Openness to further reconstruction: interactions with religion, science, and technology
8. References
Primary references: Rawls, Habermas, Kohlberg, Gramsci, Foucault
Complementary references: social construction theory, transcendent ethics, Islamic/Indonesian moral philosophy
1. Introduction
In the landscape of moral philosophy, the past century has witnessed dominant frameworks that seek to universalize ethical reasoning. From John Rawls' theory of justice that builds on rational choice and fairness, to Jrgen Habermas' communicative ethics centered on ideal speech situations, and Lawrence Kohlberg's developmental stages of moral reasoning, these models have shaped academic discourse, educational curricula, and even policy-making. However, these paradigms, while groundbreaking in their contexts, struggle to adequately address the moral complexity of a world increasingly characterized by pluralism, power asymmetries, digital manipulation, and post-truth dynamics.
Contemporary moral challenges often escape the grasp of neat categorical reasoning. Individuals frequently act based on emotional resonance, communal identity, or spiritual imperatives that cannot be reduced to procedural rationality or linear moral development. Moreover, global phenomena---such as political polarization, climate crisis, and technological disruption, demand an ethical response that recognizes not only the individual agent, but also the multi-layered social forces that shape moral consciousness and action.
In this context, Asep Setiawan's Hierarchy of Moral Systems offers a compelling alternative. Developed through critical reflection on social and political realities, this framework delineates five overlapping and interacting levels of moral structure: (1) individual morality, (2) consensual morality, (3) authoritative morality, (4) hegemonic morality, and (5) transcendent morality. Unlike models that assume moral development follows a linear progression toward abstraction or rational universality, Setiawan's model embraces the nonlinear, stratified, and contested nature of moral life.
This paper proposes a theoretical reconstruction of moral philosophy by positioning the Setiawan hierarchy as both a descriptive and normative framework. It aims to demonstrate how this model not only complements but also surpasses the scope of Rawls, Habermas, and Kohlberg, particularly in addressing the moral ambiguity and power-laden context of the 21st century.
We argue that moral reasoning today must move beyond ideal theory toward a "moral polyphony"-an approach that acknowledges the simultaneous presence of competing moral registers, shaped by history, authority, ideology, and spirituality. By rethinking moral philosophy through this layered structure, we open space for a more pluralistic, reflexive, and context-sensitive ethics, a necessary evolution for our turbulent era.
2. Literature Review
