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10
Introduction
itthuspossibletodefinesomeprinciplesapplicableatleasttocertain
socialgroups?Arewe,ineverydaypracticeofourlives,condemned
toethicalminimalismandrelativism,orissomeother,hiddenproc-
esstakingplace?Orperhapsthepluralismofworldviewsandaxio-
logicalstandpointsisalsocontributingtothediscoveryoftrueval-
ues,thatis,suchasresisttheflowoftime?Inoureverydaylives,we
oftenmistakestandardsofconduct,customsandritualsforvalues
whichendowthemwithmeaning.Canappropriatereflection,taking
intoaccountmanypointsofview,leadtomoralprogress?Does
progressconcernthesphereofthemoralconsciousnessandchanges
inmoralpractices,ordoesitrefertotheveryhierarchyofvalues?
Thereisafundamentaldifferencebetweenrelativismandthetempo-
rarynatureofnormativesolutions.Ifwedecidethataparticularactis
properhereandhow,whilebeingawarethatitsevaluationmay
changeinthefuture–thisdoesnotmeanrelativismyet,understood
aslatitudeinmakingchoices.
Inphilosophy,particularlyinethics,whatisalsoneededisreflec-
tionwhichtakesintoaccountthetimefactor.Individualandsocial
timehasalreadybeenmentionedabove.Butthebasisforthesedelib-
erationsisthetimeofourconsciousness,andthusalsoofouridentity.
Forthefutureispushingitswayintothepresent,changinginintothe
past.AlotwassaidonthatsubjectbyHusserl,aswellassomeothers.
Whatwedomustbereflectedupon,otherwisewewillstartloosing
thatwhichisspecificallyhuman.Wewanttotakeacloserlookatthe
relationshipbetweentimeandmoralactstakenconsciously,reflec-
tively.Theproblemoftimeisveryimportantforabetterunderstand-
ingofresponsibility,whichisunderstoodtodaymorebroadlythanjust
liabilityforourfreechoices.Itisalsoresponsibilityforboththeexist-
enceoftheworldandthehumankind,andforthewellbeingofgenera-
tionstocome.Responsibility,intoday’smeaningoftheword,has
areferencetosociallifesometimeinthefuture,evenoverextended
periodsoftime.Canwe,however,freelystretchthescopeofthisno-
tionwithoutmakingittooambiguous,or,evenworse,looseitsmean-
ingaltogether?Seeingthatonecannotpossiblytakesuchgreatre-
sponsibilityupononeself,andthusitcaneasilybeevaded?