Essay On Didion's Definition Of Morality

Morality is a nearly impossible topic to understand fully. Didion and Rushdie both tackle this topic in nearly opposite ways. Rushdie is very concrete on his idea of morality, while Didion points out how complicated morality can be. Although their definitions of morality and very different, they have some similarities. Both writers attempt to define morality and use religion in some way to further their argument, but Didion 's argument contradicts Rushdie 's entirely. Morality has always been a very difficult topic. Didion 's definition was one that many readers could agree with. Unlike Rushdie, Didion was very open minded with her definition. Rushdie had a much narrower point of view. He believes most people have an absurd, preconceived idea

They both seem to believe religion is a false sanctuary for people to have hope in. Didion states, "Of course we would all like to "believe" in something, like to assuage our private guilts in public causes, like to lose our tiresome selves…" Didion believes people run to religion to lighten the weight of their moral burdens and is just an illusion. She believes morality is too abstract to be defined by a religion but is necessary for people, so they have something to believe in. Rushdie is much harsher with his beliefs. He does agree with Didion that religion is a delusion, but he believes that religion has cause an immense number of problems. That religion is just for people to feel better about their actions. He states, "In the opinion of religious people, however, the private comfort that religion brings more than compensates for the evil done in its name." He argues that the secular-ethical position is the right position. Basically, this positon is that morality should be defined strictly by logic, facts, intuition, and empathy. This is basically the opposite of religion, which derives everything from a supernatural figure or figures. Rushdie says to rely on intuition and logic but Didion is quite the opposite. Didion believes that everything we rely on is created by those around us and is therefore