Morality and corresponding moral standards are the basis of civilization and humanity of any society. When morality and moral foundations collapse, society collapses and people degrade, which we can observe in our modern civilization, which is increasingly drowning in vices. Morality is following certain Spiritual (moral) Principles: the principles of Honor, Conscience, Duty, Justice, Love and Kindness. Morality is the essence of the true Dignity of Man.
A moral person is one who implements these spiritual principles in his life and they are embodied in him in the knowledge of the corresponding beliefs and personal qualities, such as responsibility, honor, honesty, dignity, respect for others, goodwill, devotion, etc.
To paraphrase, morality can be defined as follows. Morality is the conformity of ideas, beliefs, values, actions and all manifestations of a person with moral norms, universal human values (kindness, non-violence, honesty, respect, etc.), and ideally with all Spiritual Laws.
It is Morality that is an indicator of the degree of spirituality of a Person and Society.
Morality and the morality it generates (rules of conduct, etc.) were previously formed by Religion, commandments (Spiritual Laws in a religious interpretation), but are now largely destroyed. Of course, it needs to be revived and formed purposefully.
What is the basis of Morality? What gives birth to morality and what destroys it
The basis of morality is the distinction between Good and Evil, and the choice of the path of Good. Read about whether Good and Evil exist here. It is the understanding of what is Good, what is considered Worthy, and what is Bad, what is unworthy, shameful, unacceptable for a Man, that determines moral standards.
It is precisely because of the lack of adequate ideas about Good and Evil in modern society that morality is in decline, people are stricken with vices and ignorance, and society as a whole is rapidly decomposing.
There is also a misconception that Morality is a set of restrictions that encroach on a person’s freedom, restrain and block the manifestation of his individuality. This is huge stupidity! Morality provides the vector, path and conditions for upward movement under which the human Soul can grow, develop at the greatest speed, be protected from vices, possible moral decay and degradation, and be invulnerable to evil.
It was during the highest periods of spiritual flourishing, when the moral standard was realized to the maximum extent in society, in the upbringing of personnel, citizens, in culture, education, in the traditions of society, that the great empires and states reached their highest level of development, civilization, culture, to which even Many modern states still have a long way to go.
Therefore, knowledge about good and evil, about what makes a person Worthy, Strong, Successful, and what makes him insignificant, fallen, stupid and helpless, is the most in demand in society!
Ideally, the state should be involved in educating a Moral and Decent Person. And this must be done from childhood. From childhood it is necessary to form a worthy personality, a moral person, a citizen and a patriot, as was done at all times in the great Empires and Spiritual Knightly Orders.
What I sincerely wish for you and your children!
Morality as a quality of a person is the ability to follow the rules of behavior towards oneself, which are consistent with conscience, with dignity, duty and honor, correspond to the laws of the universe, ethical standards, and are based on the manifestation of the positive, best qualities of a person.
Once upon a time, an old Indian revealed one vital truth to his grandson. - There is a struggle in every person, very similar to the struggle of two wolves. One wolf represents evil - envy, jealousy, regret, selfishness, ambition, lies... The other wolf represents good - peace, love, hope, truth, kindness, loyalty... The little Indian, touched to the depths of his soul by the words of his grandfather, thought for a few moments, and then he asked: “Which wolf wins in the end?” The old Indian smiled faintly and answered: “The wolf you feed always wins.”
In the Russian Encyclopedia, the concept of morality is positive and is contrasted with the bodily, carnal. Moral is what is consistent with conscience, with the laws of truth, with human dignity, with the duty of an honest and pure-hearted citizen of his Fatherland.
For a native Russian person, moral life is more important than material life. And this means the ability to be selfless. “Every self-sacrifice is a moral act, of good morality, of valor. The Orthodox faith contains the rules of the highest morality. The morality of our faith is higher than civil morality: the first requires only strict execution of the laws, while the second puts conscience and God as the judge” (V.I. Dal).
