Question on the origin of your morals.?

Question

So if your morals come from society or your parents. What if you find out that your society is corrupt. In several times in history what a society deems as correct, can be viewed from the outside as wrong. Yet for that one particular society, these things are acceptable, morally right.

As for parents, what if to you and others your family is the nice moral family. Yet you are unaware that to some they may lead an immoral life. They are only moral, because you are raised to think they are moral. Some people, for example think that drug dealing is morally right. In fact people in an entire community will also believe this to be true.

So my question is, how do you know that the morals that you are raised with are actually moral? Why is your idea of morality more moral than another?

So whose to say that your society is not corrupt. Afterall it took generations for whites in the south to admit that their society is wrong and immoral. Some still hold on the old concept.

Everyone has encountered a family that was out of whack, yet to that family they think they are the most moral family that they know.

Rose:
"The odd thing about morality is that you have to willing to become immoral in order to question it, because if you end up believing it, then you need to practise it."

What an interesting concept. You have to be immoral to question morality. Brilliant and true.

I knew a family that thought it was normal to sale drugs. Everyone did it or benefited from it, from the parents to the children. Yet they were nice and treated people well. To that family what they thought of as normal and moral, to us was wrong.

That american idol contestant Sanjaya is a prime example. Apparantly he sold drugs in high school (speculation I know),now because he deemed as sweet nature from a well off family, that is okay. Yet if he was some black or hispanic teen doing that he'd be in juvie or looked down upon.

Answer 1

I like your question Desidani.Our morals come from both society and parents.Normally they are a tight fit because it is difficult to live with values that differ from the norm. Actually, our morals are so closely linked to our society that we normally do not even question them. That makes you an unusual person in a good way because it is people like you who lead to changes in morality,
If we look at two contemporary societies, you can easily find one in which the rights of a woman are completely subservient to her husband or other male family member. Women in such a society do not even question it. It is so ingrained that it is totally acceptable. In another country such a custom would be abhorent because the women who went before us have firstly, observed the different treatment of male and female, then questioned it's validity,and finally demanded a change of attitude. This often takes a long time. We should be gratefulto those who have gone before us.
The sobering fact about morality is that it is relative to the society that you are in and therefore,can not be judged by another society's standards. Moral living is keeping the morals of you social unit.( Here I think, we could explore as well the idea that humanity is made up of different social units and therefore, the local morality must take this into account. This means that the local morality is not the ultimate criterian, even though I think it is so for the ordinary person. Perhaps this is where a philosopher earns his keep.) Sorry about the digression. Needs more thought.
Your last question takes the above digression into account in so far as you point out the differing degrees in the quality of morality. On the personal level any person abiding by the mores of his sociery is as moral as any one in a different society being equally obedient. However, the difference comes when you notice that some societies have higher standards and are more respectful of everyone's rights. For me, this would mean that I would consider the latter as a healthier morality than the former though people observing the moral code of each would be, I think, equally moral beings.

The odd thing about morality is that you have to willing to become immoral in order to question it, because if you end up believing it, then you need to practise it. One saving grace is we usually only question a little at a time so we are able to co-exist without too much friction. It is only the social reformers who are brave enough and vocal enough to force a change and I am afraid they suffer for their courage. At this present time I am believing something that will not be acceptable in perhaps 50 years time. Think back to those times when the slave trade was acceptable; we had child labour, excessive punishments for criminals etc. At this moment I believe that I am a moral being but I know that customs will change and I will not be moral by those changed conditions AND I have no idea what those changes will be. They could make us a more honest society or they could endorse stealing. This future generation will be as completely locked into the system as you and I are now.

Thank you for providing me an opportunity to clarify some of my own thoughts. Hope they help you. Cheers.

Answer 2

Ethics predates morals. Ethics is what began conduct styles in relationships. Group ethics, one extended family vs extended family, started while 2 clans tribed as much as conclude off a different, who joinded up with the tribe as a substitute than be performed in. To become a member of, the extended family needed to receive the foundations. And the Golden Rule nonetheless laws. Them with the gold, make the foundations. Once that was once settled, ethics offered the template for all matters governing guy's dating with guy and females. This went on till the oblisk of Babylonian (proper for bs) which had probably the most first written algorithm. We're speaking 5000 BC. and might be two times that a long way again. With the arrival of the priestly caste we now constructed morals. Morals is the connection among us guys and females, and a diety. Moralists expect that guy can offend the Creator by way of doing close to some thing, and that guy can't probably realize the Creators record of all matters offensive, for this reason guy grew to be the comfortable proprietor of faith, Morals are the written set of devout laws, with accompaning enforcement, that has been traditionally in charge for the thick layer of blood that now covers the planet. Ethics is regularly the equal now as then," Don't monkey with anothers Monkey's monkey".

