Do you believe morality is primarily a matter of following rules? why?

Answer 1

Absolutely not.

Lawrence Kohlberg separated morality into six identifiable developmental stages from doing the right thing out of fear of punishment to doing the right thing because it is truly ethical.

He posed a hypothetical situation in which a man is trying to find a way to save his wife from dying from a rare disease. There is a doctor who has a remedy, but will only sell the remedy for an absurd amount of money. The man offers him as much as he has and does everything to try to come up with the money, but the doctor will not accept it and will not sell the remedy to the man for less than his original price. The man is desperate so he breaks into the doctors office and steals the remedy. The question then asked is was the man in the right or the wrong for stealing the remedy.

There are several different reasons why the man should or should not have stolen the remedy. Most people would say that stealing is wrong no matter what, but is this really the truth? Kohlberg said that the most moral answer can go either way, and neither have anything to do with rules being broken. Either the man should have stolen the remedy because it is immoral to just give up and let his wife die because he didn't do all he could to save her, OR, he should not have stolen it because he is keeping others with the same disease who can afford to purchase the remedy from being able to be healed because he selfishly stole the remedy for his own purposes. Neither answer calls rules or laws into the equation of what is right or wrong.

So my answer to your question is no, morality is not primarily following rules.

Answer 2

Yes and no. Some rules were instilled in us, are instincts (taking care of children, of family etc)...some were given (the 10 Commandments -to basically make sure we treat others the way we treat our family). Otherwise there would be chaos...I am talking about RULES other than traffic rules or the 2nd district court rules;)

I also think some people are born more compassionate and "moral" than others -more sensitive to others' needs. But then it's also a matter of how you nurture the good instincts...

but hey I haven't put much thouht into this...so it's a "moment" thing. What do u think?

Answer 3

No, because if rules order one to do immoral things, the rules are not moral. Every human has an internal moral compass, which often times is ignored, or in some cases, not even realized to exist. Morality is doing what is moral, even if the rules don't allow it. Note that this is not just choosing the moral choice of things, but actually seeking moral things to do.

Answer 4

Following who's rules?

Answer 5

I think it's more than just blindly following a rule. I think for it to truely be moral you must have an understanding of why the "rules" are moral. I met a lady once who said she didn't steal because god said "thou shalt not steal" This, to me, demonstrates a lack of morality. It suggest that she would steal if god didn't command not to.

Good question.

Answer 6

No, the rules themselves can be bad. Morality to me is a matter of helping out other people when they need your help or moreover, someone who is moral is able to put others before themselves.

Answer 7

No, but rules are there to help you make the right decision.
If what you want to do is against a known rule, question it.

Answer 8

No...if morality and heaven could have been obtained by keeping the 10 Commandments then God would have never had to send His Son to die on the cross....think about it.

Answer 9

Morality is primarily a collective agreement of people within a society to live in a manner which is fair to everyone.

What it IS NOT: Religous induced.

Answer 10

I make up the rules as I go along.