Morality is an internal moral code for oneself. Morality is a verdict on your behavior and your actions from the point of view of conscience and goodness. A man of impeccable morality is a devoted servant of God and a strict executor of his moral laws. Serving God means serving people with love and selflessness. In such service a person develops moral purity.
The higher the level of morality of the majority of members of a society, the more benign and pious it is. Life is a lesson in morality. The meaning of life is to go through its lessons, grow personally, cultivate virtues in yourself, get as close as possible to God in your qualities, in a word, raise your morality to an unprecedented height.
Philosopher Elena Orekhova writes: “We are spiritual beings who are not subject to death. And we simply exchange one material body for another. Going through birth, illness, old age and death again and again. That is, we learn higher morality. What is the highest morality? Moral laws are present in every society. But there are moral laws that are the same throughout the Universe. That is, what is morality? These are the ability to forgive, purity, absence of envy and greed, self-denial, truthfulness, control of one's feelings, gentleness, modesty and so on. That is, following the laws of morality, living beings on different planets satisfy their senses in one way or another. And the highest morality is to achieve perfection in the qualities that I have just listed. That is, learn to satisfy not your feelings, but the feelings of the Absolute Truth. The final stage of the law of reincarnation is that the soul, having developed all the above-mentioned virtues, goes home to the beautiful spiritual world.”
In the world of selfishness and self-interest of morality, one often has to engage in an unequal battle with them.
Morality and Material Interest met on a narrow bridge, where the two could not pass each other. - Spread out in front of me, low creature! - Morality ordered menacingly. - And I will step over you! Material Interest said nothing, just looked into her eyes. “Well... uh... okay,” Morality said hesitantly. - Let's draw lots to see who will be allowed through. Material Interest remained silent and did not look away. “To avoid an unwanted conflict,” Morality said then, not without mental anguish, “I myself will lie flat, and you can walk over me.” Here only Material Interest opened its mouth. “It’s unlikely that my feet will be comfortable walking on you,” he objected. - I'm very sensitive on my feet. Better get off the bridge into the water. That was the end of the matter.
It is no secret that the strongest love is love at the level of higher centers. When a person respects your moral principles, it is worth a lot. Love below the belt quickly comes to saturation and satiety. It is a completely different matter when love has reached the moral unity of the spouses.
“I will marry only the most beautiful princess,” the prince announced to his parents. The queen began to invite beautiful princesses to visit, but the prince did not like any of them. Then the queen called the wise wizard to the palace. - Your Highness, what do you like in girls? - the wizard asked the prince. - Sometimes I like blue eyes, but after a minute green ones seem more beautiful. “One time I liked golden hair, another time I liked black hair,” answered the prince. “I will bewitch one princess who loves you, and her appearance will change depending on your desire,” the wizard suggested. - Great, I will never get tired of such a wife! - exclaimed the prince.
Soon the wedding took place. The young princess looked the way the prince wanted. Moreover, she was kind, loyal and reasonable. The prince was delighted. Time passed, and one day the prince said to his wife: “You are a faithful and kind wife.” I can’t imagine life without you, but I dream of seeing your real face. “If I show myself in my real appearance, you will stop loving me,” the princess was afraid. - No way! “I don’t need another woman, no matter how beautiful she is,” the prince insisted.
Finally the princess agreed. She called the wise wizard and asked him to return her real appearance. To his amazement, the prince saw his childhood friend - a snub-nosed princess from a neighboring state. “I have loved you since childhood, prince,” the princess admitted. - Yes, I remember, as a child you were my best friend. “I’m so glad that you became my wife,” the prince laughed. - You can’t stop loving if you love for moral merits. “Such love is tied to the eternal,” said the wizard.
Peter Kovalev
Will in itself has no value. It acquires moral content as a result of determining the direction in which volitional efforts are carried out. The will becomes moral or immoral thanks to the goals that excite it. After all, a person who works for evil also makes certain efforts.
Our weakness of will is often revealed precisely in those moments when we cannot bring ourselves to do what is required from the position of a moral person. This means that in each of us there is not only a “man of habit” and a “man of will,” but also "moral person".