Answer 3

Morality is what each person believes is right or wrong and differs slightly from person to person.

The society I grew up in consisted of Christian morals.
My parents were also Christian and wanted me to live by Christian morals too.
By Christian morals, I mean anything that Jesus said to do, the 10 commandments, and some things from psalms.

I then turned away from the Christian faith. Now my morals consist of: don't harm, control, or hinder anyone without their explicit permission. I came by this set of morals through my studies of different religions.

I think most people do have a core-root moral though. Every major religion has some text that says in some way "do what you want done to you to other people." The idea to be nice to others.

My idea of morality is how I've observed it and previously described it. My specific morality is my own, and no more right to anyone elce as their morality is to mine. I dont think mine is better, but it makes sence to me.

Answer 4

Well...
Like you said, most people base their morality on culture, social norms and acceptance. For example, people in Greece, living in small villages, consider that sex outside marriage for females is wrong. This is the norm for the surrounding culture, hence the development of morality will acquire this norm.

In my opinion, "Morality" is a mechanism which people use in order to prove to their social surroundings that they are not social deviants. Therefore, although it may be wrong to follow a traditional moral route, people find themselves following it, regardless of how they personally perceive it, simply because not doing so would tag them as deviant.

Hence, the term morality is not a universal notion, but a localised one. Morality cannot be the same for every culture and religion, but it doesn't matter, since people will try to adapt their own society's norms through the media, peers, and family.

Answer 5

Unless we accept a moral authority over us, all that we call morality is just behavior training imposed upon us by the society we live in. It's very similar to training an animal except that we humans have the mental capacity for empathy and sympathy so that adds another training tool.

Answer 6

I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see a Christian on here with such well thought out questions.

I agree with all of the things you have written in this question... that some societies and families are indeed immoral, and that children raised in those environments would have a difficult time telling the difference.

So how could they know what is moral? I don't have time for a good answer now, so PLEASE write to me if you want to discuss this more.

But one way to start is by extending their actions through time...(assuming they are isolated from other, healthier societies) The drug addicted society fails to get work done. Their health begins to detereoriate to the point which they do not take care of themselves and their offspring. Soon enough, they would begin to die out (go extinct) through diseases and low birth survival along with mental defects from poor social contacts.
This is what our ancestors learned (mostly though instinct) through millions of years of evolution as we lived in small bands of hunter-gatherers in Africa.

Another way to not let things take such a drastic course, would be to follow something like the "Golden Rule" that was of course known long before Biblical times. Always think to yourself - "how will my actions effect others?" "Is this the way I would want to be treated?" "What are the long-term consequences of my actions?" And importantly, "what if everyone did it?"

Of course, most of our morality is carried out by society enforcing itself, but you asked about the secretive society (drug cultures and warped families).

As you look at societies through out history, you will notice that they have (in general) become more moral. They have extended rights and protections to more and more people. Our morals are progressive, unless we chose to live by the immorality of ancient texts. Remember, southern slave owners used the Bible to defend their actions. They were on the winning side of a Biblical argument and they knew it. They never stopped talking about it.

It was only from outside influence that pushed them to become more moral.

Answer 7

Very well said! I wish people can understand what you are saying. Our morals values are relative to society, location, time and situation.

Another point which I would like to highlight is that morality has nothing to do with spirituality, which is Universal. Anything which divides is an idea against the spirituality.

Answer 8

I'm an agnostic but my moral values would be to keep as close to the ten commandments as I can. ( Like some Jewish people, I try but do not always succeed). I am sure many atheists and humanists would agree. Parentage helps but I know some off shoots of 'immoral' parents who went their own way in good morality with kidness and thoughtfulness to others.
So morality in all 'races' is the refusal to do evil to others.

Answer 9

My dad and my sister had a lot of influence in my morals, they argue their morals, and so do I. I evaluate different situations and decide what I think is the moral thing to do. I don't think society is always right. I don't agree with many of either of my parents' morals. My morals are my ideas of what are right and wrong based on my evaluations. I don't use other peoples' beliefs or religious beliefs (as I am atheist) to decide what my morals are.

EDIT: What is moral and what is not moral is merely based on perception. I do realize this. But in my perception i am a moral person, because I stick to the morals that I have created for myself.

Answer 10

morality is simply a human construct, designed to establish a baseline of behavior in a society