[Lord of Angmar]

Murder, assault, theft etc. were not conducive to the furtherance of society, and were therefore branded as immoral. (Saucepan Man)

Are we talking about the intellectual, social and spiritual advancement of a society or the physical advancement of a society? If we are talking about the latter, look no further than Rome for an outlier in your theory. The Romans assailed countless smaller nations, stole their land and slaughtered their soldiers and even civilians. They took slaves, showered praise upon "heroes" of war, and enjoyed daily the spectacle of death and carnage as an entertainment form. Yet certainly they were an extremely imposing society whose citizens (if not all of their members) were generally well-educated and enjoyed a high standard of living relative to other places at the time. One could come to the logical conclusion that the Roman Empire was by and large rooted in what we would consider immoral acts, yet as a society they flourished.

Tolkien's belief that morals are rooted in human beings rather than bestowed upon humans by the society in which they live is apparent in the Silmarillion. It is known that the Elves will be wise, beautiful and moral beings even before they appear in Middle Earth. When faced with the trickery and deception of Morgoth during their long wars with him, the Elves and Edain remain (for the most part) moral in their actions, despite the fact that their purposes might be advanced better if they stooped to the level of Morgoth in deceit and treacherous warfare.

I am highly dubious about the possibility for a rational justification of morality (Aiwendil)

I think, happily, that one can rationally justify what we would call a life of morality and virtue. I would say that the phrase "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," would loosely sum up a virtuous way to live life. I agree that not all cultures can be set in the same code of morality, as many cultures are and have been more survivalist and 'uncivilized' (a term I hate to use, but in this sense I mean to use it not so much as 'barbaric' but as 'less organized/structured') than our own. However, in the context of most of our own societies, and in the context of Professor Tolkien's world, the "Do Unto Others" proverb seems to serve as a basic guideline for moral action.

[ October 25, 2003: Message edited by: Lord of Angmar ]