Self-knowledge includes the study of not only one’s will, i.e. the possibilities of the extent to which I can coordinate my behavior and control the “man of habit”, but also why I do it.
We are not indifferent to the mechanisms by which we can control our moral behavior in order to achieve higher goals. Consider the remorse of a teenager who, faithful to the duty of comradeship, is inclined to cover up the immoral and dangerous offenses of a comrade, which can lead this comrade to a sad ending. In order to make the right decision in this situation and implement it, a teenager is required to have a strong will and a developed moral sense that could resist false camaraderie.
The weakness of the “moral person” contained within us sometimes finds rather unexpected manifestations. This is a woman who, out of a sense of shame in front of people who might judge her, continues to live with an alcoholic who has already completely destroyed her entire family and torments her children, turning them into neurotics; and a girl who agrees to marry an unloved person only because she, out of weakness, entered into an intimate relationship with him; and a leader who cannot punish his subordinate just because he studied at the institute with him and they were once friends.
Life makes high and sometimes unexpected demands on each of us, which for the most part appeal to our “man of morals.” The ability to make moral judgment and follow it in life characterizes a person’s moral will. However, in life there are many people whose moral sense may be high, but a lack of will and self-discipline does not give them the opportunity to realize (40:) this in life. Then there arises internal conflict, manifested in remorse, which severely punishes us for the fact that we cannot follow the dictates of morality.
Conflicts in the moral sphere of the individual are determined by the general moral structure of society. To understand these conflicts, we need to know the origins of morality. The idea that moral standards are given by someone and exist as a code supported by the strength of the moral spirit of society is a pre-scientific concept. Moral norms are constantly generated and maintained in human communication, primarily in small groups: in the family, in the reference group. They are supported and controlled by emotions such as fear, shame, and guilt. Whenever a person’s actions, even in thoughts, deviate from certain requirements, he experiences some unpleasant emotion, which fades if he begins to meet these requirements. These requirements are fixed in consciousness and, accordingly, in habits and customs; following these habits, customs, and regulations is combined with favorable experiences, and deviation is associated with unpleasant ones. A moral person remembers these instructions and regulates his behavior in such a way as to reduce the experience of emotions caused by deviations from the instructions.
Moral behavior in itself may not require volitional regulation. If the pleasure that a person wants to receive as a result of an action that is considered shameful is not worth suffering by experiencing shame, then this action will be stopped, blocked by our Self, consciousness. But for this you need to have a good imagination, which can quite clearly imagine the long-term consequences of this aspiration. Consequently, the strength of a moral person again depends on the abilities of thinking and imagination, the ability to control one’s mind.
An immoral person is often absorbed in his desires and is unable to clearly imagine the consequences of actions leading to the satisfaction of this desire. His consciousness is focused on the object of satisfaction, and his imagination is occupied only with the reproduction of the expected pleasure, which increases activity. He has no control over himself.
If you look at self-control “from the inside,” then it is possible only through thinking and imagining the consequences of your actions. If the imagination is silent and does not go beyond the objects of passion, then this leads to loss of orientation. A person who does not control himself can be immoral, and most often a doctor classifies him as a psychopath if his activity releases a lot of energy in aggressive behavior and anger. But if we imagine the other extreme, namely an overly developed imagination, affective richness of thinking associated with understanding the consequences of actions aimed at satisfying desires, then in this case a person becomes (41:) incapable of actions to satisfy desires and needs. Someone, imagining what happens to underdigested meat in his intestines, how rotting poisons the body, clearly imagining the suffering of an animal that is killed in a slaughterhouse, a cow being separated from a calf, and much more associated with the consumption of meat, this person begins to experience fear and disgust before consuming meat and becoming a vegetarian. At the same time, the ability to experience pleasure from eating meat is extinguished. Imagination directed to the consequences of the gratification of desires, and if these consequences are considered immoral and disgusting, gradually contributes to the development of true asceticism. This is a last resort and exceptional case. Most often, ordinary neurosis develops. A teenager, imagining how, as a result of enjoying food, his weight increases and he becomes “fat”, and imagining how his friends will treat him, gradually loses his taste for food, and if any conflict in the unconscious is added to this, gradually develops anorexia.
