Where do morals come from?

Question

There are a lot of people asking about morals. So where do they come from. Is it your religion, the way you were raised, or something that you learn over time?
Would good, kind people that have never experienced religion be considered to be immoral, even if they help hundreds or thousands?

I have my own opinions, just opening up for debate.

Answer 1

Hi,

Most people assume that morals come from the Bible,
which does have codes of conduct for our daily living.
But other cultures have a code of conduct as well,e.g.,
India, China, Japan, Ancient Babylon, Sumeria, etc.
We are inherently imbued with the knowledge to be able
to distinguish between right and wrong, reguardless of
where we are in this planet. And whether or not we have
a Bible, or some other book to guide us. Morals are a
Universal, or if not, Multiuniversal Reality that none of us
can escape, or be without excuse. We all in the end have
to answer for what we do in this life, or what we do to
ourselves and others. In essence, Morals Governs All.

Answer 2

Morals come from many different sorces, including religion, parents and society. Even going with the guide lines of "how do I want to be treated?" do not stack up against being taught that might makes right, and a strong person can do what ever he likes to anyone he chooses, reguardless of whether or not he would want to be treated the same way.

Answer 3

There is some evidence that the desire to do the right thing is in our DNA. It helps the species survive if we are kind to each other and do not steal, kill, or lie. Every group of humans, no matter how primitive, has these rules (morals). It is not a requirement that they have religious backing, although that does strengthen the enforcement of the morals.

Answer 4

i believe that morals are a creation of man and our society as a whole. religions are used by some as a way to pass them on just like parents also do when raising there children. We also have laws that try to enforce some of these values as well.

Answer 5

i've got given this dissimilar theory. i do no longer see any ethical or ethical thoughts coming from the stressful sciences. Even the social sciences are not very good at arising with issues that make ethical experience. yet on an identical time, i glance at issues like Irish common regulation, which predates Christianity on that island, and there are dissimilar ethics and morals latest interior the subculture. would desire to or no longer that's that it rather is God's impact? i does no longer low fee it as one danger, yet I have not got any data or data that those regulations got here from early pagan ideals.

Answer 6

morality in a popular sense is usually dictated by social norms which can be influenced by religion. obviously for individuals moral codes will be influenced by a number of unique factors each individual. If you get into the messy area of "absolute" morality - it becomes a little more ambiguous on the origin.

Answer 7

I was born with morals. I think all people are. Then as they go through childhood they either get selfish, or else continue to walk the path they know is "right".

I think it's like a bell curve, eventually. Most will be somewhere in the middle, and a few extremists on the ends.

Answer 8

They come from society.

People think of Adam Smith as an economist; but his claim that morality comes from:

1) Wanting approbation from the rest of society, and
2) Empathy


might be one of the greatest thoughts in the past 1000 years.

Answer 9

Believe it or not I'm going to answer this seriously. In the 1980's Hasbro came out with a cartoon called Transformers. In this cartoon was a robot named Optimus Prime (Not the new movie version). I did not have a good relationship with my father and this cartoon figure because a father figure to me. Even today at 34 I still call upon memories of Prime and think about what he would do in current events. I own all of whom I am to that Robot. Honor, respect, concern for fellow man, helping people. Why not a cartoon character? I could have done worse.

Answer 10

Morals are inherent to mankind from it's creator and have nothing to do with their religious views. I have met some very moral Buddhists, Christians Vedics, Pagans etc. and some very unmoral persons of the same groups.