Essential Questions on Ethics, Morality, and Human Motivation
1. The Inevitable Question
What should I do? An urgent reflection on the criteria that should guide our actions in life, as our existence differs from other creatures, requiring predefined goals.
2. The Good Life
The good life involves satisfying our desires intelligently, understanding our goals, and discerning between good and evil, being and responsibility.
3. Morality vs. Ethics
Morality concerns rules of conduct, while ethics deals with moral considerations. Cultural anthropology and sociology study moral codes, and psychology examines their role in human life. Ethics reflects on these codes.
4. Source of Moral Capacity
Moral capacity stems from reason, emotions, and the spirit of living matter.
5. Moral Rationalism vs. Emotivism
Moral rationalism asserts that morality depends on reason and knowledge. Moral emotivism emphasizes the role of emotions and feelings in moral behavior.
6. Materialism vs. Spiritualism
Materialism views morality as a survival mechanism. Spiritualism sees it as a condition that transcends instinctive tendencies.
7. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
- Preconventional: Self-interest, rewards, and punishments.
- Conventional: Understanding and following societal rules.
- Postconventional: Recognizing rules as agreements for general values, open to modification.
8. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow analyzes human motivation, establishing a hierarchy where basic needs form the foundation, and higher needs can gain functional autonomy.
9. Morality’s Place in Human Life
Morality guides our actions, shapes self-esteem beyond material values, and acts as a cohesive force in society.
10. Freedom of Action
Freedom from external constraints to do what we decide. The problem arises when individual freedom conflicts with the actions of others.
11. Freedom of Choice
The ability to choose between different actions. Denying this freedom negates moral responsibility. The question arises: are we truly free, or is freedom an illusion?
12. Determinism
The belief that the universe is orderly, and all phenomena have causes. Types include those that acknowledge human choice and responsibility.
13. Stoic and Epicurean Ethics
Both acknowledge pleasure, pain, desires, and aversions, linking happiness to achieving desires.
14. Epicurean Ethics
Epicurus distinguishes between physical pleasure (basic needs) and emotional pleasure (freedom from fear).
15. Stoic Ethics
Stoics emphasize aligning with the nature of things, distinguishing between what we can and cannot control, and managing desires and aversions.