A moral person is located in the moral world of the family, small groups, and the moral world of his society. Often his conflicts are determined precisely by conflicts in society. The conflict of family morality with public morality or with the morality of small groups is difficult to experience and often insoluble. Family morality within one's group prohibits viewing members of the opposite sex as sexual objects, making an exception for parents, mother and father. These norms are formed in the family, and society, sometimes the state, only supports them. If the Chinese in the 6th century punished incest by beheading the perpetrators, then modern society does not have judgments on this matter in the criminal code. Here the priority of family morality is fully accepted. But it was not always so. King Oedipus fell in love with an older woman, not knowing that this was his mother. He married her, and out of jealousy killed his male rival, who turned out to be his father. The gods punished King Oedipus. They didn't take into account what he didn't know. The gods established the priority of family morality over public, over state morality. This myth was created when the Greek ethnos was on the line of ascension. The priority of family morality characterizes a healthy society, since the foundations of morality are formed in the family. Therefore, when the priority of public morality over family morality arises, this indicates a crisis in society. This kind of priority of public morality over family morality is symbolized in our country by the appearance of Pavlik Morozov, who betrayed to the authorities his own father, a representative of the authorities who tried to ease the lot of the dispossessed and issued documents to these unfortunates in which they were presented as equal citizens. Pavlik was killed and later ranked among the pioneer heroes. (42:)
A healthy society recognizes the priority of family morality over public and state morality. The prosecutor can refuse to prosecute the daughter with impunity, even if she is a criminal; the son is not responsible for his father and is not obliged to inform on him, even if he knows about his crime. Every time in making a decision, responsibility falls on a moral person. We have given several examples of numerous acts of decision-making performed by a moral person. The result depends on the degree of development of the emotions of fear, guilt, shame and disgust in connection with certain actions that constitute the act. It also depends on the affective imagination, which consists in the ability to imagine, to experience in the imagination the anticipated emotion: “How ashamed I will be!”, “It’s terrible if I’m to blame for this!”, “This is disgusting!”, from the ability to control one’s imagination.
But we would be mistaken if we view a moral decision as some kind of equilibrium or imbalance between the meanings of the consequences of a prohibited action and the pleasure that is achieved by violating the prohibition. The will of a moral person is that he can act contrary to the relationship between these aspects of the act.
However, weakness of will itself can have moral significance. Some people lack the will, due to meekness based on the belief that violence is evil, to protect themselves from violence, while others lack the will to punish the one you love. And here it is difficult to make a moral judgment. One can only be amazed at the spirituality of the Russian people, who canonized the innocently murdered princes Boris and Gleb, who refused to participate in the internecine struggle for power, hoping to interrupt the escalation of civil strife. Let us note that two hundred years later this civil strife made Rus' an easy prey for conquerors who were able to overcome this “vice” in their country.
A person who considers self-improvement to be his highest duty, but cannot follow this duty due to weakness of will, suffers no less than the one who is punished for his idleness. Therefore, in self-knowledge, it is important to clearly pose two questions: 1) do you consider certain requirements to be moral and 2) are the “man of will” and “man of habit” sufficiently developed in you to follow these requirements. The discovery of a discrepancy between moral requirements and the possibility of realizing these requirements sometimes characterizes us more than knowledge of many of our other traits. Why does it happen that even though we are fully aware of the significance of a requirement, we are often unable to follow this requirement?
Every person, even unconsciously, knows what morality is. Psychologists believe that this is the identification of the free will of each individual, based on certain principles and morals. From the moment we make our first, independent decision, personal, moral qualities begin to form in everyone.
What is morality?
The modern concept of “morality” appears to each person differently, but carries the same meaning. The formation of internal ideas and decisions in the subconscious originates from it, and social position is built on it. The society in which we live is accustomed to dictating its own rules, but this does not mean that everyone is obliged to follow them, because everyone has the right to be an individual.
