Introduction to the Concept of Morality

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Introduction to the Concept of Morality
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Morality

• Morality - A set of values and principles that
  guide someones choices about questions of right
  wrong.
• Choices determine the kind of person he or she is
  becoming.
• These values and principles point to the meaning
  that life has for that person.
• Just about any decision can involve morality.

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Morality

• Morality includes all of the values and
  principles that shape who a person is or is
  becoming - not just the so-called good values.
• A sense of morality can vary between individuals.
  
• Morality can vary between cultures.

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Cultural Differences

• Cultures may vary on their attitude toward
  respecting womens human rights.
• Both cultures operate according to their own
  morality but these moralities are not equally
  beneficial to the human beings involved.

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The Character Cycle
Virtues
Habits
Character
Good
Actions choices
DESTINY
Bad
Vices
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What is Good ?

• It is good for a thing to be what it is meant to
  be.
• Morally good actions are those that are in
  harmony with being a fully human person. In other
  words you do good when you act in a way that is
  truly human - in your relationships with
  yourself, with other persons, with the earth,
  and with God.
• What does it mean to be fully human ?
• Doing good on the smallest scale can affect the
  whole human community - like a ripple in a pond
  or the vibration in a spiders web.

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Terms

• Moral - Our decisions promote human welfare, ours
  and others.
• Immoral - Decisions that deliberately lead to
  what is harmful or destructive to ourselves or
  others.
• Non-moral - Decisions that are neutral such
  decisions have neither a positive or negative
  effect on people.
• Amoral - Having no sense of right or wrong and
  thus displaying no sensitivity to the moral
  dimensions of ones actions.

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Critical Awareness

• As we develop our moral maturity, we also need to
  develop a critical awareness of the many
  moralities that we encounter. This is especially
  important in an age of increasing globalization -
  and in our pluralistic American culture in which
  values and principles often seem to be dished up
  as options, like a cafeteria-style lunch.

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Critical Awareness

• Do some of the values in our society really
  contribute to the well-being of all people,
  empowering and freeing them?
• Noble Values (of American society)
• Equality
• Initiative
• Democracy
• Freedom
• To help the less fortunate

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Critical Awareness

• Some values we should question
• Materialism
• Competitiveness (me-first attitude)
• Racism, sexism, ageism
• A quick fix mentality
• Violence
• Whenever we adopt a critical stance toward
  societal values, we become more conscious of who
  we are and what we want out of life. We reuse to
  follow the noise of the crowd and instead decide
  to follow an inner, quieter voice. (Henry David
  Thoreau p.16)

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Turning Points

• Looking back on life, we can sometimes identify
  points in our life that set us in a new
  direction. (For example, hanging around with a
  different group of friends, joining a club or
  sports team, breaking up with a boyfriend or
  girlfriend.)
• We are so impressionable, you know ? Your sense
  of self, who you are, comes from where you decide
  to go, what you choose to do, who your friends
  are, what you decide to buy, things like that.
  Youre surrounding yourself now with what you
  want to become later. (seventeen year old girl)

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Self -Esteem (p.25 text)

• A sense of wholeness and self-reliance within
  oneself.
• If we feel at peace with who we are and not tied
  up with anxieties about how we are coming across
  to others, we will be freer to make decisions
  based on our own values and the needs of a
  situation, not on our fears and insecurities.
• Self-esteem not necessarily a constant in life -
  it goes up and down.

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Growing Through Mistakes

• There is no mistake (except suicide, which is
  permanent) that we cannot recover from. This
  should give us hope.
• The point is that we need to learn from mistakes
  (even the big ones) so that we can go on living
  as deeper, wiser persons.
• We can look to role models who have made
  mistakes and bad choices, but who also persevered
  and transformed their lives for the better.
• Enduring the pain and sorrow of our mistakes can
  help us build character.

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Grace as Comfort and as Challenge

• Grace - Gods always present love and life in us.
  Our participation in the life of God.
• All of us could use greater freedom, wisdom,
  courage, and compassion - qualities that come
  only with Gods help.
• Christian morality is our response to Christs
  invitation to live life in the light of grace.

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Costly Grace

• Cheap Grace - believing God loves me no matter
  what therefore I can do whatever I want.
• Costly Grace - denotes a relationship with God
  that involves a response on our part. It is a
  two-way love relationship. We experience Gods
  love so deeply that we are moved to love others
  in return.

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Costly

• We live our lives full of grace when
• We open ourselves to the joy and pain of others.
• We notice that someone is being left out and we
  take the initiative to include that person in our
  group.
• We commit to participating in a community
  service project at the cost of sacrificing our
  time.
• We risk going against the crowd because we
  realize the if we dont someone might get hurt.

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Moral Growth

• 3) Morality of Mature Adulthood -The important
  thing about maturing morally is that persons have
  made a set of principles and values a part of
  themselves.

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Stages In Moral Growth

• Morality of Childhood - Children obey their
  parents because they fear punishment, or because
  they want to please the ones they depend on for
  love and support.
• Morality of Adolescence - To be well-liked or
  even accepted, teenagers may uncritically adopt
  the values of their peer group. The latter part
  of adolescence is often characterized by idealism
  as young peoples sensitivities grow and they
  become critical of societal values.