immoral.  The addicted, however, abandon this collective agreement of morality.  They use drugs, in spite of the law. This leaves us with the non-addicted group viewing themselves as 'moral', while the addicted group is judged as living 'immorally'.

In the addicted community, issues of morality, are abandoned.  Drug use, to them, has no moral implications or judgements attached.  They may accept that using illicit drugs is harmful to them.  They might tell us that addiction is an illness.  But, they don't believe they are morally corrupt, in spite of what the law might say.

Two populations; living two different experiences; with two opposing points of view on morality, in conflict.  'Morality' translated to 'Law', creates this conflict.

Dr. Gabor Mate', in his best-selling book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, counters both notions of addiction as either a disease or as  a moral failure:

• "Dr. Maté, who for twelve years practiced medicine in Vancouver’s notorious Downtown Eastside – North America’s most concentrated area of drug use . . . Shows how the behavioural addictions of society’s more fortunate members – including himself – differ only in degree of severity from the drug habits of his Downtown Eastside patients . . ."  (http://drgabormate.com/book/in-the-realm-of-hungry-ghosts/). **

Statistics, from the United States, suggests that a moralistic approach to drug addiction is failing.  Drug Use Facts.org, reports the following:

• "The rate of current illicit drug use among persons aged 12 or older increased from 8.1 percent in 2008 to 9.2 percent in 2012. The rate in 2012 was similar to the rates in 2009 to 2011 (ranging from 8.7 to 8.9 percent), but it was higher than the rates in the years from 2002 to 2008 (ranging from 7.9 to 8.3 percent)." - See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Drug_Usage#Overview" ***

In Hungry Ghosts, Dr. Mate' offers a solution to the moral conflict, by asking us to turn to a developmental understanding of addiction:

• Addictive tendencies arise in the parts of our brains governing some of our most basic and life-sustaining needs and functions: incentive and motivation, physical and emotional pain relief, the regulation of stress, and the capacity to feel and receive love.

• These brain circuits develop, or don’t develop, largely under the influence of the nurturing environment in early life.  Addiction represents a failure of these crucial systems to mature in the way nature intended.

• The human brain continues to develop new circuitry throughout the lifespan.  Dr. Maté examines the current mainstream by examining addictive patterns in what we would define as 'morally acceptable'^ addictions (^ emphasis, this addition, mine).(http://drgabormate.com/book/in-the-realm-of-hungry-ghosts/). **

Dr. Mate' has examined the drug issue from both cultural views.  If we were to adopt his vision of addiction, we could move towards new policies, rooted in understanding and 'healing'.  We could practice empathy and approach the addicted culture with compassion. 'Relativism' ends 'moral judgement'.  We could then accept the truth of addiction and the realities of life for the addicted in North America.

'Should we be, moral relativists'? 

"Walk a mile in your brothers shoes and understand."

Practicing 'moral relativism', might well teach us, how to do, just that.
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References 

**Gabor Maté, In the realm of hungry ghosts. Close encounters with addiction: 2008.  Random House,Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

(http://drgabormate.com/book/in-the-realm-of-hungry-ghosts/).

*Gert, Bernard, "The Definition of Morality", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), (http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/morality-definition/).

***Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Rockville, MD: (http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Drug_Usage#Overview)

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