Often people choose a partial deviation from their moral values in favor of a template and live their lives according to someone else's example. This leads to some disappointments, because you can lose the best years in finding yourself. Proper upbringing from a very young age makes a big impact on a person’s future fate. Considering what morality is, we can highlight some qualities inherent in it:
- kindness;
- compassion;
- honesty;
- sincerity;
- reliability;
- hard work;
- peacefulness.
Morality and moral values
Our society has increasingly begun to believe that this is a relic of the past. To achieve their goals, many go over their heads and such actions are completely contrary to the old days. Such a society cannot be called healthy and perhaps it is doomed to a meaningless existence. Fortunately, not everyone falls into the social funnel and the majority still remain honest and decent.
While searching for the meaning of life, a person develops his character and also develops high morality. Everything that parents have raised in a person can disappear over time or change in any direction. The world around us adjusts past values, perceptions and, in general, attitudes towards oneself and people, to create a comfortable existence. Now spiritual changes occur with the desire to earn more money and become financially independent.
Morality in psychology
Both ordinary people and psychologists have their own concepts of morality, from their own point of view, which can be completely different and never overlap, even if they are very similar. Each of the subspecies originates in the inner world of a person, his upbringing and values. The human psyche is divided by experts into two societies, each of which pursues its own goal:
- Collective values are herd instincts that, with their own world, can unite against the rest.
- Compassionate values are based on caring for one's neighbor for the benefit of any society.
Any objective morality is aimed at finding oneself as a socially secure, mature person. Psychologists believe that from birth a person is assigned to the first or second subgroup, and this is controlled by the individuals living with him and raising him. In the process of growing up and independently perceiving the world, re-education rarely occurs. If this does happen, then people who have changed themselves have very high fortitude and can go through any difficulties without changing themselves.
How is morality different from ethics?
Many people argue that morality and morality are synonymous, but this is a fallacy. Morality is considered to be a system established by society that regulates the relationships between people. Morality means following your own principles, which may differ from the attitudes of society. In other words, moral qualities are given to a person by society, and moral qualities are established by character and personal psychology.
Functions of morality
Since human morality is a phenomenon of social and spiritual life, it must imply certain functions that people perform in turn. Without even suspecting it, these tasks always occur in any modern society and, fortunately, are beneficial. Refusal of them entails loneliness and isolation, in addition to the inability to actively develop.
- Regulatory.
- Cognitive.
- Educational.
- Estimated.
Each of them is considered a goal and an opportunity for spiritual growth and development. Considering what morality is, existence without these functions is completely impossible. Society helps to develop and grow only those individuals who can control the opportunities within themselves that give rise to these goals. There is no need to specifically train them, all actions occur automatically, in most cases for the benefit.
Rules of morality
There are many rules that characterize morality, and we follow them almost without noticing it. Acting at the subconscious level, a person brings his mood, achievements, victories and much more into the world. Such formulations very closely embody what morality means in all its incarnations. Relationships in the world should be based on reciprocity for a comfortable existence.
By accepting these conditions, a person can learn to be kinder, more sociable and responsive, and a society consisting of such people will be similar to the ideal. Some countries are achieving this situation, and their number of crimes is significantly reduced, orphanages are closed as unnecessary, and so on. In addition to the golden rule, you can consider others, such as:
- sincere conversations;
- calling by name;
- respect;
- attention;
- smile;
- good nature.
What does the “golden” rule of morality sound like?
The basis of peace and culture is the golden rule of morality, which sounds like this: treat people as you would like them to treat you, or do not do to others what you do not want to receive for yourself. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to follow this, and this leads to an increase in the number of crimes and aggression in society. The rule tells people how to behave in any situation; you just have to ask yourself the question, how would you like it? The most important thing is that the solution to the problem is not dictated by society, but by the person himself.
