The American moral standard has long been “as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody” (ALAIDHA), and this has led to the acceptance of all sorts of immoral behavior. There are so many problems with this “moral theory.”
First, why should anyone think that this is the standard of morality we should be living by? The truth of ALAIDHA is never justified – only assumed. It’s not self-evident at all that this is the standard we should use for moral decision-making.
Second, ALAIDHA is too minimal of an ethic. It’s a purely negative test. It can’t identity what is good – only what is permissible. An ethical system that cannot positively identify the good is not robust enough to be considered a complete ethical system. It must be supplemented with some other ethical system or ethical principles.
Third, ALAIDHA never considers the possibility that the “anyone” includes God. God is offended by our sin. It is a personal affront to Him. It is an act of rebellion against Him. If God is hurt by our actions, then they are morally wrong, even if it were the case that no human is affected.
Fourth, what kind of harm are we talking about? Physical harm? Emotional harm? Spiritual harm? Economic harm? If spiritual harm is a harm to be considered, then many practices that are deemed moral by those who subscribe to ALAIDHA would have to be considered immoral.
Fifth, it completely ignores self-harm. The ALAIDHA principle is more properly stated as “as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else.” This ethic allows people to engage in behaviors that harm themselves. As such, it allows moral evils, so long as those evils only hurt the person choosing those evils. Essentially, this ethic is a form of libertarianism, and as such, it suffers from many of the same criticisms.
Thinking to Believe 
June 1, 2023 at 2:24 pm
Jason, you are correct to note that this particular moral system is insufficiently vague to serve as an adequate guidepost for moral behavior. However, you write:
Although this is true, and although you identify the good in God, you have yet to provide a clear exposition precisely what goodness is and why God is good. We’ve had some interaction about this in the past, so I’m hoping with this post you’ll provide a more detailed account of your system.
LikeLike
June 1, 2023 at 2:30 pm
“ALAIDHA” is usually used as one of the heuristics for whether the state should (not) be legislating against some behavior. It certainly should not be used as a more general moral heuristic.
LikeLike
June 1, 2023 at 6:48 pm
TR, I dont disagree but isnt it really “ALAIDHA” Else? but someone else usually always gets hurt. but you cant legislate morality and you cant protect people from themselves so we are damned if we do/damned if we dont. but if we go down that road where does it end? does the govt pass laws on what we eat, drink, how much we exercise, etc……….?
LikeLike
June 5, 2023 at 8:42 am
I don’t usually agree with Paul on, well, anything, but I have to agree here. This is why a secular society is so important…because otherwise whatever religion or philosophical stance gets into the majority would be able to decide what is and isn’t moral.
For example, if you’re Protestant but Catholics get into power, do you want them to decide what is and isn’t moral? How about the reverse? Or how about if Muslims or Hindus get into power? Have a look at what’s going on in Iran or India to see what a nightmare that would be for any other religion. People are being beheaded, immolated and hanged just for perceived blasphemy by people from other religions.
Interpretation of scripture can lead many adherents of even the same religion to be violently opposed to each other. I’ve seen Christians on both sides of issues use the Bible to justify their moral positions, from slavery to creating representative art.
To avoid this sort of sectarian strife is the main reason our founding fathers made our Constitution secular. It’s FAR easier to define behaviors that are bad than those that are good for society, so freedom should be the default. That’s why ALAIDHA is arguably the best foundation upon which to build a society.
LikeLike
June 5, 2023 at 8:44 am
I don’t usually agree with Paul on, well, anything, but I have to agree here. This is why a secular society is so important…because otherwise whatever religion or philosophical stance gets into the majority would be able to decide what is and isn’t moral.
For example, if you’re Protestant but Catholics get into power, do you want them to decide what is and isn’t moral? How about the reverse? Or how about if Muslims or Hindus get into power? Have a look at what’s going on in Iran or India to see what a nightmare that would be for any other religion. People are being beheaded, immolated and hanged just for perceived blasphemy by people from other religions.
Interpretation of scripture can lead many adherents of even the same religion to be violently opposed to each other. I’ve seen Christians on both sides of issues use the Bible to justify their moral positions, from slavery to creating representative art.
To avoid this sort of sectarian strife is the main reason our founding fathers made our Constitution secular. It’s FAR easier to define behaviors that are bad than those that are good for society, so freedom should be the default. That’s why ALAIDHA is arguably the best foundation upon which to build a society.
LikeLike
June 6, 2023 at 12:14 pm
The word moral, as an adjective, means, in part:
concerned with or relating to human behaviour, esp the distinction between good and bad or right and wrong behaviour: moral sense
adhering to conventionally accepted standards of conduct
All law—all of it—is an expression of conventionally accepted standards of conduct and spells out society’s rules distinguishing good and bad behavior in a legal sense. Thus, a “government of laws, and not of men,” is a government with moral precepts. To avoid legislating morality, one must avoid legislating altogether. And that of course gives us anarchy.
LikeLike