I say that the purpose of morality is to guide your own life so that it is the best, longest life that it can be.
Properly, "society" is a nothing more (or less) than a concept formed by an individual mind to grasp that there are individuals that live in geographical and/or communicative proximity to one another and that deal with each other, somehow. (Everyone alive that meets that criteria, no matter what choices they've made in life, no matter what the impact of those choices is on you, qualifies.) That's it - a society doesn't think, feel, act, etc. It's not an actual entity with the capacity to do those things.
Your only true moral obligation is to your own life, and to the values that such a life requires. In terms of the original question about society, your moral obligation is to those individuals that, in your independent jugement, benefit your life and values.
If you do the difficult, rational work to figure out what are the things and people you truly care about, and pursue those values relentlessly, your actions will not conflict with what they would see is good for them if they did the same.
I say that the purpose of morality is to guide your own life so that it is the best, longest life that it can be.
Properly, "society" is a nothing more (or less) than a concept formed by an individual mind to grasp that there are individuals that live in geographical and/or communicative proximity to one another and that deal with each other, somehow. (Everyone alive that meets that criteria, no matter what choices they've made in life, no matter what the impact of those choices is on you, qualifies.) That's it - a society doesn't think, feel, act, etc. It's not an actual entity with the capacity to do those things.
Your only true moral obligation is to your own life, and to the values that such a life requires. In terms of the original question about society, your moral obligation is to those individuals that, in your independent jugement, benefit your life and values.
If you do the difficult, rational work to figure out what are the things and people you truly care about, and pursue those values relentlessly, your actions will not conflict with what they would see is good for them if they did the same.