Understanding Morality: Principles, Actions, and Human Nature
The Moral
Erich Fromm stated, “In the art of living, man is both the artist and the subject of his art.”
The Man Responsible for His Acts
A man who thinks in a given situation, makes a decision, and acts in accordance with it is the author of that action and has to answer for it.
Freedom
Freedom means the ability to decide and choose among several possible options so that concrete actions, carried out or not, conform to the customs and norms of their community.
The Human Being is Essentially and Inevitably a Moral Being
When the subject chooses to act in accordance with the assumed norms, he acts correctly (moral), and when he decides freely to skip them, he acts wrong (immoral), but he cannot be an amoral being.
Definition of Morality
Morality is the code of rules governing individual and collective action that is considered correct.
Zubiri and Aranguren
Zubiri and Aranguren showed the distinction:
Moral as Content
Refers to the rules and principles that govern correct behavior, as a community or person. This means that morality is a body that can have as content the following rules: respect parents, protect children, tell the truth, be honest…
Moral as Structure
Refers to morality as a constitutive feature of human nature. It is understood that humans can be moral or immoral, but not amoral, because they have a number of specific rules of action.
Action, Habits, and Character
Habits
Habits are certain tendencies to act in a certain way in similar situations.
Character
Character is the set of habits of a person, the features that distinguish them from others, and it is possible to observe in action.
Character is the foundation of our moral nature because once formed, it determines our actions and their correctness or incorrectness.
Action
Actions are acts committed by human conscience in a particular situation.
Conversion
Conversion is a symbolic and decisive action that causes an abrupt change of character. For example, a selfish person risking their own life to save another.
Moral Standards
Standard
A standard is a rule that states how we should act to adapt to what we think is preferable.
Being
- Feature: Everything that exists, that there is indeed.
- Scope: Natural.
- Mode of expression: Description, set in record mode.
- Character: Descriptive.
- Example: Pepe humiliates his younger brother in front of his other siblings.
Ought to Be
- Feature: Everything should be as it is better or more beneficial.
- Scope: Moral.
- Mode of Expression: Standard, statements in the imperative.
- Character: Binding.
- Example: Protect and care for your siblings!
Characteristics of Standards
It is the nature of obligation that presupposes freedom of choice of the human being. The rule and freedom of obligation arise, so we can say that moral rules have a dual nature: freedom and constraint.
Social norms have:
- The social dimension: All communities have a code of norms governing how its members have to act and interact. They can be explicit in legal codes that constitute the substantive law of that community (e.g., the prohibition of stealing) or implicit in the customs of that community (e.g., saving children first in case of an accident).
- Personal dimension: Moral standards require an inner conviction of the subject, and the subject must recognize the standard as their own and not as socially imposed.
Conscience is the entity that accepts and assimilates these rules and judges the correctness and incorrectness of the performance of self.
Psychological consciousness is the knowledge that people have of their own thoughts and mental states.