What is the correct moral judgement?
Our choices, our decisions, and, consequently, our lives, are influenced and determined by our perspective of morality and logic. Using both combined, we can achieve an ethical and rational outcome to any problem. However, despite morality being so important; few people take the time to develop their own sense of morality, and fewer still apply it to a situation any further than their current emotion. And so, I ask, what is the correct moral decision?
Before we begin, I would like to highlight some important things about morality. Firstly, that there is no universal agreement about the morality of our decision, a problem that arises from a concept called “moral relativism”. Essentially, the idea states that rather than morals being objective, each individual’s morals are relative to their social, cultural, historical and personal circumstances. Everybody has a differing concept of morality depending on their environment. Secondly, morality is not based on validity, and it isn’t consistent; no moral answer has a proof. As such, we cannot rely on instinct in a moral dilemma.
This argument is explored in a hypothesis called the Trolley Dilemma, which is further discussed in this variation …show more content…
But can we really have a developed idea in such a small time? Certainly our intuition is usually reliable, but when faced with such a complex issue, we must think deeper. The fact is, we need to think about our moral values before we act. If we act rashly, we are not influenced by morality. Instead, our emotion, intuition and current circumstances take over. Studies have proved this; people who have just watched a comedy show are more likely to push the man off, as opposed to a documentary. Somebody who has just found a pound is more likely to give it to a stranger. Instincts are certainly not reliable when it comes to
Our choices, our decisions, and, consequently, our lives, are influenced and determined by our perspective of morality and logic. Using both combined, we can achieve an ethical and rational outcome to any problem. However, despite morality being so important; few people take the time to develop their own sense of morality, and fewer still apply it to a situation any further than their current emotion. And so, I ask, what is the correct moral decision?
Before we begin, I would like to highlight some important things about morality. Firstly, that there is no universal agreement about the morality of our decision, a problem that arises from a concept called “moral relativism”. Essentially, the idea states that rather than morals being objective, each individual’s morals are relative to their social, cultural, historical and personal circumstances. Everybody has a differing concept of morality depending on their environment. Secondly, morality is not based on validity, and it isn’t consistent; no moral answer has a proof. As such, we cannot rely on instinct in a moral dilemma.
This argument is explored in a hypothesis called the Trolley Dilemma, which is further discussed in this variation …show more content…
But can we really have a developed idea in such a small time? Certainly our intuition is usually reliable, but when faced with such a complex issue, we must think deeper. The fact is, we need to think about our moral values before we act. If we act rashly, we are not influenced by morality. Instead, our emotion, intuition and current circumstances take over. Studies have proved this; people who have just watched a comedy show are more likely to push the man off, as opposed to a documentary. Somebody who has just found a pound is more likely to give it to a stranger. Instincts are certainly not reliable when it comes to