Ethics and Morality: Understanding Human Behavior
Ethics and Moral Philosophy
Moral Capacity
Moral capacity is the ability to intelligently assess different alternatives and choose the one that feels right for oneself and others. This involves conscience, which is the ability to discern between right and wrong.
Moral or ethical philosophy defines how the world should be, not as it is. From this, we can strive for a good life.
- The word morality comes from the Greek mores, meaning customs.
- The word ethics comes from common sense, ethos.
Sociology and anthropology inform us about the rules and values of a society, i.e., codes of conduct. Ethics is a branch of philosophy. It seeks the fundamental values of society, independent of the current moment. In comparison, sociology studies codes, whereas moral philosophy/ethics seeks the foundations and values.
Depending on our understanding of what constitutes a human being, different ethical perspectives emerge.
Moral or Intellectual Socratic Rationalism
Good and evil are abstract ideas that we may or may not know. If one knows what is good, one acts accordingly. If one does evil, it is because one does not truly know what is good.
Moral Emotivism
Good and evil are not ideas but feelings. If we feel that we have done wrong, we will change our way of acting. Having internalized the sense of right and wrong, we will correct our actions if we have erred. Only when a rule is accompanied by a feeling does it truly become part of a person, and that is how it becomes a life-changing force.
Spiritualism
This perspective argues that the moral capacity of humans demonstrates their spirituality. The spirit is what distinguishes humans from animals. Morality serves to justify the existence of spirit in humans; that is, without morality, there is no soul.
Materialism
According to Lorenz, morality arises from evolutionary development. Moral capacity is a necessary result of evolution to offset our destructive tendencies. It appears to suppress aggression and human violence.
This capacity is also called the moral inhibitory mechanism. Morality is an evolutionary capacity in humans that has contributed to their overall survival.
Freedom as an Inner Journey Today
As we grow, we mature, and to mature is to gain autonomy. Autonomy means having freedom of choice, to choose between different options or ways of life that we have previously appreciated and analyzed rationally, considering the pros and cons and taking into account those around us.
As we mature, we build an inner world that incorporates criteria and values that guide us. This inner space helps us to have clear and stable criteria when taking different paths. The interior space, which contains feelings and emotions, is personal and non-transferable.
To be able to choose rationally, we must have enough information. Without it, we cannot truly choose; we are at a disadvantage compared to those who possess that information. Choosing involves working with information, analyzing it. And in many cases, we must actively seek it out, capturing it ourselves. Choosing is just the first step; the second, and equally important, is to act according to our previous criteria, based on our choice, in terms of our personal autonomy, and not guided by emotions or societal dictates.
To be free today is to open the horizon of the possible, where thought and action become one, where we walk a path that we do alone, but where others await us. Where to love, think, and act are the same.