MORALITY

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

DEFINITIONS OF MORALITY

1. Related to standards of right and wrong or good or bad behavior.

2. Concerned with which thoughts, behaviors, actions, conduct, traits, and characteristics are good and right versus those that are wrong and bad.

3. A quality of each person’s lifestyle having to do with their standards of right and wrong, good and bad.

Definition of the related word, moral: Ethical, virtuous, righteous, good, high-integrity, just, right, principled, pure, innocent, decent, proper, noble, honest, blameless, high-minded, chaste, up-standing, meritorious, impeccable, incorruptible.

The opposite of morality: Two words express the opposites of morality:

- Amorality or amoral means a person who has no moral standards and who generally does not think about the goodness or rightness of what they think, say or do.

- Immorality or immoral means a person who knowingly violates society’s standards of morality or moral code.

“The moral compass”, a helpful expression to understand morality. One’s morality is very much like a compass that is used to guide a ship or aircraft.

One’s “moral compass” helps one stay the course of life, and live well and successfully.

For example, some people think that lying is okay. They think it is necessary to lie to get through life and to “win” in various ways. They believe that everyone lies, so why not do the same.

Others realize that lying always harms oneself and others, and except for rare emergency situations in which lying would save your life or that of another person, lying is not moral behavior.

A MORAL CODE - THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF MOSES

Morality is usually expressed in the form of a code of behavior. It lays out basic principles of behavior that are good for both the individual and the society.

Such codes of behavior form the basis for a stable and long-lived society. If a society stops teaching the moral code to its children, for example, usually the society will soon begin to disintegrate.

The best-known example of a moral code is the Ten Commandments of Moses and the golden rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you). Together, these form the basic moral code for all of the nations of Western Europe, as well as Canada, The United States, Australia, New Zealand, and some other modern nations.

This moral code alone has made Western civilization and culture one of, if not the best on earth. This is how important for a society is its moral code.

One way that enemies of a nation attack the nation is to attack its moral code. This is exactly what is going on in Europe, America, Canada, Australia and other Western nations. At times, this is called ‘the culture war’.

Another article about morality on this website is Seven Levels Of Morality.

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