Why is the institution of morality justified?Why should I have to do something if it
does not appear to be in my own self-interest?
Why bother to be moral?What is in it for me?What is in it for society?
Thomas Hobbes claimed that our basic state of nature is to be selfish and that if there was no general moral code that protects basic values, that society would be impossible.
Our natural state is to acquire everything for ourselves which would allow society to be in a constant state of war.
Thomas HobbesBirth: April 5, 1588
Bellum omnium contra omnes ("the war of all against
all")
Morality gives an incentive for mutual trust.Morality serves as an antidote for our original
selfish state of nature.Morality allows self-interested individuals to
fulfill their needs and desires in the context of peace and cooperation.
Morality is a mechanism for social control.
Morality allows us to maximize our individual life plans.
Morality prevents society from breaking down into chaos.
Morality is the rational answer for rational beings.
Even if we do not appear successful, being moral is still an advantage to us.
The benefits of a moral life are friendship, mutual love, inner peace, moral pride or satisfaction, and freedom from moral guilt.
These benefits are worth having and life may not be worthwhile without them.
People raised in a normal social context feel deep psychic distress at harming others.
There is a deep psychic satisfaction to being moral.
To choose to be moral is not an arbitrary choice, it is a rational choice. Kant and Mill?
Some lives are better than others--a human life without morality is essentially not ideal or fulfilling. Aristotle?
We need what morality gives to make our lives flourish and be meaningful. Virtue Ethics?
When we have the character necessary to be moral, we simultaneously become virtuous.
We have smoke detectors to alert us of potential danger. We have alarms to warn us of dangerous choices too.
Use these personal warning systems: • Golden Rule - Treat others the way you want
to be treated.
• Publicity - How would your choice look on the front page of the school newspaper, or on "20/20" or "60 Minutes"?
• Mom-on-your-shoulder - What if your mom or grandmother was watching you? Would you want her to know what you were saying or doing?
• Universality - If everyone did it, would it be a good thing?
Ethical Decisions. A decision is ethical when it is consistent with the Six Pillars of Character – ethical decisions generate and sustain trust; demonstrate respect, responsibility, fairness and caring; and are consistent with good citizenship. If we lie to get something we want and we get it, the decision might well be called effective, but it is also unethical.
Effective Decisions. A decision is effective if it accomplishes something we want to happen, if it advances our purposes. A simple test is: are you satisfied with the results? A choice that produces unintended and undesirable results is ineffective.
MillBirth: May 20,
1806
KantBirth: April 22,
1724 AristotleBirth: 384 BC
