Question: Social norms can be divided into several types. There are ethical standards such as giving up your seat to the elderly on public transportation. There are legal regulations such as the prohibition of smoking in public places. There are religious norms regarding the fulfillment of some types of commandments. There are political norms pertaining to establishing certain laws. There are also aesthetic standards, etc.
You often say that love for one’s friend is a law of nature. What is the difference between moral conventions and laws of nature?
Answer: Moral conventions are the laws of human behavior at a given moment. If, in the past, harsh methods of communication were considered proper, even to the point of treating each other cruelly, later these norms changed and became softer, and then even more friendly and so on.
As egoism grew, man kept developing a code of moral norms in order to co-exist with each other more correctly. Thus, we arrived at our present state. In principle, this is the same egoism that governs us and dictates all the norms of our interconnection.
Question: So if norms keep changing throughout history, they cannot be attributed to the laws of nature? After all, if it is a law of nature, it should not change.
Answer: Over time, our egoism changes and we change along with it and establish new laws accordingly.
Question: Who determines whether love for one’s friend is a law or not?
Answer: We don’t define anything. We can only uncover this law of nature and reveal that it exists. In the measure that we recognize how universal it is, we begin to apply it in our lives.
Love of friends is nevertheless a law. It is above us. Therefore, the level of our development dictates how much we want to implement it.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 10/9/20
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