What is morally right? What is morally wrong?
Morality is based on the norms of society( which mostly influenced by beliefs and traditions )
And without us noticing, the norms slowly changed as time passes.
To support my allegation, this is an example:
A son's duty is to take care of their parents when they're old;
And anyone who didn't take care of their parents( with this, I am referring to sending parents to old folks' home ) is considered as not filial and irresponsible et cetera.
This is very true in the past according to the norms of society, where parents will stay with their son( usually the eldest in the family ) and their son will take care of them.
However, in the society today, sending parents to old folks' home is no longer a big issue( or at least not as big )
The number of old folks' home throughout the nation is on the rise while the society justified it with higher living costs, busy with work, inconvenience and so much more.
Thus, it has now become an acceptable form of actions for sons( morally) to send their parents to old folks' home( I'm not trying to say if this is an appropriate thing to do, but instead I'm trying to point out how people's sense of morality has changed over time )
For some people, morality refers to motives(intentions) rather than the consquences of one's actions.
So, for these people, as long as their intentions are good, the consequences don't matter anymore.
And this time, I'd use another example to show what is wrong with these perceptions.
I'm sure all of you have read the short story "Looking for a Rain God".
The people of ancient times have believed that sacrificing human( usually a child or woman ) to the god so that their village and people would be safe( from natural disasters and epidemics ).
While their motives are to save thousands of lives;
Does that mean that what they did is morally right?
Will that justify their actions?
At that particular time/era, it is and it will! ( With this example, one issue which can also be discussed would be how blindly following traditions can be wrong although there's a saying that if it has been practised for so long, then it can't be wrong. Anyway, I'd leave that issue for later and get back to my point )
And there are also people who claimed that the outcome of one's action is what counts, regardless of one's intention.
If one's intention is bad, does it matter? Even if the outcome is good, it doesn't.(This is what people would term as hypocrisy)
Therefore, I've come to this conclusion that morality is actually a kind of self-deception.
A sense of moral is just something people use to justify their acts; sometimes freeing them from guilt.
Do you agree?
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4 comments:
Wahh!! What happened to you la. Suddenly only. Okla. Actually all this is based on each individual's judgemental value. Whether or not a certain thing is right or wrong depends on his own conscience and view on it. Each person has his own view to what degree a certain actions is considered wrong. An action that is normally right does not mean it is morally right. But sometimes morality is not just purely to free people from guilt. Sometimes it is just what a person regard as something that should be done for goodness of society and of course, himself.
Anyway, good piece kb. Keep it up ya.
yay!!! kean boon updated! :P
Too much moral classes izit?! :P
oh, and hi eliza!!!!!!!!!!XD
Yes you are right. The most important thing a person can do in life is question moral beliefs. In recent history, people who questioned accepted moral beliefs were responsible for abolition of slavery and to some extent prejudice against homosexuality.
well, my personal opinion would be
"actions speak louder than words" :)
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