The Nature of Morality - Essay Example

Reflection Paper The Nature of Morality The word morality is used to refer to norms and socially acceptable behavior put forward by the society. Itcan also be referred to as a behavior which would be thought of as suitable in specified situations. Morality can be defined on two levels; the descriptive definition and the normative definition. The descriptive definition is, when morality is used only to control the behavior of individuals by society. In this sense every individuals morality would differ because to each individual different things would hold more value. In the normative description, morality is not based on the factors mentioned above. This morality is then an ambiguous word. The commonality between these two definitions is that in both places morality refers to not causing harm to others. When we talk about morality, people have two views; some think that morality is objective, while others thing that it is a subjective phenomenon. The objective morality is that there is an external morality which exists in human beings i.e. it exists independently. The second view says that morality is only the opinions human beings hold about different things and topics related to this world. In the social environment, morality may be referred to as human welfare, justice and rights. Both individuals and societies have a morality, but societies have a morality only if a large number of people within the society have high moral values. Socially moral behavior goes hand in hand with socially conventional behavior; these two factors govern an individual's behavior and the social order of the society. In our religion and society morality hold a lot of importance. To cause harm to another human being is illegal. Normative Theories A normative or a prescriptive theory is one that rests upon ethical commitments and things or behaviors to be prized, preferred and valued. Normative theories can either be agent neutral or agent centered. Theories are agent neutral when the same thing applies to everybody in the same way. Thus everybody's aims are fulfilled in accordance with other people's aims. The agent centered theory is specific to every individuals needs. It may prescribe something to one person and the total opposite to another person. Thus one's aims will be achieved at the expense of another person's aims. The basic focus of the normative theory is for every individual to focus on his or her own aims in an agent centered approach while in an agent neutral approach the focus is on the greater happiness of all people. In normative theories we judge everything according to its Golden Rule. The Golden Rule is a single principle against which all behavior will be judged for its morality. For instance in any society it is wrong to murder a person. This is the Golden Rule, if somebody has murdered an individual than that person according to the normative theory should be punished according to the societal norms regarding this Golden Rule. Philosophers do not agree on what the set criteria is for judging a person. For some philosophers the Golden Rule negates itself and thus cannot be applied. Distributive Justice Distributive justice basically means what the society owes to the individual in accordance with the individuals needs, contribution and responsibility, the resources available to the society and the responsibility the society has towards its common good. Thus every individual has a right to the basic necessities of life, as the society owes that to each person who is a part of that particular society. It does not depend on the resources that are available to the individual. The concept of distributive justice is linked to the concept of human rights, dignity and the common good. This concept began with the Catholic Church and has evolved since then. All things than in the distributive justice concept should be distributed equally among all people of one society. This concept is not followed by our society, as there is a huge disparity between the resources available to the rich and to the poor. The rich in our society can easily purchase any facility that they require, while the poor are left to face the consequences. There have been many events in the past which have made this disparity very visible to all parties involved. Capitalism The basic principle underlying capitalism is that it a system based on the individual's rights. In a capitalist nation there is political freedom or democracy. The people of that nation are allowed to hold property. Capitalism is not something that can be applied because it is the thinking of the people of a society, and it is difficult to change that over a short period of time. In the Roman times, capitalism was known as mercantilism. Mercantilism evolved over centuries, economies changed and mercantilism became capitalism. The individual capital is defined as the resources owned by him such as plant, machinery and land; the work he can do; money available to get all these things together in one place to start production. The individual is the centre of the capitalist way of thinking; the individual should be able to go after his own goals and aims. By achieving this he will benefit the society as a whole. The production of goods and services and their distribution is not related with politics, religion and other social aspects of the society. A consumer culture comes out of capitalism, thus people are defined based on the purchases they make. No social relationship exists between the consumer and the producer. Although this concept still exists in tribal areas and villages where the farmers eat what they grow. Corporate Responsibility The ethical thing is to be responsible when working or in our everyday life. It is to do our job properly and without using wrong means to get the job done. When working for an organization, corporate responsibility would refer to thinking about the organization before taking any decision, as it would have an impact on the organization. Corporate responsibility is an implicit value that should be held by all individuals who are part of an organization. Growing up, we are told again and again to be responsible for our actions and before doing anything we should think about it. In the same way, we should think about the consequences before doing anything. For example; when we work in a firm, we are responsible for doing our job or tasks that are allotted to us and anything thing that goes wrong with these tasks, we are answerable to the supervisor or the manager. Works Cited Standard encyclopedia of philosophy First published Wed Apr 17, 2002; substantive revision Mon Feb 11, 2008 http://www.science.uva.nl/seop/entries/morality-definition/ Read More