WHAT IS MORAL PHILOSOPHY? - Meaning, Types and More

 ASPECTS OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY

WHAT IS MORALITY?

To imagine a world without morals

Is to imagine the sea-beds without corals

It is death of civilization as we know it

Society becomes ravaged by a thousand evil spirits - ODIGIE, N. JOSEPH

• The word ‘morality’ is got/derived from the Greek word ‘mores’ and it could be defined as the customs or manners of any given society. It is a person’s guide to behavior conduct. It is a culture’s collective explanation of its moral sense or moral insight and what it considers to be right or wrong, good or bad, acceptable or not.
• A great deal of philosophers have made attempts to evaluate what makes an action right and another wrong, or what makes one action right in one circumstance and the same action wrong in another.
• In this subject matter, it is worthy of note here, that the Ancient Greek Philosophers were more concerned with what makes a person good or upright i.e. one’s character or virtue. However, it was with the advent of the Contemporary Wester Philosophy that philosophy experienced a shift from ‘virtue’ to ‘actions/activity’.
• Morality to some scholars is the SUM TOTAL of an individual’s or society’s value system while Ethics or Moral philosophy is the study and rigorous examination and evaluation of these systems to proffer sound ethical standards.
• Morality is divided into two: (a) Traditional or Customary Morality and (b) Reflective Morality.

 

WHAT IS MORAL PHILOSOPHY?

• Moral philosophy is another name for ETHICS.
• Ethics is considered to be a sub-branch of AXIOLOGY and axiology is the branch of philosophy that deals with the study of VALUE. The other branch of axiology is known as AESTHETICS also known as the Theory of Beauty.
• Ethics is the English equivalent of the Latin word ETHIKA or ETHOS meaning custom, habit or character. Ethics is also regarded as the study of our perception of RIGHT and WRONG.
• Moral philosophy is divided into: (a) Meta-ethics (b) Normative ethics and (c) Applied Ethics.
• Meta-ethics is concerned with the analysis and clarification of the terms used in moral discourse and the nature of such discourse. It is the inquiry into the origin or fundamentals of ethical theories and principles.
• Normative Ethics is the practical arm of ethics and it is all about the ideal moral standard to use when confronted with moral issues. It achieves this by suggesting the best form of response/conduct in any given situation by observing the consequences of such a course of action.
• Applied Ethics involves the isolation of individual moral issues and examining them.

TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING (just before you proceed):

1. What is ethics or morality? Is purely a META-ETHICAL QUESTION
2. Are they social inventions, do they involve more than expressions of individual emotions? Is also a question of META-ETHICS.
3. Moral Issues such as – the issue of abortion, sexuality, animal rights, environmental ethics etc. are grouped under APPLIED ETHICS.
4. An action that affects not only you but others is known as A MORAL ACT.

NOW LET’S MOVE ON, SHALL WE?

IS VALUE SUBJECTIVE OR OBJECTIVE?

Since morality pertains to issues regarding values, actions and character that may be considered good or bad, we must know if these values exist ‘outside of man’, preceding [coming/existed before] man or are they ‘within man’ or a combination of both.

• Now if we say that values are OBJECTIVE then it means – (a) they flow from some supernatural being (b) there exist moral laws that are part of the intricate web of the universe (c) these values have existence and worth, without a human person as perceiver or evaluator.

If we say morality is SUBJECTIVE then we mean that morality is nothing more than social infrastructures conceived or formulated by various cultures and societies.

• If we say it is both OBJECTIVE and SUBJECTIVE we imply that values comprise of moral codes provided by a supreme deity or god but this deity also needs individuals and cultures or societies to live and operate by these codes.

Now, according to Jacques Thirox and Keith Krasemann, there are four aspects of morality and they are:

1. Religious morality
2. Natural morality
3. Individual morality
4. Social morality

RELIGIOUS MORALITY is simply the relationship between humans and a higher authority or deity.

