John Campbell quote essay
Lily Wang
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
“The moral order has to catch up with the moral necessities of actual life in time, here and now.” What Joseph Campbell means is that people who are living now have to live by their own morals and standards, not those of their previous generations. The “moral order” he talks about is the set of values and ethics people follow in daily life. As time progresses, society changes, and its social norms have to change along with it.
Just in 2013, France revoked their law of banning women from wearing pants in Paris. Racial segregation in the US only ended in 1968, and segregated legislation in South Africa had only been fully dismantled by 1994. And since the development of cellular phones, it has become the norm to own a mobile phone, an account on a social network, or some form of email. These new developments have resulted in the expectation of instant communication; therefore smartphones are a social necessity. The presence of cellphones has resulted in new social norms. It is considered rude to text or talk on a cell phone in a movie theater, and teachers have to remind students to turn off their cellphones in the classroom.
A current example of where social norms have to change to match the social values of the time is dealing with homosexuality. In the past, it was considered a mental illness, as if a homosexual was something broken and needed to be fixed. As a result of this view, conversion therapy was developed, in an attempt to change sexuality from gay to straight. It included treatments such as electrical shock therapy, in order to prevent or eliminate the immoral behavior from individuals.
People today believe that homosexual orientations are natural, and that it is normal to identify as gay or lesbian. They believe that individuals have the right to love whomever they choose, and it should not matter who people wish to love or marry, regardless of their gender. The idea of romantic equality and
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
“The moral order has to catch up with the moral necessities of actual life in time, here and now.” What Joseph Campbell means is that people who are living now have to live by their own morals and standards, not those of their previous generations. The “moral order” he talks about is the set of values and ethics people follow in daily life. As time progresses, society changes, and its social norms have to change along with it.
Just in 2013, France revoked their law of banning women from wearing pants in Paris. Racial segregation in the US only ended in 1968, and segregated legislation in South Africa had only been fully dismantled by 1994. And since the development of cellular phones, it has become the norm to own a mobile phone, an account on a social network, or some form of email. These new developments have resulted in the expectation of instant communication; therefore smartphones are a social necessity. The presence of cellphones has resulted in new social norms. It is considered rude to text or talk on a cell phone in a movie theater, and teachers have to remind students to turn off their cellphones in the classroom.
A current example of where social norms have to change to match the social values of the time is dealing with homosexuality. In the past, it was considered a mental illness, as if a homosexual was something broken and needed to be fixed. As a result of this view, conversion therapy was developed, in an attempt to change sexuality from gay to straight. It included treatments such as electrical shock therapy, in order to prevent or eliminate the immoral behavior from individuals.
People today believe that homosexual orientations are natural, and that it is normal to identify as gay or lesbian. They believe that individuals have the right to love whomever they choose, and it should not matter who people wish to love or marry, regardless of their gender. The idea of romantic equality and