This will be a long thread for sure. I have to say lot about it and there are many nuances to consider.
I am not sure whether the term hypermorality is commonly used. I am from Germany and we have some words which pretty depict very well the difference.
In German it is easier to talk about it. There are words and sayings about it. Fun fact a stereotype about Germans is that they are hypermoralistic.
There is the saying. "Am deutschen Wesen soll die Welt genesen." It is very hard to translate it. But I try it. The German essence shall heal the world. Then there is also the word "moralinsauer". Also this cannot really be translated in a literal way. The best translation which seems to come close to it might be self-righteous. So it has a negative connotation.
With hypermoralism I want to express that someone presents himself as morally superior. And I had the feeling some people might think that about me. I am quite interested in ethics and I often have a strong opinion on certain topics. This might contribute to this notion about me. I think there are several of my considerations and principles which might lead to that.
I have the strong inner impetus for justice and certain ethical principles. Probably because I know from my own experience how unfair life can be I want to express at least my concerns about the state of this world. I think this world is pretty cruel and unfair. To an extent that I am shocked how nightmarish this experience called life can be. I want to side with people who are in my opinion exposed to injustice.
However there comes many problem with that. Life is not black and white. Often we cannot make a clear statement whether someone is clearly evil or good. Sometimes there is no clear dichotomy this person always was a bully and this person always was a victim. Though I absolutely don't want to say by that that this differentiation was obsolete.
Maybe one more acecdote. Many people say some political groups tend to hypermoralistic behavior. In my country they often say this about the Green party. One example is their approach to foreign policy. They say we should boycott undemocratic regimes, sanction them and often don't talk with them. Or at least having less business deals with them. Personally I don't vote for the Greens. And I have more pragmatic approach to foreing policy. However one could replace pragmatic with naive and hypermoralistic (towards the Greens) with hypocritical. Personally I don't think a foreign policy which solely consists of morality works. I think it is a cruel fact that you have to talk to cruel mass-murdering dictators to find a solution for practical problems. I don't want to get to pollitical but I told this anecdote for a purpose. For me there is a certain difference between morality and hypermorality. And denying to talk with people with opposite opinions raher seems to be detrimental for me. Through a conversation you can reach a lot of things. Sometimes people get hurt by it and there are words expressed which inflict pain though I think talking to each other is essential to understand each other better.
Even though there are a lot of nuances to consider and I won't elaborate on all. Sometimes conversations do not lead to anything. Sometimes the world view is so diametrical that both people just get mad at each other and there is no real benefit of it.
Okay I will go on. I think sometimes I express unpopular opinions in this forum that might offend people. For example my stance that watching real life gore is probably in many cases immoral (in my point of view). Though I have the feeling especially when something is deeply unpopluar one should express it in my opinion. Otherwise there is the danger of echo chambers especially on the internet. I think contrarianism is quite interesting but maybe due to the fact I often use words like immoral or moral one thinks I might be hypermoralistic.
Personally I think we are here in a suicide forum with a lot of vulnerable people. Suicide is a topic which invokes many ethical questions (due to that we should talk openly about concerns). And seemingly I am not the only one who is interested into philosophy. I might don't have in-depth knowledge but I think if one has concerns about certain topics one should express them. I mean I am just honest and open about what I think. I have the feeling sometimes there is a truth or at least a certain thought people don't dare to say. Sometimes there are people who might agree with you but did not have the courage to talk about it. But one could interpret it differently. One could call it courage to talk about concerns or as annoying because it can feel to people as if one wants to lecture other people. (due to the notion of moral superiority.)
I think the perception of it is probably quite subjective. I am not an expert on it but I think there are also very subjective notions of what for example justice means. One could debate for myriads of hours about morality. Even though the notion of it seems to be subjective one can debate about it. It is a normative question which does not mean all opinions have the same value of truth. It is rather about the line of argumentation and whether there is a certain inherent logic in the arguments about it.
Probably your own stance about what justice means to you is pretty much shaped due to your biography and maybe genes/personality.
So that is my opinion on it. I don't pretend to have the objective truth on this topic though.
