Definition Essay: What´s Individual Morality?

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What separates man from beast, distinguishes between good and evil, right from wrong, determines conduct: morality. A quality found both in individuals –personal convictions, ideals, and conscience –and in a community as a whole –societal values, norms, conventions –morality proves a driving force in almost every action, thought, and word. This is idea of morality as driving force is where the term “moral compass” comes from, where morality acts as a guide directing and moving one forward. Furthermore, while individual morality is influenced by the larger communal morality surrounding the individual, ultimately, individual morality at its core is driven by a person’s innate conscience. Such socially contrived conduct as table manners influences …show more content…
The morality an individual develops is formed by their conscience: an innate sense of what is right and what is wrong. This inherent feeling or sense is what in the Latter Day Saint community we would call the light of Christ, which everyone is intrinsically born with. An individual’s morality can be shaped by society, by organized religion, by family, or by peers. However, it is essentially innate within each individual. Therefore, while homosexuality became morally acceptable, which is to say that most American’s, as a larger community, now find homosexuality morally “right” or at the very least socially acceptable, as an individual, this may not be true. A person’s morality does not inherently change to reflect the communal morality, while communal morality inherently changes to adhere to its community’s popular ideals. While same-sex marriage is now legal and a reflection of the American people as a larger community, several individuals, guided by their individual morality, still find same-sex marriages as morally wrong. An individual’s moral beliefs at their core remain constant. Overall, while there are several parallels between individual and communal morality, they nonetheless differ in

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