When faced with the task of killing to save your son, would you do it? This question is a test to see how you morally break down situations to make decisions. Some may say I wouldn’t kill for as it is a sin, but others may state they will do whatever is necessary to save family. This situation will show exactly how someone stuck in a moral dilemma will react. How will you react when faced with this scenario?
This paper will go over the two semi-structured interviews with an 18-year-old subject in order to evaluate the subjects Moral Cognition. To start off this paper will be the conceptual overview followed by two summaries of articles about the Moral Cognition of individuals. This paper will give a description of the subject, the area where this interview was conducted, and the procedure of the semi-structured interview. This will lead into the results, analysis and possible limitations that took place throughout the study. To end this research paper will be a quick overview/summary of the project.
Background
Conceptual Overview
Moral Cognition is the mental action of processing knowledge and understanding situations through moral situations and senses. The importance of this is to be able to compare brain and reaction developments of individuals in order to find their moral identities. More advanced thinkers may break the situation down into complex worldwide scenarios, like what is good for the overall world. Others will have a more personal based reaction to save their
As a future teacher, it will be part of my job to increase my students’ moral reasoning. Moral reasoning deals with how individuals think about moral issues. Lawrence Kohlberg developed stages of moral reasoning which researchers use to assess an individual. According to Steinberg (2014), the adults in an adolescent’s life can impact their moral development. Therefore, as their teacher, I will conduct activities in my classroom, such as Collaborative Reasoning, Think-Pair-Share, a line activity, and an online discussion board, which will foster my students’ moral development. In addition, I will monitor my students’ growth by conducting a pre-assessment as well as a final assessment. Through my classroom activities, I expect my students to
By using the downfalls of this study, Saxe is able to prove more thoroughly that morality-related research can be done but does not reveal the most important aspect of the inquiry: how one arrives at a certain moral
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.
What is morality? Where does our sense of morality come from and why is it important for us to know? The cognitive scientist, psychologist, linguist, and scholar, Steven Pinker discusses this in his essay, “The Moral Instinct”. In this essay, Pinker claims that our morality sense is innate, it constantly changes, and it is universal among each culture. Pinker also explains that moral sense shapes our judgement as it is something that we value and seek in other people. The science of the moral sense is important since it shows how morality impacts our actions and it explains why we act in certain ways.
This paper will compare the usefulness of character-based and consequence-based approaches in making moral decisions. In a character-based approach, the consideration of the moral agent is central in making decisions, and actions are made in order to reflect and strengthen good character. In a consequence-based approach, the consideration of the outcome is central in making moral decisions, and actions are judged based on the outcome. Usefulness will be defined in terms of three aspects: consistency, convenience and assurance, with assurance being defined as the confidence that the decision made is correct. Through the comparison of the two approaches, it becomes clear that a character-based approach is more useful in making a decision.
When an individual is proposed with a moral dilemma they will often seek the advice of others rather than acting solely upon their immediate cultural, familial, and cognitive predispositions; suggesting that judgments are also made about the moral judgments of others (Rest, Cooper, Coder, Masanz & Anderson, 1974).
Without a distinct framework, ethical egoism fails as a moral theory to assist moral decision making because it endorses the animalistic nature of humanity, fails to provide a viable solution to a conflict of interest, and is proved to be an evolutionary unstable moral strategy.
I infer several conclusions from Smith’s definition and analysis of sympathy. First, sympathy is a mode of perception. The “eye of the mind” or the imagination perceives the situation witch elicits primary sentiments and secondary agreeable or disagreeable sentiments which are the basis of moral judgement. Secondly, I conclude from Smith’s propositions that the mind is a passive recipient, therefore moral knowledge is a by-product of external stimuli. In other words our external sense stimuli provoke a change in our minds, from which our imaginations produce sentiments by which we judge the propriety or merit of another’s conduct.
Different group of people may have different perspectives on what is considered good or bad; however, some “shared agreement regarding moral conduct” is needed for that group to function (McAdams et al., 2015). As indicated in “The Art and Science of Personality Development” by McAdams et al. , many psychologists believe that moral codes govern social behavior; these moral codes have been developed over time through “primitive moral institutions, or gut reactions that human beings automatically experience” (McAdams et al., 2015). Human beings learn how to communicate to “educate and socialize others”, develop norms and moral codes, and respect others’ property and belongings (McAdams et al.,
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.
Since the inception of this mode of research, peoples’ perception of what constitutes moral behavior
Jonathan Haidt while studying at the college put a goal to research human morality, its origin and development. His book "the Righteous mind" explores the morality and how it affects relationships between people? Is the moral in the genes, and occurs through education? The book examines the different conceptions of morality. Haidt mentions the theories of contemporary experts on ethics which demonstrate that young people can easily find justification for the actions that have recently all been condemned. In this paper, one can find the analysis and report on the book as well as reflection to one of the Haidt’s metaphor and how it applies in the life of mine.
Would you describe a dog as capable of being evil? Or a cat? Or a chimpanzee? Most likely you could not. We humans belong to the taxonomic kingdom of Animalia and are therefore animals. Our species has evolved from animals that looked and acted more like the modern chimpanzee than we do. So at what point did we go from being creatures of instinct do developing the concept of morality? A great deal of literature has been written about morality, examples of which can be located in fiction and non-fiction as well as in scientific, theological and philosophical fields. Specific examples include the bible, as well as the writings of Plato (c. 424-348 BCE), Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) and John Steinbeck (1902-1968). Morality is a trait that
According to the definition of the Moral Compass text, moral compass is the reflective, international adoption of values and behaviors as a framework for realizing the good in oneself, in others, and in the social and material environment. My own moral compass is constructed mainly by my parents and the eastern social values and principles of relationships, which are largely influenced by the thoughts and ideas of Buddhism, Taoism and the Confucianism. Among them, Confucianism affects my country’s social values and furthermore my parents and my moral compass the most. In the contrast of Western culture, Confucianism puts a huge emphasis on the relationships between individuals in family, school,
Moral Development is defined as “changes in thoughts, feelings and behaviors regarding standards of right and wrong” (Santrock, 2010). Moral development