Essay On Moral Obligation

Moral obligations

Moral obligation may have various definitions but it is mainly a duty that one ought to carry out but does not have a legal obligation to fulfill it. Moral obligations are founded on natural laws or right and wrong and are performed out of charity. On the other hand, there are others which are supported by valuable and worthy forbearing consideration though they cannot be recovered by law. The obligation under morality emanates from the sense of justice or equity that any person of honor ought to fulfill and not merely to be seen to be charitable. It is therefore true that citizens of a community are morally obligated to voluntarily participate in the maintenance of that community for the common good of the society.

According to Cameron et al. (377), American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson says “there can be no high civility without morality” which implies the extent to which morality affects human existence. Without morality, people would be free to do as they choose without being held morally responsible. However, the obligations set by self or peers which do not necessarily meet personal desire but

It is important to note that there is no set formula in making moral decisions because it is a process that is determined by set rules. Though intuitions or acting on hunches may be important in the moral decision making but it is more than a combination of these factors. In order to make sound moral decisions, it is important to clearly understand the facts about a situation and make careful consideration on moral values or principles relevant with the situation at hand. Therefore, morality emanates from the sense of doing good because it cannot be legislated and laws cannot change a man’s heart though they are good in restraining the