Moral Beings: Understanding the Foundations of Morality
Definition of Rules
Rules are a special type of statement that makes an order or command. They are indispensable for coexistence because they help tidy up our conduct towards others. They are distinguished from religious, legal, social, and moral norms by the form they take.
Why Are We Moral Beings?
Reliance on Logos
Aristotle (4th Century BC) states that we are moral because we have “logos.” This Greek word means both “word” and “reason.” Humans are moral because we possess thinking skills that are shown in language. This differentiates us from other living beings and allows us to think and express the difference between right and wrong, good and bad. Because we have reason and language, and we can make distinctions, we live in society.
Feelings
David Hume (18th Century) argues that facts are neither good nor bad. Humans are the ones who evaluate the facts we perceive. This assessment depends on the feeling of pleasure or displeasure that is produced when we perceive a particular fact. For example, a theft and an act of kindness produce feelings of disapproval and approval, respectively, which cause us to value these events negatively and positively in each case. For feelings to become the basis for morality, they have to be equal for all human beings, which is called “sympathy.”
The Foundation is Freedom
Immanuel Kant argues that freedom is the main characteristic of the will of rational beings (people) and that without it, there is no question of morality. Moreover, without freedom, we would be like animals or plants, completely determined by external agents. The moral dimension of human beings is based on freedom because it only makes sense to tell someone what to do, or what behavior should be avoided if they have the freedom to choose.
The Fact of Argument
People are beings able to argue, give reasons, and provide justifications for our conduct that are grounded and understandable to others. This argumentation is the foundation of morality, according to some 20th-century writers. This means that it is sufficient to argue rationally for us to accept a moral norm, but this must occur between valid partners, that is, in circumstances of equality, who are affected by the problem.
History of the Term “Person”
The word “person” comes from the term with which the Greeks referred to the mask that actors used to represent each character in the theater, which is related to the Latin word “personare.” It consisted of playing a role, a character with a destination (e.g., slave trader). With Christianity, the term “person” is used to refer to the new idea of God.
Definitions
Moral
It is a dimension of individuals and societies, according to which we can choose, within certain limits, how we want to live as human beings.
Practical Knowledge
Those knowledge available to us, we help guide and build our lives. Morality, politics, law, and religion.
Orient
It means directing or directing something or someone to an end.
Where Do We Shape Policy and Law?
Legal norms and political decisions are aimed at achieving the common good of a particular political community. The common good means the good of individuals, but the individual good is subordinated to the common good.
Freedom
Freedom is to create a world of possibilities, intelligently choose the one we think is better. It is doing what we want, but we want to respond as what happens to us.
Mood
The spirit is the fundamental feeling of the existence of vitality, that is, an emotional and intelligent unit, not elected, unless it has been inherited.
Character
Character is second nature through repetition of acts. It consists of acquiring values, virtues, attitudes, and norms.
Sociability
It means that we are in relation to other human beings. The person is learning and identifying with other people; only then can they achieve their full development.
Opening to the World
The person is always in a world that is surrounded by objects, things, to which we assign a meaning in reference to ourselves, our needs. And we perceive this as the first is through our body with its physical and biological conditions.
Thirst for Transcendence
The person has a contingent existence, that is, it exists, but it may not exist. This means that the ultimate foundation of existence is outside of us, at least our parents, but some believe in a supreme being or God.