Human Morals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Human Morals - Essay Example The paper tells that people have moral values – this is a universal maxim. However, philosopher, thinkers and scholars differ in their opinion on the history and origin of human morals. While some like Karl Marx believe that morality is a product of capitalism, Stankov contends that man’s nature acquired a moral sense in pre-historic times. Debates and discussions continue with the proponents and opponents presenting their arguments. Different religious groups also have their own stand on the origins of human morals. For instance, Christianity believes that morality has been endowed by God in the form of Ten Commandments. Even though morals are natural and spontaneous, with time and as situations changed, certain modifications have been made based on the religious and cultural affiliations, to help people cope with the changed environment. However, human morals are basically innate and universal because if they were not innate they would not be spontaneous, and some mor als would not be universally accepted by every society, culture and religion. Morals are the values that are concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong. Morals are concerned with the judgment of the goodness or badness of human character and action. This implies that virtuous deeds are those that conform to standards of what is right or just in behavior. Moral behavior is defined as the action of a person who sympathetically takes into account the impact of his action on others. (Ayala, 2010). Moral beliefs are the beliefs that one has about how to live life when one takes a sympathetic view of how the person’s life and decisions impact others. However, moral beliefs and values, the moral standards or morality have changed with time. It also depends upon individual environment, individual experience, upon religions and upon the cultural environment that one grows up in. Morals are natural and morality is the expression o f man’s innermost character (Johnston, 1916). Morals are spontaneous, honest and straightforward; they are traditional and universal. Humans and morals Human conduct involves not just consciousness but self-consciousness. Human are the only moral beings endowed with the mind and reasons, endowed with consciousness and self-consciousness, with personality, free-will and conscience (Stankov, n.d.). This implies that all humans possess moral strength – they are thinkers, workers and creators, responsible for the harmony of the world. Stankov states that since the formation of the homo sapiens in prehistoric times, man’s nature acquired a moral sense. No other creature is responsible for all its deeds and humans are held responsible because they have been endowed with the moral sense. Marxism treats consciousness as a derivative of the material process. However, attributes such as hatred, selfishness and violence on the one hand and loving, caring and fellow-feeling on the other, constitute the moral sphere and these are independent of the material process (Patnaik, 1995). The material sphere is also important for the human existence but it has no connection with the spiritual reality. Marx believes that the moral history of humankind has no parameters but is a derivative of the material history. The human species possesses moral as well as physical structures both of which are essential to satisfy its needs. The psychic structure is the starting point of the moral evolution. Nietzsche believes that are no absolute morals and there are no moral systems that humans need to abide by. This implies that he does not believe in any moral system and the strong can overpower the weak by any system. He states in the Genealogy of Morals that there are no moral codes of conduct; there are no values or actions that are moral (Nietzsche, 2009). People interpret them as good or bad, moral or immoral. This view implies that human morals are not internal and that they do not drive or guide an individual from performing or not performing any act. It also