What do you think?
I am not sure whether the term hypermorality is commonly used. I am from Germany and we have some words which pretty depict very well the difference.
In German it is easier to talk about it. There are words and sayings about it. Fun fact a stereotype about Germans is that they are hypermoralistic.
There is the saying. "Am deutschen Wesen soll die Welt genesen." It is very hard to translate it. But I try it. The German essence shall heal the world. Then there is also the word "moralinsauer". Also this cannot really be translated in a literal way. The best translation which seems to come close to it might be self-righteous. So it has a negative connotation.
With hypermoralism I want to express that someone presents himself as morally superior. And I had the feeling some people might think that about me. I am quite interested in ethics and I often have a strong opinion on certain topics. This might contribute to this notion about me. I think there are several of my considerations and principles which might lead to that.
I have the strong inner impetus for justice and certain ethical principles. Probably because I know from my own experience how unfair life can be I want to express at least my concerns about the state of this world. I think this world is pretty cruel and unfair. To an extent that I am shocked how nightmarish this experience called life can be. I want to side with people who are in my opinion exposed to injustice.
However there comes many problem with that. Life is not black and white. Often we cannot make a clear statement whether someone is clearly evil or good. Sometimes there is no clear dichotomy this person always was a bully and this person always was a victim. Though I absolutely don't want to say by that that this differentiation was obsolete.
Maybe one more acecdote. Many people say some political groups tend to hypermoralistic behavior. In my country they often say this about the Green party. One example is their approach to foreign policy. They say we should boycott undemocratic regimes, sanction them and often don't talk with them. Or at least having less business deals with them. Personally I don't vote for the Greens. And I have more pragmatic approach to foreing policy. However one could replace pragmatic with naive and hypermoralistic (towards the Greens) with hypocritical. Personally I don't think a foreign policy which solely consists of morality works. I think it is a cruel fact that you have to talk to cruel mass-murdering dictators to find a solution for practical problems. I don't want to get to pollitical but I told this anecdote for a purpose. For me there is a certain difference between morality and hypermorality. And denying to talk with people with opposite opinions raher seems to be detrimental for me. Through a conversation you can reach a lot of things. Sometimes people get hurt by it and there are words expressed which inflict pain though I think talking to each other is essential to understand each other better.
Even though there are a lot of nuances to consider and I won't elaborate on all. Sometimes conversations do not lead to anything. Sometimes the world view is so diametrical that both people just get mad at each other and there is no real benefit of it.
Okay I will go on. I think sometimes I express unpopular opinions in this forum that might offend people. For example my stance that watching real life gore is probably in many cases immoral (in my point of view). Though I have the feeling especially when something is deeply unpopluar one should express it in my opinion. Otherwise there is the danger of echo chambers especially on the internet. I think contrarianism is quite interesting but maybe due to the fact I often use words like immoral or moral one thinks I might be hypermoralistic.
Personally I think we are here in a suicide forum with a lot of vulnerable people. Suicide is a topic which invokes many ethical questions (due to that we should talk openly about concerns). And seemingly I am not the only one who is interested into philosophy. I might don't have in-depth knowledge but I think if one has concerns about certain topics one should express them. I mean I am just honest and open about what I think. I have the feeling sometimes there is a truth or at least a certain thought people don't dare to say. Sometimes there are people who might agree with you but did not have the courage to talk about it. But one could interpret it differently. One could call it courage to talk about concerns or as annoying because it can feel to people as if one wants to lecture other people. (due to the notion of moral superiority.)
I think the perception of it is probably quite subjective. I am not an expert on it but I think there are also very subjective notions of what for example justice means. One could debate for myriads of hours about morality. Even though the notion of it seems to be subjective one can debate about it. It is a normative question which does not mean all opinions have the same value of truth. It is rather about the line of argumentation and whether there is a certain inherent logic in the arguments about it.
Probably your own stance about what justice means to you is pretty much shaped due to your biography and maybe genes/personality.
So that is my opinion on it. I don't pretend to have the objective truth on this topic though.
What do you think?
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