While various scholars have attempted to diversify moral frameworks---such as Alasdair MacIntyre's virtue ethics, Michael Walzer's spheres of justice, or Foucault's ethics of subjectivation---these efforts often remain fragmented or insular to specific philosophical traditions. None offers a holistic stratification of moral sources that explains how individual values, social consensus, legal authority, ideological hegemony, and metaphysical beliefs interact, conflict, or co-evolve.
This is where Asep Setiawan's Hierarchy of Moral Systems makes a significant theoretical contribution. It does not reject the insights of previous models but reframes them within a broader architecture that includes power dynamics, cultural memory, spiritual consciousness, and the performative dimension of morality. By situating this model in conversation with these foundational thinkers, the next section outlines how a theoretical reconstruction of moral philosophy can proceed.
3. The Setiawan Moral Hierarchy: Structure and Origins
3.1 Conceptual Genesis
The Hierarchy of Moral Systems formulated by Asep Setiawan emerges not from abstract theorizing alone but as a critical synthesis of social-political observation, cultural critique, and experiential realism. Initially published in Kompasiana, the framework confronts a growing disillusionment with moral reductionism, particularly in how contemporary society tends to confuse performative religiosity with actual moral conduct, or institutional legitimacy with moral authority.
Setiawan's hierarchy addresses the disjunction between normative moral claims and observable moral behavior, offering a layered model that integrates insights from anthropology, sociology, and theology. It reflects a sensitivity to both the multiplicity of moral sources and the asymmetry of their social effects---thereby filling a critical gap in dominant moral philosophies.
3.2 The Five Layers of Moral Structure
The framework consists of five distinct yet interrelated levels, each representing a source or system of moral orientation:
1. Individual Morality (Individual Morality)
This is the most basic layer, rooted in personal conscience, empathy, and subjective experience. It reflects internalized values, often shaped by early socialization, affective attachments, and personal reflection. However, it is vulnerable to emotional bias, cognitive dissonance, and situational drift.
2. Consensual Morality
