Moral Action, Ethics, and Human Behavior: A Comprehensive Analysis
Moral Man and Moral Action
Moral man is responsible to himself: he is responsible for what he does, and is a moral being.
Free Moral Action
The free and open character of the action makes the human being responsible for his actions. This is the basic moral character: when the subject acts in accordance with the rules, he acts properly (is moral); when he decides freely, he acts incorrectly (is immoral). But in any case, failing to act within the framework of this code of regulations (or observing them by violating it) means he cannot be amoral. We say that human beings are moral beings.
Definition of Moral
Moral (moralis in Latin) derives from mos, meaning “custom.” It is a code of rules governing individual and collective action that is considered correct. Aranguren and Zubiri distinguish between moral content and moral structure.
- Moral as content: a particular moral content, i.e., rules and principles governing correct behavior.
- Moral as structure: the moral is about establishing human nature. The nature of humans makes them the only moral beings that exist and are inevitably determined.
Action, Habitat, and Habits
Character tends to act a certain way in similar situations. The set of habits is the character. Our character is formed by the repetition of similar actions. Character cannot be considered something definitely given, but something we are building slowly but steadily along life. It can also happen that a single emblematic and decisive action causes a sudden change of character (conversion). Once the character is formed, it strongly influences and determines our actions. The more assimilated the character is, the harder it is to make actions opposite to those we are accustomed to. We can say that character is the foundation of our moral nature.
Moral Standards
A rule sets how we act to adapt to what we think is preferable in a given situation. The defining characteristic of any standard is its mandatory nature. This character must be interpreted as the norm being understood as an order that compels us to postulate that the moral norm presupposes the freedom of choice of human beings. We can say that moral standards possess a dual nature: freedom and obligation.
Moral Norms
- Social dimension: a community possesses a code of rules governing how members should act and interact. These rules may be explicit or implicit.
- Personal dimension: the subject must recognize the standard as his own and not as a socially imposed one.
Values
Moral standards are what they are because they appeal to values.
Features:
- Polarity: Any value carries a negative value in nature or a disvalue.
- Ideal: Values indicate our ideals; they belong to the sphere of what should be and not what actually is.
Diversity and Universality of Values
Are values objective or are they subjective judgments?
- Objectivist theory of values: Considers that values are qualities or properties that are in things.
- Subjectivist theory of values: Values are not in things themselves, nor are they universal. Whether goals and values are considered something of value depends on the subjective assessment.
From Death to Ethics
Ethics, derived from ethos, which in Greek meant “character,” is usually distinguished from morality or a code of regulations governing proper action. Ethics is the reflection on the codes of standards. Ethics is a kind of moral philosophy, which aims to study specific moral codes: the foundation for validity and legitimacy. Ethics is any serious critical reflection on moral behavior, including what we do when we reflect on whether a norm is valid or when discussing whether a value should be subordinate to another.
Foundation of Ethics
Ethical theory is a philosophical theory that tries to justify the validity and legitimacy of morality. Because morality is a whole series of norms and values, an ethical theory should justify precisely these norms and values.
Six Stages of Kohlberg’s Moral Maturation
Preconventional
- Rules are obeyed out of obedience and fear of punishment. Egocentrism: inability to relate to different people and viewpoints.
- Rules are assumed only if they favor one’s own interests. Individualism: Awareness that others also have interests. Good is relative.
Conventional
- Standards are considered based on what people expect from us. Gregariousness: Ability to relate different perspectives and put oneself in another’s place.
- One must abide by the rules that are socially established to provide a general good. Communitarianism: Awareness that the general interests of the system are above those of individuals.
Postconventional
- Only rules that are the result of an agreement that favors the majority are legitimate. Relativism: Awareness of plurality, norms, and values. Only legitimate emerging consensus standards are open to being able to change social norms.
- Rules are freely chosen and rational, but respond to universal principles and values. Universalism: Awareness that there are universal values such as equality and dignity of people, although social norms may not match them.
Ethical Theories
Intellectualism
Good knowledge is necessary to do good: only he who acts immorally is unaware of what is good. This is a doubly cognitive theory: not only does it say that it is possible to know the good, but it argues that this knowledge is the only requirement necessary to accomplish it. Socrates conceived of moral knowledge. There are no bad people, only ignorant ones; therefore, there is no good if people are not wise.
Eudemonism
Ethical theories that consider happiness as the purpose of human life and the greatest good to which one can aspire are called eudemonistic. Aristotle believed that the highest happiness of mankind resides in what is essential for nature: the contemplative life, the theoretical exercise of reason in the understanding of the nature of God, and wise moral behavior.
Hedonism
Hedoné comes from the Greek word for ‘pleasure’. Any doctrine that identifies pleasure with good and conceives of happiness as part of a pleasant life is hedonistic. The school formed in Cyrenaica, initiated by Aristippus (435 BC), based its philosophy on the idea that the purpose of our life is pleasure, understood as positive sensory enjoyment. The followers of Epicureanism identify pleasure and happiness, defining pleasure as the simple absence of pain.
Stoicism
Stoic doctrines advocate for indifference to external pleasures and pains and austerity in one’s own wishes. Stoic ethics is based on a particular conception of the world: human beings are limited by an inexorable fate that they cannot control and to which they can only resign themselves.
Jusnaturalism
Jusnaturalism is any ethical theory that defends the existence of a moral law that is natural and universal, and that determines what is right and wrong. This law is objective because, although man can understand and internalize it, it is not his creation, but the recipient of something external. St. Thomas Aquinas is a proponent of this theory.
Formalism
Formal systems consider that morality should not provide specific rules of conduct, but simply establish the best feature of any moral standard. According to Kant, only ethics of these features could be universal and ensure the proper moral autonomy of free and rational beings like humans. The moral norm cannot be imposed from outside, but must be human reason which has given itself a law. If reason legislates about itself, the law will be universal, as it will be valid for all rational beings. This law can only be expressed by means of categorical imperatives. The categorical imperative that Kant formulates is the criteria used to know what rules are moral and which are not. The categorical imperative states that only those norms that are truly universalizable will be moral norms.
Emotivism
Emotivism is any theory that considers moral judgments arising from emotions. According to this thinking, morality does not belong to the rational sphere, i.e., it is not subject to discussion or argument, and therefore, there is no knowledge that has been called unethical. David Hume is a proponent of this theory.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is close to eudemonism and hedonism. It believes that the human purpose is happiness or pleasure. Therefore, actions and rules must be judged according to the principle of utility. Utilitarianism, like hedonism and eudemonism, constitutes a teleological ethical theory, as it assesses actions as means to achieve purposes. John Stuart Mill distinguished between two versions of this philosophy:
- Act-utilitarianism: finds it necessary to judge the morality of every action.
- Rule-utilitarianism: recommends adjusting actions to the usual rules, considering the usefulness and moral goodness of their consequences.
Discursive Ethics
Discursive ethics is an heir to Kantian ethics. The ethics of discourse are formal and procedural; they do not set specific rules of action, but the procedure or criteria for determining which ethical norms are valid. Jürgen Habermas is a proponent of this theory.