Yuliana Pinkhasova
Morality is defined by the society you live in, and different cultures have their own standards of morality. To be moral means to follow those societal “rules”. You may also have morals that go over and above those of the society. They are generally considered “common knowledge”, but it’s really something that’s passed on from generation to generation and spreads through the group. They can also change over time. I have always understood morality as having your own set of personal ethics. Ethics of course is the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, so morals would be a person’s own opinion of what is right or wrong for them or their peers. This doesn’t always mean that everyone share those morals. For example stringent Christians have a differing set of morals from people who do not subscribe to any particular set of religious beliefs. A deeper example would be morals regarding sexuality or sexual behavior. Young Christians practitioners could feel it is morally wrong to have sex before marriage or with one or more partner over the course of their lifetime. On the other side of that, people who have nature based beliefs might feel it is morally right and acceptable to have multiple partners because sex is a natural part of life,or even that it brings them closer to their deity in the moment of climax. Another example, it’s immoral in some countries for a woman to show any of her flesh except her eyes. In other places it’s perfectly acceptable for that woman to go out to the beach fully nude. However, if that woman lived in the second place, she may have her own standards that she would only go out in nothing less than a 1 piece bathing suit. None of these are necessarily “wrong”, it’s simply a matter of perception and individual thought.Morality is an opinion that one has, but it can be influenced by those around us.Because morals are chosen by an individual it is hard to say “who” decides when something is moral or amoral. In the case of people who practice religions with strict moral codes, it is usually the main religious text or religious leader who governs the morals of the group. There is also of course a moral of a larger group of people, like nation. In our nation we have an age old moral about freedom. America was founded on shared idea about “men being free” and that anything that stands in the way of that freedom is amoral. it is wrong right down to the very fabric society. In other nations restricting certain freedoms is considered moral. For example arranged marriages. In America we have the freedom to choose our own mates, and any parent knows that the second they try to strip that freedom from their children there is an outcry if the parents action is being “wrong”. In other countries, however, arranged marriages are not only doctrine of the nation but are also very well accepted by the younger generations. It is a part of their moral code, it is “right” to them.
Really, only you can decide what is moral and not.
Somethings are more socially acceptable than others, but as long as you are putting no harm to others the meaning is left up to you. We are all in some way irrational but we are also able to decide what we want to believe in.
