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How Nurturing Shapes The Hero

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How Nurturing Shapes the Hero

The topic of human morality has been debated by great thinkers throughout human history. “And human nature too is like the water: it doesn’t chose between good and evil any more than water chooses between east and west.” (Austin 79) In fact, it can be argued that what constitutes an immutable form of good vs. evil has been at the source of debates in both religious morality and a broader philosophical understanding of what these forms represent. Furthermore, morality has been fluid over time, changing to reflect the cultural mores of society; given enough time, even perception of previously taboo practices has changed in response to changes in culture as well as the proliferation and recession of religion. As …show more content…

Proponents of an absolute definition of morals suggest that there is a defined right and wrong and that acting in a way that is virtuous or immoral, respectively, determines one’s fate in the afterlife. This is not universal, as the behaviors deemed as moral depend on religious custom, and both the benefits and penalties of adhering to them require a shared belief. One such scholar, Immanuel Kant believed “the moral law must carry with it absolute necessity” (Kant 2). A contemporary Christian viewpoint is that a practicing Christian is inherently sinful and must find salvation through belief, this presupposes that man is immoral from birth.
While this a working definition of morality for those who share his beliefs, as he states “we can reasonably hope to find true happiness only after death, as a reward granted by God” (Lenoir 16). Kant’s philosophical stance depends on religious belief in both God and an afterlife as key conceptual features of morality. In Kant’s view, God has defined morals through scripture, and adherence to God’s moral authority secures the benefits of acting morally in the form of “true happiness” and continuity beyond the veil of death. Therefore, Kant’s moral concept does not explain morality at the least for polytheists, but also those who seek to act morally but are

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