Topics Ethics

Question I hear a lot of talk about how "the people are correct" and the saying "one million people can't be wrong." However, there has to be some absolutist force present some of the time to keep anything and everything from becoming chaotic. For example, when sending soldiers off to a war that will violate human rights, but which is widely supported by the people, some would argue that makes it the right thing to do. On the other hand, imagine the pickle the world would be in if people had taken that standpoint towards Nazi Germany, and no one had stepped in. Can the masses truly be morally wrong, or does widespread belief of something make it right absolutely?

Accepted:
June 27, 2010

Comments

Yes, the majority can be wrong about any number of issues from ethics to philosophy or religion. Perhaps only some form of conceptual or moral relativism (in which X is right is defined in terms of a society approving of X) or providential theology (e.g. God would not allow the majority of a people to fall into error) could make the majority of people a determinant of truth. There might, however, be a more modest principle worthy of consideration. If you are in a society in which the vast majority of people believe X, this may provide some reason for you to consider whether X is true. There has also been a movement in philosophy that had its heyday in the Scottish Enlightenment that celebrates the evidential value of common sense. Thomas Reid (1710-1796) was a leading figure, and a more recent representative of this position well worth reading is Roderick Chisholm. But your example of a Nazi society is an important one and should make us cautious about uncritically accepting any majority conviction even if that conviction is assumed by the majority to be common sense. Chisholm was well aware of this and so while he advocated the evidential role of common sense, he did not do so uncritically or without careful scrutiny.