The Moral Instinct Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Moral Instinct - Essay Example However, the author points out that there are no clear avenues of reasoning and rationalization of the moral behaviors as different societies have different views concerning behavior, as much as people know that some behaviors are wrong and does not meet the standards of morality in the society, others don’t understand and can not justify them in this case. The article further elaborated on the different genealogy which also influences our moral behavior in the society as they were ranked depending on the perceived consequences that are likely to be displayed. The above concepts will be the key focusing point in this essay. Concepts/Claims The author argues that morality is universal having experienced a number of situations for its justification. He states that people are born with universal grammar, which makes them understand the speech structures without any conscious awareness about the rules in the play. He further states that by analogy, human beings are born with unive rsal grammar of morality which helps in analyzing the human actions in-terms of morality with little awareness (Compley et al 433). In this aspect, the author admits that human beings are born with morality part with them, and it can not be distinguished from them. Anyone who does not want to exercise morality does so because of his or her personal conscious. The author asserts that the moral sense is instinct in the design of the human brain, and it is very difficult to distinguish the morality in us from our everyday behavior. To justify the above concept, the author collected a list of universally accepted moral concepts and emotions. The collected moral concepts included distinctions between right and wrong, empathy, fairness, prosecution of murder, rape, admiration of generosity, shame taboos and sanction from wronging the community. The findings reveal that people are emotionally attached to the moral behaviors. The morality concepts start in early childhood as toddlers help t heir fellow by giving them toys and also comforting distressed persons. A four year old school going knows very well the dressing codes required in school and the dangers of hitting a fellow for whatever reason. The interviewed school children had the same response in regards to morality from the asked questions. From the above result from research conducted, morality is instinct and people are born with it making it universal phenomenon that everyone has to practice. Similarly, children are nurtured with morality when it is reinforced in them since it will stick and be part of them despite the external factors which might influence them. The second concept that the author puts forward is that morality is a psychological state of mind that can be put on and off. He argues that when the state is put on, the mind controls our thinking, which latter influences our actions in deciding what is wrong and right. The conscious mind, which is put on brings different hallmarks which are assoc iated with morality as being perceived to be universal. Rape and murder are universally immoral which are accepted in different societies hence universally warranted. Similarly, people feel that those who do wrong or exhibit immoral behaviors should be punished. This is not only to inflict pain on the offenders but also as a show that it is not allowed in the society (Comley et al