What Is Morality :: essays research papers

Definition essay: What is Morality? I'll tell you that morality is probably one of the biggest, most confusing things to look at when you need to write a paper about it. After some deliberation, I have concluded a few things about morality and what it is. Morality is one of those words that you don't hear very often, and use even less frequently. It is perfectly described by Webster's Dictionary as a set of guidelines that govern a person's actions. Without such a code, anarchy would rule supreme. Human beings are human because we can limit ourselves and our behaviour. Moral values are a byproduct of a society that must live together. Even though in Mother Nature the only restricting factor is that of reproduction and supply of food, because our society groups together, (otherwise it probably wouldn't be a society), it needs codes of conduct. We have established government, religion and moral character to regulate this population. All are fairly organized, with moral character being left entirely to the self, while with government or religion often times another person will tell you what to do. Without self-limitation, the Jones's across the street would be hell to live with. They would be insulting, perverse, lying and cheating neighbors. Morality, the set of rules that limit excessiveness in our behavior, is the foundation of all government, religion. It moderates our beliefs and laws; describes how one should act. Moral rules, if you will, include several basic so called 'golden' rules: thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not commit adultery; etc. When people start losing some or all of these moral rules, society falls apart. It has been proven, for example, by the Roman Empire. Close to the end of Rome's "glorious" rule, they ruled most of the known world. Also, people would have sex with any living thing that had a suitable opening. Human life was taken for granted: people committed suicide for stupid reasons; depression, shame, angst, my brother died. To our fairly Judeo-Christian moral standards today, this is despicable, horrifying.