thghts r free.

We once lived in a society where the party leader, the church or our boss dictated what was right and what was wrong. You did not need to ponder on the big questions of life, as you were supposed to give the answers provided by those above you. They knew best. Some liberal minds might say this must have been a sad and sorry state, but have you ever considered how easy it must have been to be told what to think or do, especially when faced with moral dilemmas?

Now we have entered the postmodern era. For most of us old certainties have disappeared. Those who cling on to them are labelled as ‘stuck in the past’ and ‘old fashioned,’ an insult to free thinking. We are expected to be informed individuals, making conscious choices based on our own beliefs and convictions. Now that these are no longer certain it means we are left to figure out many things by ourselves. This can be especially difficult when faced with moral dilemmas. In this age of uncertainty, how do we deal with moral dilemmas?

Let me start with a useful definition of dilemma, which is a difficult situation in which one has to choose between two or more alternatives. We have alternatives available all the time, as the pluralism that characterises our lives has created plentiful options to choose from. We live in a diverse society that houses many views and opinions. As individuals living in this society we all make use of the freedom to oppose or support these views. I believe we do so according to our personal beliefs, needs and desires. Whether we admit to this or not.

Let me illustrated the above with an example of a single Christian woman who falls pregnant by accident. If she considers having an abortion she will have heard many arguments for and against the procedure. Her belief may say that it is wrong to perform the abortion, but she also feels that having a child will ruin the career she desires to have. The choice she has to make can be described as moral dilemma typical for this day and age. A few generations ago she would not have had a choice. She would have had the baby because it would have been expected of her or simply because abortion was illegal. Nowadays she can either listen to the voices of her religious upbringing (which will tell her not to have an abortion) or she can listen to the arguments of pro-choice (which will tell her that only she knows if it is right to have the baby or not). Even though the decision she eventually makes is irrelevant to the central question here, it is a typical example of how most of us deal with moral dilemmas in the postmodern age.

In answer to the question I would like to argue that it is our personal interest that guides most of us in our choices, also when faced with moral dilemmas. We gladly make use of our freedom to choose for what works best for us and for our personal interests and circumstances. This is not to say that we are never influenced by some kind of authority or higher belief, but even when this happens it is often a matter of choice. An interesting quote: “The postmodern (…) dismisses the existence of an absolute reality” (source). Often without realising it, it is this lack of absoluteness that we most miss when making difficult moral choices in life. We may have the freedom of choice but this freedom comes at a price: the sole responsibility for all our decisions and possible mistakes in life. And in some cases these mistakes can be hard to live with.