Now, before you get riled up at the title of this post, note what I mean when I say that it isn’t moral. I don’t think it’s immoral either; in fact, it has absolutely nothing to do with morality.

People like to see morality as a universally applicable tool to judge the motivation behind our behaviour, but in reality, not everything is a moral dillemma. Plenty of things we do aren’t moral or immoral, they’re what we call “amoral”.

In fact, most of what we do on a daily basis would be considered amoral. Luckily, we have a foolproof way to help determine what is and what isn’t a question of morality.

First, we need what’s called a “moral agent”; a living, thinking being that can deliberate and process thought rationally and therefore can under the right circumstances be judged for their actions; and second, we need the action at hand to have some sort of effect on human wellbeing.

In cases where we have a moral agent but their action has no effect on other creatures wellbeing, such as an old lady crossing the street, we can’t possibly pass judgement on the woman. In cases where we have an immoral act being carried out by a being that cannot decide for itself, such as the act of a baby crying all throughout the night, we also can’t pass judgement.

Only that which falls inside the moral sphere deserves judgement. That’s why things like getting a tattoo or homosexuality are neither moral nor immoral, they’re amoral.

If you’d like a better understanding of the various ways people view the concept of amorality and how it fits into a world with good & evil, look no further than my video on amorality below.

Happy Pride Month!