Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site pyuxd.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!pyuxww!pyuxd!rlr From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) Newsgroups: net.philosophy Subject: Re: THe Moral Value of Conformity Message-ID: <1715@pyuxd.UUCP> Date: Tue, 17-Sep-85 00:02:00 EDT Article-I.D.: pyuxd.1715 Posted: Tue Sep 17 00:02:00 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 18-Sep-85 03:07:46 EDT References: <1622@pyuxd.UUCP> <1472@umcp-cs.UUCP> <1647@pyuxd.UUCP> <648@mmintl.UUCP> Organization: Whatever we're calling ourselves this week Lines: 30 > Rich argues that the desire to conform is purely the result of > indoctrination. This does not seem to me to be correct; I think there > is an intrinsic desire to conform. This is a psychological issue, not > a philosophic one. [ADAMS] Intrinsic? Or rooted in that societal pressure and indoctrination? > In terms of morals, I would give much greater importance to independence > and/or freedom than to conformity. I would assign a zero or negative > value to conformity, however. Hear, hear! > There are certain instances where conformity has strong value. Which side > of the road one drives on, for example. In other cases, the value is > similar, but much less; one knows what to expect and can deal with it > more easily. This potentially helps both the person conforming and the > other person, since one may be harmed (ranging from annoyance on up) by > inappropriate behavior by those around us. Let me emphasize that I believe > this is generally of truly minor import, and of considerably less importance > than, for example, personal whim. But there are cases covering the whole > spectrum. I think we can distinguish between conventions adhered to for things like safety reasons (like driving regulations) and conforming to the exclusion of self-expression solely for the purpose of conforming. -- Meanwhile, the Germans were engaging in their heavy cream experiments in Finland, where the results kept coming out like Swiss cheese... Rich Rosen ihnp4!pyuxd!rlr