Morality

Morality in the strictest sense of the word, deals with that which is universally regarded as right or wrong. However, the term is often used to refer to a system of principles and judgments shared by cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which humans determine whether given actions are right or wrong.

Related Topics:
Cultural - Religious - Philosophical - Right - Wrong

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These concepts and beliefs are often generalized and codified by a culture or group, and thus serve to regulate the behaviour of its members.

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Conformity to such codification may also be called morality, and the group may depend on widespread conformity to such codes for its continued existence.

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A "moral" may refer to a particular principle, usually as informal and general summary with respect to a moral principle, as it is applied in a given human situation.

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The systematic study of morality is a branch of philosophy called ethics. Ethics seeks to address questions such as how one ought to behave in a specific situation ("applied ethics"), how one can justify a moral position ("normative ethics"), and whether we can justify ethics or morality itself ("meta-ethics").

Related Topics:
Philosophy - Ethics - Applied ethics - Normative ethics - Meta-ethics

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For example, in applied ethics, the question of abortion being morally permissible is a current issue in United States society and politics. A common question in normative ethics is how one would go about justifying a lie, given that they think they are morally justified for sake of protecting someone from harm. Do the terms "good", "evil", "right", "wrong" make sense? Meta-ethics asks, how do we justify the existence of "good"? or is it all relative and morality simply a statement of one's preferences (i.e. through "cultural relativism")?

Related Topics:
Abortion - United States - Cultural relativism

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Of course, in any society there is a divergence between the notion of how we ought to behave and the reality of how we behave; so there is a difference between hypothetical punditry and real morality. He whom we call "moral" is moral only after he behaves in accordance with either (if we take the pluralist stance) our perception of "morality", or (if we accept its existence) in the universal human interest.

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