Innate Morality

Every day we as citizens of this country make decisions either consciously or unconsciously on how we go about our daily lives. We make all of our decisions based on our own personal moral behavior and what we believe in. Moral rules are defined in the book as things along the lines of people should not drink in excess or children should come before self (pg. 26). One’s moral behavior is primarily based on how they were brought up and what they were raised to believe. To test ones moral behavior ask yourself whether you perceive stealing, whether it be a candy bar from a gas station or stealing someone’s purse as wrong or right. Whatever the answer you just picked, you picked it because of your very own personal moral behavior.

When it comes to defining morality and establishing the difference between right and wrong, there are several different approaches. One might ask who is responsible for distinguishing between right and wrong and ultimately what is moral and immoral. Is this concept different between individuals? Is it different between cultures? In Julia Driver’s 2007 piece, “God and Human Nature”, theories are discussed in order to convey a better understanding of morality and how it is determined. The theory to be discussed is the “Divine Command Theory” and Driver discusses the role of God in assessing morality.

The Question of whether humans are inherently good and moral, or inherently selfish and immoral has been the centre of philosophical discussions for hundreds of years. Philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes argue that humans are egotistic, or selfish. Whereas Philosophers such as John Locke argue that humans are altruistic, or selfless. I, however, do not believe humans by nature are good nor evil. Humans are born as a Tabula Rasa (blank slate), they are unable to be moral or selfish as they are not born with this mental content. The environment, in which we foster our children is the deciding factor in whether they will grow into good, honourable people or egotistic greedy humans. For example, every parent, once informed that they have successfully

In Thomas Nagel’s response to Bernard William’s, Moral Luck, Nagel questions whether our “moral goodness” or “moral badness” is simply a matter of sheer luck. Judging if someone is in fact “good” or “bad” or in other words, the way we are, the circumstances we face and, the way things turn out are indeed caused by luck. In this paper, I will confirm Nagel’s assertions in that the way things turn out, how we respond to given situations, and how one was raised are all a matter of luck in deciding ones moral goodness or badness.

This question has been asked for hundreds of years, are humans born inherently good or bad? Some might argue that as people mature, society’s influences ultimately determine whether or not that person will end up being good or bad. These people suggest that humans are naturally born of good intent. Many studies show that this may be true. In another case it can be argued that some people are born with a natural instinct to do bad things. This would be arguing that a serial killer was born a serial killer, and that they were born with the instinct to do bad things. People are born good, and there are many studies to suggest so. There is more evidence that suggests that humans are born with the natural instinct to do good things.

A common question arises in philosophy: are people born good or evil? Many believe that humans have an innate desire to exclude minorities and discriminate against people different from them. Although discriminatory trends are prevalent in society, who’s to say whether it is an inborn or an externally imposed tendency? In her short story “Brownies” ZZ Packer intersperses exposition to show that people are not inherently racist but become this way as a result of experience and communal self-reinforcement; as children lose their innocence, so too do they lose their tolerance. Racism is a learned attribute.

Morality is a very subjective topic, one person’s morals may differ greatly from another. Philosophers such as Darwin and Marx took it upon themselves to make a hypothesis as to what primarily influences a person’s morality. Darwin states that the greatest influence on human morality is survival; whereas, Marx believes that the ruling class is what manipulates our morality; however, Darwin's philosophy is more accurate due the increased amount of evidence he has compared to Marx.

The word morality is is defined as ;The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct(TheFreeDictionary.com, 2015). To be moral is to be: capable of conforming to the rules of right conduct(Dictionary.com, 2015). From birth we are taught that we should not do this, and we should not do that. But, how did our parents learn that that is right or wrong? It is through years and years of folklore and folk wisdom as well as oral traditions that have been passed down throughout the years. Our fore fathers have set for us many moral codes and regulations but inevitably we disobey them. The aim of this research paper is to obtain a better understanding , towards ‘ What causes

Does environment shape moral and psychological traits? Are humans born inherently with pre-determined qualities and ways of thought? The debate of nature versus nurture, whether humans are born with a set of moral traits or whether one’s environment influences and shapes their traits, has constantly been argued, not only from a psychological standpoint, but also from a literary perspective as well. In A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving explores the relationship between environment and the development of psychological traits and personal conceptions, using both animate objects, like voice and people, and inanimate objects, such as armless objects and family influences, to prove the often powerful, yet overlooked influence of environment on human development; in the

John Locke, English philosopher and physician, believed that all things that humans do are shaped solely from nurture. His idea was that people were born blank, like a blackboard, and who they became was a result of their collective experiences. When exploring various topics of humanity, brain activity, and the concept free will, we can observe acts of nature and of nurture. As shown in Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City, Shankar Vedantam’s The Hidden Brain, and “Free Will” by Matt Ridley, people are malleable. In life, humans behave like their peers, but have a few natural genetic tendencies. When it comes to personality traits, genetics play an even smaller role as your personality is shaped by your thoughts of ideas. The controversial

It is truly fascinating that most humans are born in to this word with an intangible moral compass within them guiding them right from wrong. As humans mature so do their compasses through certain influences for instance culturally and emotionally. This idea of a moral compass correlates with the characters in Thomas McMahon’s novel McKay’s Bees. In chapter seven of the novel, Bruce Anders has a point of view that I do not agree with. With the aid of my textual evidence, I will prove why our opinions differ. In conjunction, I have researched several sources as well as tested their credibility to further my understanding of this chapter.

The definition of morality is principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour.

He mentions that, “The demonstration of any genetic bias cannot be used to justify a continuing practice in present and future societies”(Wilson 93). but merely expresses the need for the academic community to acknowledge that our genetic history does alter our spectrum of behaviors. He says that, “In the difficult journey ahead, during which our ultimate guide must be our deepest and, at present, least understood feelings, surely we cannot afford an ignorance of history”(Wilson 94). At the same time, he recognizes that human nature has the capacity for continued progress when he mentions that, “Genetic biases can be trespassed, passions averted or redirected, and ethics altered;and the human genius for making contracts an continue to be applied to achieve healthier and freer societies” (Wilson 94). Wilson’s ideas surrounding free will supports the concept that humans have constrained free will that is shaped by our

Morality has long been used by human being as a basis for their actions. Believers of God think that doing good deeds is being moral and thus these actions will save them from their sins. They believe that following God’s will, that is the 10 commandments and in the new commandments stated in the New Testament is the written and visible basis for these actions found in the Holy Bible. .