MORAL

Morality is a concept that many people find difficult to understand. The word morality is derived from two Latin words—more and etymologically connected to Latin “mores” or customs. In other words, morality is a way of living or a system of ethics based on Custom. A custom is something that we do over and over again without thinking much about it. For example, eating at a certain table with your family every night is a custom you do without thinking much about it. To understand the meaning of the word morality, we must have an idea of what we are talking about when we talk about moral issues or moral standards.

Many ancient Greek philosophers believed that morality was universal and innate in all human beings. Some believed that there was an ultimate lawgiver; who gave humans the innate knowledge of right and wrong. Some believed that this lawgiver was God, while others believed it was Plato who presented this idea as part of his philosophy called Platonic idealism (1). However, most philosophers agreed that there was an innate knowledge of good and evil within each individual. They also agreed that this knowledge could be developed through education, experience and social media. Based on this understanding, moral codes are social constructs developed by human beings to help them maintain their moral bearings in society (2).

In contrast to ancient Greeks’ belief in universal morality, Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) thought that there are different levels of ethical standards between different societies. He also rejected the idea of one lawgiver who gives us moral knowledge since no human being has all the information needed to make ethical decisions governing life at all times—thus making laws necessary (3). In his view, ethical decisions can be based on a person’s skills and experiences as well as his societal position and wealth. For instance, if a rich man commits theft— he will be punished more severely than a poor man who commits the same crime (4). In addition, having children outside one’s social class can negatively impact offspring’s chances for success as well as security (5).

The ancient Greeks defined moral vs. immoral in moral terms and natural terms respectively— i.e., morals versus nature or instincts such as greed vs. empathy which leads us to good vs. evil actions (6). Plato also defined an immoral person as someone who does not know what is good or evil— thus falling prey to superstition (7). Therefore, defining what morality entails is not easy; but maintaining our moral bearings helps us lead happier lives by making better decisions in life such as choosing trustworthy friends over time.

Furthermore; morality is an abstract concept that has been studied and challenged by philosophers since the ancient times. It is a subject of many discussions in different fields of knowledge. We make moral judgments every day, such as in politics or military affairs. Some ethical theories are based on the judgment of morality, and some are founded on moral judgments. The concept of morality is related to human values, traditions, beliefs and emotions. In fact, there are numerous ways to interpret morality and make moral judgments, yet still have the same essence.

The earliest known opinion regarding morality was probably the opinion of Greek philosopher Plato regarding the ideal vs the real. He believed that there is an ideal version of something in the mind that we strive for. For example, in Plato’s time, women did not have equal rights to men in many places in Greece and Europe. They also did not receive an equal education; instead it was more focused on religion than philosophy.

Therefore, Plato believed that women should be educated for religious reasons rather than public service roles— which would have made them men’s equals rather than their superiors. It is evident that Plato’s opinion regarding morality was influenced by his time period and social customs rather than being self-evident like he believed it was.

Moral judgments can be communicated and understood through a variety of different means; however they are still the same moral judgments. For example, when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Winston Churchill expressed his strong opposition to this via a radio broadcast to Britain titled “The Truth Shall Set You Free." His intention was for his listeners to understand how he felt about this situation by communicating through means other than words— like poetry or music instead of facts or speeches regarding this subject. Although Churchill used different means to communicate his moral judgment to his listeners at that time, he still made a clear judgment regarding what he found acceptable versus what he found unacceptable at that moment in history.

When defining morality, there are multiple interpretations that can be applied to any word or phrase depending on the circumstances or individuals’ beliefs and values. For example, some might think there is only one interpretation for words such as right or wrong as these words seem quite straightforward at first glance— but they can also have multiple interpretations depending on someone else’s values and beliefs as seen above with regard to interpreting words such as right or wrong into various interpretations depending on circumstances or individuals’ values and beliefs! Moral relativism has been proposed as a possible solution to moral conflicts by defining moral conflicts as subjective opinions instead of absolute truths between good and evil as previously thought by most cultures throughout history!

Every individual interprets morality differently based on their own traditions, beliefs, customs and values— which makes it a subjective concept throughout history! Although opinions have been challenged since ancient times regarding what constitutes morality (and what constitutes ethics), each person knows what is considered acceptable behavior regardless of where they live or who they are related to. The world has always had judges — both physical and metaphysical — who enforced whatever laws they deemed acceptable throughout history… though these judges inevitably had their own biases and preferred choices when enforcing laws throughout history!

Post a Comment

0 Comments