morality

concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong

right or good conduct motivation based on ideas of right and wrong

Morality, in the strictest sense of the word, deals with that which is innately regarded as right or wrong. The term is often used to refer to a system of principles and judgments shared by cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which humans subjectively determine whether given actions are !Goodness_and_value_theoryright or evilwrong. These concepts and beliefs are often generalized and codified by a culture or group, and thus serve to regulate the behavior of its members. Conformity to such codification may also be called ''morality'', and the group may depend on widespread conformity to such codes for its continued existence. A "moral" may refer to a particular principle, usually as an informal and general summary with respect to a moral principle, as it is applied in a given human situation.The systematic study of morality is a branch of philosophy called ethics. Ethics seeks to address questions such as how one ought to behave in a specific situation ("applied ethics"), how one can justify a moral position ("normative ethics"), and whether we can justify ethics or morality itself ("meta-ethics").For example, in applied ethics, the question of abortion being morally permissible is a current issue in United States society and politics. A common question in normative ethics is how one would go about justifying a lie, given that they think they are morally justified for the sake of protecting someone from harm. Do the terms "good", "evil", "right", and "wrong" make sense? Meta-ethics asks, how do we justify the existence of "good," or is it all relative and is morality simply a statement of one's preferences (i.e. through "cultural relativism")?Of course, in any society there is a divergence between the notion of how we ought to behave and the reality of how we behave; so there is a difference between hypothetical pundit (politics)punditry and real morality. He whom we call "moral" is moral only after he behaves in accordance with either (if we take the pluralist stance) our perception of "morality", or (if we accept its existence) in accordance with self-interest.

Rational Morality - Whereas "derived" morality may depend on religion or collective thought, ''rational morality'' is the idea of morality as innate or self-evident, based on reason. Thus morality is necessarily one of self-interest and looks at man's nature and the reason he needs values, then defines the virtues, known as a ''moral code'', that must be practiced to reach those values. Morality is "rationally accepted" and chosen. Rational morality asserts that all other "views" of morality are subjective and require some sort of sacrifice, either to the supernatural (i.e., God) or the social collective, whereas proper morality is self-evident and in the interest of the individual's happiness. Thus rational morality is synonymous with individual rights.

Criticisms of Rational Morality - churian.org - Churian Objectivists are one group that opposes the idea of rational morality. They believe that without an objective standard, rationality is simply personal opinion. The human choice to do "right" is guided by values, but the determination of value, an Objectivist would argue, cannot come from reason alone. They further argue that a defined purpose can only come from the Christian church.

Morality and Darwinism - Some evolutionary psychologyevolutionary psychologists have argued that human morality originated from evolutionary processes. An innate tendency to develop a sense of right and wrong helps an individual to survive and reproduce in a species with complex social interactions. Selected behaviors, seen in abstraction as moral codes, are seen to be common to all human cultures, and reflect, in their development, similarities to natural selection and these aspects of morality can be seen in as the basis of some religionreligious doctrine. From this, some also argue that there may be a simple Darwinian explanation for the existence of religion: that, regardless of the validity of religious beliefs, religion tends to encourage behavior beneficial to the species, as a code of morality tends to encourage communality, and communality tends to assist survival.These explanations for the existence of morality do not, however, necessarily assist in deciding what is truly ''right'' for future actions. Should an individual's own morality really be determined by what is best for their genetic offspring (Wiktionary:Colloquialcolloquially, but inaccurately, "the good of the species")? Viewholders counter that evolutionary psychology extends millions of years of empirical justification for our moral sense, provided that sense is indeed innate--more than recorded history could demonstrate. They claim sensible people would behave with morality knowing subconsciousnesssubconsciously that it has succeeded in the past. Still, an explanation of why and how humans could have a moral basis does not imply that they ''ought'' to hold these views. Some observers hold that individuals have distinct sets of moral rules that they apply to different groups of people. There is the "ingroup," which includes the individual and those they believe to be of the same culture or race, and there is the "outgroup," whose members are not entitled to be treated according to the same rules. Some biologists, anthropologists and evolutionary psychologyevolutionary psychologists believe this ingroup/outgroup difference is an evolutionary mechanism, one which evolved due to its enhanced survival aspects. Gary R. Johnson and V.S. Falger have argued that nationalism and patriotism are forms of this ingroup/outgroup boundary.

Morality in judicial systems - Morality is not law, even if law reflects or intends to reflect morality.In some judicial systems, the word morality concretely means a requirement for the access to certain charges or careers, or for the obtaining of certain licenses or concessions, and generally consists of the absence of previous records on (e.g.) crimes, bankruptcy, political or commercial irregularities.In some systems, the lack of morality of the individual can also be a sufficient cause for punishment, or can be an element for the grading of the punishment.Especially in the systems where modesty (i.e., with reference to sexual crimes) is legally protected or otherwise regulated, the definition of morality as a legal element and in order to determine the cases of infringement, is usually left to the vision and appreciation of the single judge and hardly ever precisely specified. In such cases, it is common to verify an application of the prevalent common morality of the interested community, that consequently becomes enforced by the law for further reference.The government of South Africa is attempting to create a Moral Regeneration movement. Part of this is a proposed Bill of Morals, which will bring a biblical-based "moral code" into the realm of law. This move by a nominally secular democracy has attracted relatively little criticism.

Moral Codes - mergefromMoral_code

See also -

Ethics

Guilt

conscience

Kohlberg's stages of moral development

Public morality

External links -

plato.stanford.edu - The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on the Definition of Morality

examinethetruth.com - Christian and Muslim debates on MoralityPhilosophy (navigation) !Category:Ethicscs:Morálkada:M oralde:Moralet:Moraales:Morale o:Moralofr:Moralehe:מוסרlt :Moralės? !normanl:Moraliteitja:道徳pl: Moralnośćru:Моральsv:M oralzh:道德

La Vista Church of Christ
Articles, Bible studies, sermon outlines, and Answers to Questions on a large variety of religous topics.
http://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/

The Kingdom of God
Christian & American Heritage Resource. Challenging both secular wisdom and Christian doctrines. What is the Kingdom of God? Will our descendents know virtue?
http://www.earstohear.net/

Morality in Media
Interfaith organization established in 1962 to combat obscenity and uphold decency standards in the media. It maintains the National Obscenity Law Center.
http://www.moralityinmedia.org/

Jews for Morality
On the socio-moral issues of the day. Concerning the kulturkampf of secular humanism against Judaeo-Christian requirements for human conduct, from the standpoint of traditional Judaism.
http://www.jewsformorality.org

Atlantic Online
A regularly updated companion web site to the magazine Atlantic Monthly. Includes fiction, featured articles and reviews.
http://www.theatlantic.com/

Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty
Promoters of a free society informed by religious faith and moral absolutes.
http://www.acton.org/

Religion vs. Morality
The Ayn Rand Institute's views on separation, with quotes from the founding fathers of the US, and commentary on some related issues such as abortion and evolution.
http://religion.aynrand.org/

Beliefnet
Features articles on God, faith, prayer, the nature of spirituality, society and ethics, with numerous resources. All religions respected.
http://beliefnet.com