Our personal developmental history affects our moral behavior as both are influenced by education, emotion, and culture. Learned moral behavior also includes how we should treat our fellow man. Since many moral behaviors are taught, it is important to remember that many lessons are learned when a student sees examples of the lesson. One such behavior is beneficence, which should be taught when considering how much we should do for our fellow man. Personal developmental history and moral behavior affect each other very much and are often dependent upon each other. “Moral reasoning and moral behavior are critically important aspects of human development” (Wood). Our personal developmental history is comprised of not only milestones in
…show more content…
Just as education plays a critical role in our personal development, culture also plays a critical role in our moral development and thus, our moral behavior. The reason for this is that each culture potentially had its own code of conduct with regards to the role of morality. In his article Morality is a Culturally Conditioned Response, Prof. Prinz gives several examples of cultures that have different practices which may be moral for them but is not considered moral for our culture and, in many cases, may be against our laws. One example of this would be if a person was born into a culture that practiced polygamy. That person would be raised that polygamy is an acceptable moral behavior even though in our culture, it is against the law. Since some, but not all, moral behaviors are cultural, they are not consistent through every part of the …show more content…
In the present case, the principle of beneficence is a moral act which involves helping others. “The term beneficence connotes acts of mercy, kindness, and charity. It is suggestive of altruism, love, humanity, and promoting the good of others” (Beauchamp). Immanuel Kant’s theory claims that all persons are owed respect and it is a moral obligation to respect people (Dillon). Albert Einstein’s position is that “man’s ethical behavior should be effectively grounded on compassion, nurture, and social bonds. What is moral is not of the divine, but rather a purely human matter, albeit the most important of all human matters” (Einstein). Confucius, in Analect 12.2, stated “what you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others” (Confucius). Many philosophers, including the ones noted above, all seem to agree on the general concept of the Golden Rule. In other words, treat others as you wish to be treated; with respect, compassion, mercy, kindness, and charity. These are acts of selflessness, all of which can and should be taught by family, society, and authority figures during our personal
Just as education plays a critical role in our personal development, culture also plays a critical role in our moral development and thus, our moral behavior. The reason for this is that each culture potentially had its own code of conduct with regards to the role of morality. In his article Morality is a Culturally Conditioned Response, Prof. Prinz gives several examples of cultures that have different practices which may be moral for them but is not considered moral for our culture and, in many cases, may be against our laws. One example of this would be if a person was born into a culture that practiced polygamy. That person would be raised that polygamy is an acceptable moral behavior even though in our culture, it is against the law. Since some, but not all, moral behaviors are cultural, they are not consistent through every part of the …show more content…
In the present case, the principle of beneficence is a moral act which involves helping others. “The term beneficence connotes acts of mercy, kindness, and charity. It is suggestive of altruism, love, humanity, and promoting the good of others” (Beauchamp). Immanuel Kant’s theory claims that all persons are owed respect and it is a moral obligation to respect people (Dillon). Albert Einstein’s position is that “man’s ethical behavior should be effectively grounded on compassion, nurture, and social bonds. What is moral is not of the divine, but rather a purely human matter, albeit the most important of all human matters” (Einstein). Confucius, in Analect 12.2, stated “what you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others” (Confucius). Many philosophers, including the ones noted above, all seem to agree on the general concept of the Golden Rule. In other words, treat others as you wish to be treated; with respect, compassion, mercy, kindness, and charity. These are acts of selflessness, all of which can and should be taught by family, society, and authority figures during our personal