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[VirianLexicon]:[morals of abstinence]

!!!Morals of Abstinence
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Term used to describe the [moral] basis of the majority of monotheistic religions. Said [morals] arise from the social conditions existing at the time the religions originated, as described by Thomas Hobbes; "In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

Accordingly, most religions saw abstinence and sacrifice as being virtues. However, as society has become increasingly affluent said [morals] have become increasingly irrelevant and more permissive [morals] have arisen from secular sources (typified in what could be termed the 'laissez faire' morals of [JohnStuartMill]).

The notion of morals of abstinence also relates to the Virian distinction between [morals] (as a set of inherited prejudices) and [ethics] (as a rationally considered attempt to determine how individuals should interact with one another).

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