Morality

Question # 1: Discuss the major similarities and differences, in your opinion, between morality and each of the following: law, customs, and religion. Morality is a very hard term to define. It is a set of ideals which an individual or a society abides by much as laws, customs, and religions. These ideals are sometimes mistaken for the other in our uses. A government is governed by laws which a society follows. These laws are based on set of rules which the society has decided that an act is either right or wrong. These laws are widely accepted by the society and they govern the way in which the society acts. These laws must be specific and absolute in order for the society to understand them. Otherwise, there will be confusion and chaos within the society. Like laws, morality is “like a set of laws” that govern the way in which we act. Most of the time, it is widely accepted that an act is either moral or immoral. Morality is like a law in this sense. Unlike law, morality is not govern by a structured system. It has no order in that there is no absolute way to say that an act is moral or not. Laws, on the other hand, have a structured system that is maintained by the ruler of the government. It clearly states that certain acts are wrong in the eyes of the whole society. Custom is a belief which people have passed on through the generations. It is widely accepted within each cultures. It may be different through the many cultures that are in existence. With morality, it is also widely accepted that an act is either moral or immoral. This kind of thinking, morality, was mostly passed on through our upbringing. Customs and morality are different in that some customs are accepted without questions through the generations. Morality, on the other hand, is still bringing debate through this generation. This debate will continue due to the fact that each person is unique and that each person is an individual. Religion, like morality, is very vague. Religion provides a code of conduct that a person believes to be most important. As an example, Catholics believed that God created the universe and that we, as Catholics, must follow the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments is in itself very vague. One such commandment that is vague is Keep the Sabbath Holy. Some people interpret this commandment as going to Church service every Sunday while others believe that you must also not work at all on Sunday. This vagueness is like morality. One act may be morally correct in a certain circumstance while the same act is morally incorrect in another circumstance. Question #2: Based upon your reading of chapter one of Morality by Bernard Gert, discuss how you think Gert would respond to the following quotation. “ ... morality differs in every society, and is a convenient term for socially approved habits. Mankind has always preferred to say, “It is morally good” rather than “It is habitual” ... But the two phrases are ... synonymous.” (from “A Defense of Relativism” by Ruth Benedict) According to Ruth Benedict, “morality differs in every society, and is a convenient term for socially approved habits.” This is a contradiction to the views of Bernard Gert. He clearly stated that he was trying to analyze morality, not “Nazi morality,” “Christian morality,” or of “the Greeks morality,” even though these are the beliefs many people have about morality. Gert stated that we tried to define morality as the code of conduct adopted by a social group. Others define morality as the code of conduct that would be adopted by all rational person. Others still define morality as the belief that people determine their own morality. Gert believed that each person is expected to follow moral rules regardless of what the whole society does. Benedict, on the otherhand, seemed to believe that people follow moral rules as they would any social habit. According to Ruth Benedict, “Mankind has always preferred to say, “It is morally good” rather than “It is habitual”... But the two phrases are ... synonymous.” This statement is in agreement with Gert’s beliefs. Gert stated that there are some codes of conduct that are mixed with moral rules. These so called moral rules are interchanged and people have assumed that they are moral rules instead of a code of conduct. Others have taken this code of conduct, and through the years, it has been assumed to be a moral rule. This assumption led many people to believe that the code of conduct is a moral rule instead of a code of conduct. As a result, people follow this code of conduct as if it was a moral rule out of habit.