Political Authority and Morality - Essay Example

?Political ity and Morality Political ity can be justified in those zones where focus is on giving the rights to the people. This is truein the case of a democratic entity where people are given the right to choose a leader for their own selves. The leaders are accountable for their actions and behaviors, and usually do the right thing because otherwise they would have to present their case in front of the publics. Political authority seems justified when there are norms and procedures that take care of the political manifestations and when people are given what they deserve the most – democracy. In essence, it is always a good practice to make use of the political authority to understand the nuances of the Western liberal democracy. This has been demonstrated through the works of Plato, Locke and Mill. The political authority is therefore a very common concept within the political discourse as it encompasses of people from different strata of life. The political authority is a very dire requirement within the political obligations which have been questioned by the works of Plato and Aristotle, and which remain significant even in the time and age of today. It is also a fact that within democratic set ups in a number of countries around the world, there is a good amount of discussion regarding political authority in particular as its role cannot be denied its due right. Within United States, political authority has been given much emphasis because it gives freedom to the people from the domains of the government. Indeed morality is a social contract for our mutual benefit. The ethical domains need to be in line with the way people conduct their lives. This means that people should adhere to the moral righteousness and thus give in their very best with regards to the manifestation of their actions and behaviors. Morality asks of people to be fair and forthright about their dealings and be clean related with their thinking mechanisms. They must put the good of the whole society in retrospect more than their own good (Thiroux 2003). What this eventually does is to demonstrate a sense of goodwill within the society and thus the people generally look up to one another in times of help and distress. Morality is indeed a state of mind, which gets represented in a whole lot of ways. In essence, human beings are generally good natured souls, who care about one another in a very open and direct way. Yet there are some individuals who think of their own gains more than anything else. This mars the ultimate basis of stability and growth within the society and essentially hurts the cause of the society in the larger scheme of things. Thus the human beings are a combination of both good and the bad within any society. One must understand that living morally is indeed something that comes out as a very natural and clean process. It is not at all hard and strenuous by any stretch of imagination. The need is to have a proper mechanism under which morality could be represented in a variety of ways, by the people, for the people and to the people (Morgan 1983). One should take up the Kantian theory of ethics which speaks exclusively of the moral domains within any society of the world. Since Kantian theory focuses on the manifestation of ethical norms and procedures more than mere feelings and emotions of mortals, one would absolutely buy this theory on any given day. In essence personal belief systems revolve around the rationale presented by Immanuel Kant in his theory. One should believe that he has hit the nail on the head whilst referring to the details related with the moral representation of people’s dealings in day to day lives. Morality is important to the day to day situations since people view things very differently on a normal basis. If individuals start acting in a very ethical fashion, it would not be much distant when one views the entire society as a combination of good men and women within its folds. Indeed a moral system needs to be structured and very clear in its content so that people could understand the implications related with the same. This will help them shape up their beliefs in line with the requirements of the entire society and not just their own selves. A personal morality system is indeed the order of the day as far as complying with the social contracts are concerned. This shall take place once an individual decides to be morally and ethically correct about most of the dealings within their lives. A moral life leads to sanity prevailing within one’s environment and man knows that his life will be manifested for all the right reasons. A moral life changes the basis of an individual and gives him the much needed boost in terms of his thinking mindset, behaviors and actions. It makes him think positively and he starts to take life in a totally new stead for all the right reasons. People start giving the much needed respect to the person who is morally right and who exercise a nice and optimistic control over his life. More than anything else, it is his actions which speak louder than words which is pertinent. Morally it is the duty of any individual to exhibit the best of his abilities by being decently inclined towards each other as well as help and facilitate in a decent manner his undertakings and deals. Morality has its own way of entering one’s life and it is for the person himself to understand what is good for him or otherwise (Peach 2002). Morality does bring in a mutual benefit as it helps people to grow and develop on a common platform. It asks of them to be honest and fair within their dealings to the people around them and with whom they interact or get in touch with. When one speaks of morality being a social contract to achieve a mutually benefit proposition, the premise is not wrong in its intent. Instead, speaking from an optimistic point of view, there are more rights than wrongs when one studies the domains of morality and its related undertakings. Going against the dictum of morality being a social contract towards achieving mutual benefits, one can believe that often times it has been seen that morality has a very negative effect on the individuals who do not buy the theory of doing things in a fair manner. This implies that morality has its own issues and manifestations. It has been seen that there are some people who do not like to be ethically correct on certain occasions and perceive morality as somewhat of a bane for their own selves. However this needs to be understood from a number of different angles before commenting on the perspective at hand. Being moral is sometimes taken as a very defensive strategy. It makes the individual look timid and often does not go down well with the people around such a person. However being immoral is also an act that must be abhorred in essence. The role of morals in a society is pivotal to state the least since they form the basis for the society’s intellectual basis. They tell a lot about the way the people of the society conduct themselves as well as demonstrate the true self of the people in times of trouble and distress. Morals are something that must be followed to the end limits because they are not applicable for a certain set of people, rather the emphasis is on uniformity and a sense of purpose can easily be ascertained. Having said that, there is an understanding which needs to be reached when one speaks of morals and their compliance within a society, culture or a geographical zone in which the people reside or conduct themselves in entirety. Morals are inherently constructed and looked after by the elders within any society of the world (George 2006). These are taken care of by individuals who understand the human psyche and the responsibilities that different individuals have towards the whole society. Morals do not change as such and therefore cannot be broken as these must be followed by all segments of the society. Thus in order to call the morality regime as a social contract to achieve mutual benefits, one must realize that morals should remain uniform for one and all, and there must be no differences between people who have higher status within the society or the lack thereof. What this does is to make sure that the people who are following the moral codes like dedicated individuals feel as if they are being made fools by the whole system of these morals that were put into place so that there could be uniformity at all levels and within every segment of the society (Koterski 2002). All said and done, practical approach of following the moral codes and procedures is much more significant than mere talk. The need is to get up and start making positive vibes about following a morality agenda that brings in more sanity at the end of the day. Bibliography George, Robert P. (2006). Public Morality, Public Reason. First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life Koterski, Joseph W. (2002). Real Ethics: Rethinking the Foundations of Morality. First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life Morgan, S. (1983). A Research Note on Religion and Morality: Are Religious People Nice People? Social Forces, Vol. 61 Peach, Lucinda. (2002). Legislating Morality: Pluralism and Religious Identity in Lawmaking. Oxford University Press Thiroux, Jacques P. (2003). Ethics: Theory and Practice. Prentice Hall, 9th edition Read More