How can you determine if an idea is right or wrong? Is it socially wrong or morally wrong? Is it ok to take a paper clip from your office, to steal money from your buddy, or stab your boss? We agree they may be all wrong, but it sure depends on the circumstances.
You make moral decisions, on the basis that your action will yield the greatest good. You act on your thoughts and they influence the lives of others. You are not born with a code of instructions on how to conduct yourself. To make a good decision impacts your life by how you treat others and how you are treated in return.
MAKING DECISIONS
Many times we don’t have good information and cant see pertinent facts to make a good decision. If we use our brains to choose the most effective path in a complex situation, we can fall back on our past experience and good data. We can only make our decisions with what we have and be able to recognize what we know is right. Moral reasoning serves the purpose. To make a good choice certainly has future consequences. We are all judged and governed by the decisions we make.
PRINCIPLES IN MORAL REASONING
Principles of moral reasoning include the following:
What is permitted and not in social relations, the law, games, and manners is compels. Emotions and decisions vary. Some moral evaluation are made before emotions, and some come at the same time, and some emotions come before moral evaluations. Reasoning, either on inferences, unconscious intuition, or conscious reasoning often comes into play. Our beliefs on what is and isn’t moral are not always consistent nor complete.
REASONING
Reasoning is largely unconscious. It is a mental process that evaluates implications from some premise. The premise is either valid or not.
DEDUCTIVE or valid reasoning results in a conclusion that since the premise is true the conclusion is also true. It never gives more information than is in its premise.
INDUCTIVE. Not valid deductions, can lead to a conclusion that is likely to be true. Its conclusion goes beyond the premise, no matter how plausible the conclusion is.
Reasoning also depends on if you are conscious of the premises and also conscious of the conclusions. Only conscious reasoning can make memory work to hold conclusions. It has more computer power than unconscious reasoning and once in a while it can overrule our intuition.
MORAL PROPOSITONS
What should you do and not do, may do, or leave undone? This may or not deal with morality. Morals may be a matter of reason and not preference. A moral action may be carried out for its own sake.
But how do you judge whether an action should be carried out for its own sake and not just be in your self-interest? What are the reasons for your action? Social rules can become moral ISSUES and can be altered by a voluntary decision. But morals laws are immutable.
Moral rules are universal, and apply to everyone for whom their preconditions hold. They don’t describe facts but tell you what to do and not to do, and they tell you what is right and what is wrong. Only conscious reasoning can make memory hold conclusions.
Moral concepts concern welfare; justice and rights, while social rules concern acceptable behavior that helps us interact. Children judge moral actions different from rules in determining their actions. Stealing is wrong to them, whether there is a rule or not.
Only moral decisions merit punishment. But some immoral acts, as failing to keep a promise, don’t warrant a punishment. Yet people carry out act on themselves that may be moral issues, as suicide, self-abuse, and substance abuse. Not all acts that knowingly cause others harm are matters of morality. How can we decide that an action is morally good?
NEW THEORY
There is no principle to tell what is a moral issue. It is hard to pick out issues that are only moral issues. Much of this depends on the persons evaluating the issues.
But you can recognize moral and non-moral issues. We consider euthanasia immoral, but even our single culture has no clear boundaries between moral and nonmoral issues. Smoking, and overeating, are they moral issues? Its clear it is bad for you, but is it immoral?
Is there a special and dedicated way to identify the moral ones by moral reasoning? Or is moral reasoning just normal reasoning about things that happen to concern morality? Everyday beliefs are inconsistent and it does not bother us. We rely on separate sets of beliefs is different social situations. Our laws are not always logical. But moral beliefs have not had the advantage of legal scrutiny.
If our beliefs are based on moral intuitions, our moral reasoning can never be consistent. Moral evaluations can’t cover every situation if the principles are incomplete.
You recognize moral propositions, but don’t rely on them. You rely on your specific knowledge of your culture. You know what is and isn’t a moral issue. A moral issue is a matter of fact and also a matter of attitude of the interested parties.
Reasoning about a moral problem does not depend on a special process nor is there any special process for legal reasoning about legal problems.
Source: Journal of Decision Making Feb 2008
CONCLUSIONS
Social morals try to make people conform to standards rather than have standards conform to the people. Today if you can’t pass a test we alter the test. We change ethics to please the unethical. The new morality of society is: You are wrong if you do something you don’t feel like doing and right if you feel like doing something and do it.
Things must be judged by the purpose of their creation. Morality is order for an end. It is one of the greatest treasures you can give your children. Today we strive to leave our children only riches that rust consumes, moths eat, and robbers steal. That is not enough my friends
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