How would you answer the question, "Why be Moral?"
How would you answer the question, "Why be Moral?"
Morality is often viewed as a set of values by which people live. These values may have derived from a variety of sources; the main causes being, the family, the school and the church (if one is religious).
Ones knowledge of right and wrong are installed within us from early childhood. One would be punished if any actions were wrong, and praised if any good actions were performed. Due to the way one is taught we grow to accept that to be moral is to avoid reprimand.
The fact that nearly everyone has some sort of moral code that they follow, implies that it is essential for one to be moral.
A definition of what is meant by being moral is needed in order to answer the question as the word can be interpreted in various ways.
Moral is " concerned with goodness or badness of character or disposition, or with the distinction between right and wrong"1
If one is to answer the question without having to enter into a deep thought, the responses one is likely to hear are; to ensure the well-being of the public, to follow one' s own conscience, to be obedient to God's law, and to conform to the norms of society.
Many philosophers such as Immanuel Kant (1724-1803), and Thomas Hobbes
(1588-1679) have discussed their theories on why a person should be moral. They arrive at the conclusion that,
"every action must have a motive"2
This view of morals forms the foundations for the Christian's ethical belief. It is known as the Golden Rule,
"Do for others what you want them to do for you." 3
This rule more or less provides the answer as to why be moral.
" It requires us to ask ourselves if we would want people to follow a particular rule even if we were on the receiving end."4
The individual is required to stop and think about the effect their action will have on another individual. Naturally we all want what is good to us and for others, therefore we limit ourselves to doing bad deeds. Our initial response is, if we ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
"Do for others what you want them to do for you." 3
This rule more or less provides the answer as to why be moral.
" It requires us to ask ourselves if we would want people to follow a particular rule even if we were on the receiving end."4
The individual is required to stop and think about the effect their action will have on another individual. Naturally we all want what is good to us and for others, therefore we limit ourselves to doing bad deeds. Our initial response is, if we want good to be done to us, we will do good for others. If we do not want any bad to happen to us, we will not do anything bad to others.
Such an approach is often known as egoism, in which self-interest or selfishness is the sole reason why one behaves the way they do, so long as it pleases them. The source that motivates them is pleasure, actions that causes them anguish and torment is avoided at all costs.
When taking into consideration the answers listed above, confirmation of the philosophers theory holds some truth.
The motive behind being obedient to God's law is to avoid being punishment for ones "sin(s)."
The motive behind following one's conscience, is that one will feel continuously uneasy until something is done to rectify that feeling. If we harm or injure another fellow-being, we also bring some sense of harm to our conscience, which may have become flawed.
The motive behind conforming to the norms of society is just "to go with the flow," this is the common motive for people. Everyone else is being moral so they feel that they should follow in the footsteps.
This theory seems to imply that one should be moral not because they want to, but because of the feelings that they experience.
It could be easily argued, that to be moral is to be good. So as long as your actions are good, whatever the motives behind the action is not of any importance.
This can be expressed in Hume's phrase,
"there is nothing wrong with self-love and confined generosity in themselves."5
J.L Mackie in his book6 accepts that egoism and self-referential altruism, plays a large part as to the way people conduct themselves.
"Egoism and self-altruism will together characterise, to a large extent both his actions and his motive."7
It is not a question of "why be moral?" Morality is installed in us from the moment we are born, our parents play a large role in instructing us in basic moral values. Each one of us then appear to posses the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, good and bad.
Whether one is to say that their moral code was derived from their family, from the church or even education, is not important. What is important is the fact that as human beings we hold some awareness of morality.
If the question is reversed to, "why be immoral" the only concluding answer would be, it is impossible for everyone to be immoral. One would just have to imagine the state of the world if such an unethical way of life was to be followed by all.
The society would not be fit to be called a society, instead as Hobbes would agree it would be continuous,
"war of all against all.."8.
Hobbes arrived at this conclusion, because he viewed that human life as,
"solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."9
"As a result society then begins to look for a sense of security by into what is known as a "social contract."
The social contract would in this case be moral laws that are to be followed, in order to safeguard society's well-being.
If society is to survive and to remain peaceful then we are required to be moral.
"Morality shapes character and action in such a way that may better live at peace with one another and further the common good."10
It is not for humans to be immoral. Those that choose to be immoral often face the consequences for their actions.
Again this returns to the point that the prime motive for us to be moral is because of the consequences.
It can then be argued that it is impossible to be moral leaving behind self-interest.
Kant on the other hand, believed it to be possible as,
"we act morally only when we have put aside all motives stemming from our desires or inclinations."11
From a personal view, it is difficult for one to answer such a question when one has been brought up with morals passed onto to them. It is not that simple to break away from the custom that we are used to.
Being moral is what one knows best. As was stated beforehand if everyone was to act immorally the world would just be an enormous jungle. The reason why one actions are virtuous is, because,
"It is the best, simplest, most convenient way of achieving whatever it is that he wants to achieve."
Being moral is a result of intuition (being able to discern what is good and bad) whatever the intentions are is not important; as long as you are happy together with those around you.
Bibliography.
-J. Mackie, "Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong," London, 1977.
-G. Wallace and A. Walker, "The Definition of Morality," London, 1970.
-R. Bilington, "Living Philosophy: An Introduction to Moral Thought," London 1988.
-F. Bradley, "Ethical Studies," Oxford University Press 1962.
-P. Singer, "How are we to Live," England, 1994.
-P. Nowell-Smith, "Ethics," Oxford, 1957.
-Microsoft "Encarta '95" (CD-ROM).
-D. Cook, "The Moral Maze," London 1983.
Concise Oxford Dictionary
2 Why be Moral page 101
3 Matthew 7 verse 12
4 Basic Moral Concepts page 72
5 Ethics, Inventing Right and Wrong page 170
6 Inventing Right and Wrong
7 Inventing Right and Wrong page 170
8 Encarta '95
9 Encarta '95
0 Ethics and Belief page 58
1 How are we to Live page 182
