The Illusion Of Universal Morality

The articles “Are we born with a moral core? The Baby Lab says ‘yes’” and “Is Morality Innate and Universal?” support the idea of a universal moral code across all human cultures.

According to MacNeil, language classifies our ranks in the society we live in reinforcing “feelings of social superiority or inferiority” (2012, p. 242). By this the author suggests how changes in language test the patience of individuals of which “some are good humored and tolerant of change, others intolerant and snobbish” (2012, p. 242).

Each social group can be stereotypical against each other with the use of their own language by

John, also known as John the Savage, is the son of Linda and his father, who are both members of Utopia. He was born and raised on the Savage Reservation. John is an outsider both on the Reservation - where the natives still practise marriage, natural birth, family life and religion - and the apparently civilised Brave New World: a totalitarian welfare-state based on principles of stability and happiness, even if it`s a happiness of a superficial and bland nature.

I believe that the best approach to political culture is the moralistic culture because it best reflects the common ideologies of the United States, benefits the common interest of the people, and is a selfless means of government. The United States is based off of a common belief that all people are created equal and therefore should have equal opportunity. Moralistic culture focuses on the common good of the people, where as the individualistic approach is every man for themselves. In the individualistic approach the government is solely focused on the minimal amount of help it can give to its citizens. Moralistic government is the most beneficial form of government for the people. The politicians focus on what is best for state as a whole,

James Rachels' article, "Morality is Not Relative," is incorrect, he provides arguments that cannot logically be applied or have no bearing on the statement of contention. His argument, seems to favor some of the ideas set forth in cultural relativism, but he has issues with other parts that make cultural relativism what it is.

Rhetorical Analysis: Do the Right Thing In Do the Right Thing, author Rebecca Saxe examines what scientist claim to know about morality and investigates the possibility that a basic, fundamental part moral thinking is shared by all humans across a variety of cultures, beliefs, and principles. This morality is quite diverse, just as the people in this world, but Saxe uses ethos, pathos and logos to lead audiences to discover that even though our different cultures, beliefs and principles can define what we believe to be right and wrong, humans contain a “moral instinct”, that is shared by all peoples, even those unable to identify morals. Saxe does not simply start by throwing near meaningless psychological and neurocognitive jargon at the audience.

The main theme of The Natural is morality and the consequences of bad morality. The novel takes a firm stance on morality, and punishes the characters who make bad moral choices. Many of the characters in the novel have very blurred morals; however, the main character Roy Hobbs must make the most moral choices. Roy's dream at the beginning of the novel is to be the best baseball player to ever play the game. He has the natural talent to accomplish this, but his poor choices hinder him. Roy's weakness comes in the form of attractive women. He is interested in a woman names Harriet at the beginning of the novel, and he eventually catches her eye by showing off his baseball talent. She meets Roy at a hotel room and attempts to murder him. Harriet

Brooks’ article is putting forth what Terry L. Cooper alleges “The World as It is” (Cooper, 2012, p. 27). The difficulty in attempting to delineate his argument of “If it Feels Right” from a moral barometer perspective lies in the fact there are not any explicit unequivocal specifications to morality and value. While it can be argued there is a universal basis for ethics, depending on the society we are looking at, the interviews completed by Smith and Company addresses the contemporary issue of moral relativism, which is according to Lewis Vaughn, the view that a moral truth is completely and absolutely a function of the individual, with only specific cultures or persons legitimatizing morals values assigned to it (Vaughn, 2015). This issue

Ethnocentrism is difficult to overcome in trying to understand the ways of others cultures. It usually leads people to believe that their own culture’s way of life is in some ways better or more natural than that of others. It is also hard to avoid this perspective because people are socialized to think in ways consistent with their cultural values and to evaluate practices in terms of how well they fit with a culture's views on what is good or bad. In general, cultures tend to value more those characteristics for which their own culture is particularly accomplished. The cultural variation in moral reasoning, described next would seem to behoove one to be slow to pass judgement on other cultures and first consider why the carious cultural differences exist as they do.

Social conformation may just be the embodiment of self doubt, and the manifestation of deformed logic, but it could also be the justification behind humanity’s sustainability and prosperity through the ages. Adolescents within this blossoming modern teenage society are constantly being enticed with suggestions, recommendations, and advice from peers, idols, and media. However, how does this play into the molding and creation of current and future generations? It seems to be that many people’s desire to fit in or be accepted within society are so severe- that they will completely disregard independent thought, as well as the verifiable truth.

The link between morality and human nature has been a progressive reoccurring theme since ancient times (Prinz, 2008). Moral development is a characteristic of a person’s general development that transpires over the course of a lifetime. Moral development is derived by a wide variety of cultural and demographic factors that appear to influence morally relevant actions. Turiel (2006) defined morality as an individuals “prescriptive judgments of justice, rights, and welfare pertaining to how people ought to relate to each other.” Individuals’ moral judgments are frequently considered to be a product of culturally specific controls that provide a framework for behavioral motivations that are sensitive to the effects of gender, education, religion and politics (Banerjee, Huebner & Hauser, 2010). While several approaches have been utilized to examine the interaction of multivariate contributors to fundamental moral differences such as: disputes about family life, sexuality, social fairness, and so on, research has suggested that ideological considerations have provided a potent and diverse explanation for the polarization of contrasting views (Weber & Federico, 2013).

At eighteenth century, the cost of increasing development of capitalism is anomie: people chasing material life insanely even sacrifice others’ benefits. Because of this, Adam Smith, a successful philosopher and economist, released that the original morality principle was not suitable for that society anymore, and it needed to build another new theory system to suit the developing society. He wrote two masterpieces that proposed his ideas: The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which discusses the human development by analysing the human emotion, and The Wealth of Nations, which summarises the development of capitalism and it is also a foundation for today’s economy. This essay will analyse the self-interest, plays as a motivator role in morality and economy field, and benefits the development in that society. Moreover, will suggest some limitations of Smith’s idea.

Morality only exists if we believe in God; therefore if God doesn’t exist there is no morality. There have been so many evil acts committed in the name of God that it is difficult to maintain that a belief in God equates to morality. There are situations that happen every day where decisions are made based off of human rights that contradict the word of God. Morality comes from within, it is an understanding of right versus wrong and the ability to choose what is right. Knowing all this a belief in God is not a requirement for a person to be moral. (Mosser, 2011)

Some people believe our life is based off of morals, a belief of right/justification or wrong/ unjust. Living this way perceives their ways of the world by doing what they feel is good or bad or what is lead by their conscience regardless of religion. Others believe in religion, a feeling or act of faith, from God or “gods” ( Merriam-Webster). These acts motivated by faith and God/ “gods” provide a comprehension between choices, a choice given to all for all based off of a religious belief. In analyzing this presentation, it will show what the writer of this topic is trying to point out to the intended audience or its purpose, while conveying to the readers what morality and religion is.