NATURAL MORALITY has to do with the standard relationship that should exist between humans and nature. I.e. how that we must deal with nature in a moral way.

INDIVIDUAL MORALITY is simply the relationship or interaction of humans to themselves. Here, morality is guided and prompted by CONSCIENCE.

SOCIAL MORALITY sees and conceives morality as the relationship of humans with/to others and it is the aspect that concerns us more. 

SOURCES OF MORALITY:

1. The Law Conception of Morality: This law holds that morality or the idea of what is good or bad cannot be determined by the use of human standards but by appeal to a pre-existing moral law, as dictated or instituted by a divine being. This law was postulated by ANSCOMBE in her article Modern Moral Philosophy. She held that God is a lawgiver and to be moral therefore is to find God’s will and act in obedience to it. This law is further divided into: (a) Divine Command Theory (b) The Idea of Natural Law (c) Kant’s categorical and Practical imperative.

• The Divine Command Theory is also known as the Supernatural Theory. The Divine Command Theory holds that an action is wrong or right if a supreme being has deemed it so.

It is for our eternal benefit that we obey God’s command since to deviate could result in dire consequences – British Theologian William Paley.

• The Idea of Natural Law holds that moral laws exist in nature.
• For Kant’s Categorical and Practical Imperative, this theory or approach holds that there are two important attributes that are needed for an ethics that is NOT based on religious sentiments or any notion of Supreme Being. These two attributes are: (a) Goodwill and (b) Reason.

    2. Another source of morality is Social Norms or Contractarianism and the philosophers in this line believe that morality is nothing more than a social construct/infrastructure made by man and for man. Examples of such philosophers include: PROTAGORAS, THOMAS HOBBES, JOHN LOCKE and JOHN RAWLS.

• ANTHROPOCENTRISM, BIOCENTRISM and ECO-CENTRISM are all various approaches to something known as ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS which is the branch of APPLIED ETHICS that deals with man’s relationship with nature.
• The issue of Animal Rights falls under Bio-centrism and for philosophers like PETER SINGER and TOM REGAN, animals have rights – though not moral but as a result of their capacity to feel suffering and pleasure. He called it Sentience.
• Eco-centrism holds that it is not only the benefits of man that should be considered when making decisions affecting the planet. Under this approach, we have what is called ECO-FEMINISM which studies the numerous links and connections between ‘Women’ and nature.
• The Eco-feminist approach holds that both the woman and nature have suffered exploitation, domination and oppression by the hands of a male-centered society. This theory or approach holds that women are in a better position to care for the environment [ecosystem] than men because the woman is a nurturer or care-giver. Proponents of this approach include: GRETA GAARD, LORI GRUEN and VANDANA SHIVA.
• Anthropocentrism holds that in the dealings between man and nature, INTRINSIC [core, innate, basic, natural] value is attached to humans and humans alone.

 

WHAT ARE THE THREATS TO ETHICS?

There are Seven [7] threats to Ethics according to SIMON BLACKBURN and they include:

1. The Death of God [chiefly supported by NIETZSCHE and JEAN PAUL SARTRE. As a matter of fact, JEAN PAUL SARTRE claimed that ‘THE DEATH OF GOD SPEAKS FREEDOM TO MAN’S EXISTENCE; as man is forced to act and decide for himself’.
2. Relativism, Nihilism and Sceptism
3. Egoism
4. Evolutionary Theory
5. Determinism and Futility
6. Unreasonable demands and Impracticability
7. False Consciousness Distinction between Male and Female Morality
8. Emotivism

 

WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS?

• Ethics plays a social function
• Ethics acts as a moderator of moral dilemmas
• Without Ethics man-in-society would be like a feral [untamed, undomesticated, uncontrolled etc.] being in the jungle.
• Without Ethics, conflicts would arise and civilization brought to its knees at the hands of opinion – clash.
• Ethics balances our all social conflicts.
• Ethics influences decision making involving who to trust hence, it plays an inter-personal relationship role.