Morality in modern society
Many people believe that the morality and ethics of modern society have now fallen greatly. Ahead of the rest of the planet are those who turn people into a herd. In fact, you can achieve a high financial position without losing morality; the main thing is the ability to think broadly and not be limited by stereotypes. Much depends on upbringing.
Modern children practically do not know the word “no”. Getting everything you want from a very early age, a person forgets about independence and loses respect for elders, and this is a decline in morality. In order to try to change something in the world, you need to start with yourself, and only then will there be hope for the revival of morality. By following good rules and teaching them to their children, a person can gradually change the world beyond recognition.
Education of morality
This is a necessary process in modern society. Knowing how morality is formed, we can fully hope for a happy future for our children and grandchildren. The influence on the human personality of people who are considered authorities for him, form in him unique qualities that have the greatest influence on his future fate. It is worth remembering that education is only the initial stage of personality development; in the future, a person is able to make decisions independently.
Spirituality and Morality
Two completely different concepts that very often intersect with each other. The essence of morality is good deeds, respect and so on, but no one knows why they are done. Spiritual kindness implies not only good deeds and behavior, but also purity of the inner world. Morality is visible to everyone, in contrast to spirituality, which is something intimate and personal.
Morality in Christianity
A similar combination of two concepts, but with the same different meaning. Morality and religion set common goals, where in one case there is freedom to choose actions, and in the other, complete submission to the rules of the system. Christianity has its own moral goals, but deviating from them, as in any other faith, is prohibited. Therefore, when converting to one of the religions, you need to accept their rules and values.
Morality and ethics are words that are used as synonyms. These terms can replace each other. Let's try to answer the question: morality?
In general, morality is the identification of free will, the internal attitude of the individual, which is based on special principles, norms and ideas. It is she who is able to determine how we will behave in a given situation. Moral qualities are formed in us every day and every minute, from the moment we began to make various kinds of decisions. The level of morality can characterize a person from different aspects. It is expressed both in a person’s attitude towards himself and towards the people around him.
Society sets its own ideals, but this does not mean that we should look like we just came out of an incubator. We must be Each of us must be a unique embodiment of social values, but an unusual embodiment. There are no templates, but everyone has their own.
However, it should be noted that almost everyone tries to repeat the actions and destinies of other people. We are inclined to do this, but such a position most often leads to disappointment. And the creative years are the most vulnerable in this regard. Often we get lost in life or in some situations. Loyalty changes into hypocrisy, and kindness into deception. What is understanding life, as well as evaluating any actions. This is a choice of conscience, which we make to some extent consciously, but to some extent not.
What is morality? How to characterize it? If there is such a concept, then it is certainly possible to identify individual qualities that could describe it. Moral qualities are compassion, honesty, kindness, lack of aggression, reliability, generosity, sincerity, peacefulness, hard work, decency and so on. Everyone can find and name their qualities. Of course, we must not forget about mutual understanding and love, as well as respect. They note that true love does not exist without mutual respect.
What is morality? If we consider representatives of individual professions, it should be said that a judge must have justice, a soldier must have courage, and for a doctor an important moral quality is compassion.
How to achieve the manifestation of such qualities in a child or adult? It's simple: appropriate upbringing will help you do everything as it should. Moral education is a rather complex process that must be purposeful. It is also a continuous process in which pauses are unacceptable. This is a close interaction between teacher and student. Of course, a teacher must have moral qualities. Raising a moral personality is not an easy task; it will require patience and a huge amount of time. By the way, many teachers cannot do this. Why? Yes, because they are too convinced of their methods and do not understand the importance of experimentation. Surprisingly, new things are too often inaccessible to these people.
Forming an identity is not so easy. In this case, the teacher must set and show an example in various life situations. Of course, every position in life must be explained and analyzed. Modern education requires special methods. It is necessary to take into account personalities, readiness to perceive this or that information, as well as to understand and analyze it. Every person has morality to one degree or another, only for some it “sleeps”, and for others it does not. You can wake her up. The methods are numerous. Just try to be better, kinder, wiser in everything.