That is characteristic of all moral norms. Signs of moral standards. Free nature of decision-making

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Morality is a system of purely conditional rules of behavior in society, based on the prevailing perception of good and evil. Generally speaking, morality is a coordinate system that allows you to direct the actions of people in such a way that the results of their actions bring benefits to all of humanity as a whole. From a psychological point of view, morality is- a deep part of the human psyche, which is responsible for assessing ongoing events, namely for recognizing good and evil. Quite often, the word "morality" is usually replaced by the word "morality".

What is human morality. The concept (definition) of morality in simple words - briefly.

Despite enough simple essence the term "morality", there are a huge number of its definitions. One way or another, almost all of them are true, but perhaps the simplest answer to the question "What is morality?" this statement will be:

Morality is human attempt to determine what is right and wrong in relation to our actions and thoughts. What is good and bad for our existence.

If by and large everything is more or less clear with the term, then the very concept of what is moral and what is immoral causes a lot of controversy. The fact is that the concepts of evil and good are not always absolute and their assessment depends solely on the modern paradigm adopted in society.

For example, in the middle "dark" ages, when society was poorly educated, but very religious, it was a very moral act to burn people suspected of witchcraft. It goes without saying that in the modern era, science and law, this is considered a terrible stupidity and crime, but historical facts nobody canceled. And there was also slavery, holy wars, various kinds and other events that were perceived by certain parts of society as something normal. Thanks to such examples, we figured out that morality and its norms are very conditional rules that can change to suit the social order.

Despite the examples cited above and the sad historical experience in evaluating certain events, now we have, in a certain respect, a more or less adequate system of moral values.

Functions of morality and why do people need morality?

Despite the many philosophical and scientific theories, the answer to this question is quite simple. Morality is necessary for people for further prosperous coexistence and development as a species. It is precisely because there are general concepts, about what is good and what is bad, our society has not yet been swallowed by chaos. Thus, we can say that the function of morality is to form general rules behavior or laws, which in turn maintain order in society.

As an example of a moral principle that is understandable to absolutely everyone, we can cite the so-called: Golden Rule morals.

The golden rule of morality is:

« Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you.»

There are several interpretations of this principle, but they all convey the same essence.

Norms and examples of morality.

A huge number of aspects can be attributed to the norms and examples of morality, some of them will be highly moral absolutely everywhere, and some will be controversial, taking into account differences in cultural characteristics. Nevertheless, as an example, we will cite precisely those norms of morality that are not in doubt.

Moral standards in society:

  • Honesty;
  • Bravery;
  • Ability to keep one's word;
  • Reliability;
  • Generosity;
  • Restraint (self-control);
  • Patience and humility;
  • Mercy;
  • Justice;
  • patience for differences ();
  • Self respect and respect for other people.

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1. Morality, its functions and structure

Morality (from the Latin moralis - moral; mores - morals) is one of the ways of normative regulation of human behavior, a special form of social consciousness and a type of public relations. There are a number of definitions of morality, in which one or another of its essential properties is highlighted.

Morality is one of the ways to regulate the behavior of people in society. It is a system of principles and norms that determine the nature of relations between people in accordance with the concepts of good and evil, fair and unfair, worthy and unworthy accepted in a given society. Compliance with the requirements of morality is ensured by the power of spiritual influence, public opinion, inner conviction, and human conscience.

A feature of morality is that it regulates the behavior and consciousness of people in all spheres of life ( production activity, life, family, interpersonal and other relationships). Morality also extends to intergroup and interstate relations.

Moral principles are universal importance, embrace all people, consolidate the foundations of the culture of their relationships, created in a long process historical development society.

Any act, human behavior can have a variety of meanings (legal, political, aesthetic, etc.), but its moral side, moral content is evaluated on a single scale. Moral norms are daily reproduced in society by the force of tradition, by the power of a universally recognized and supported by all discipline, by public opinion. Their implementation is controlled by all.

Responsibility in morality has a spiritual, ideal character (condemnation or approval of actions), acts in the form of moral assessments that a person must realize, internally accept and, accordingly, direct and correct his actions and behavior. This assessment should be in line with general principles and norms accepted by all concepts of what is proper and improper, worthy and unworthy, etc.

Morality depends on the conditions of human existence, the essential needs of a person, but is determined by the level of social and individual consciousness. Along with other forms of regulation of people's behavior in society, morality serves to harmonize the activities of many individuals, turning it into a cumulative mass activity subject to certain social laws.

Investigating the question of the functions of morality, they single out regulatory, educational, cognitive, evaluative-imperative, orienting, motivational, communicative, prognostic and some other of its functions. Of primary interest to lawyers are such functions of morality as regulatory and educational.

Regulatory function is considered the leading function of morality. Morality directs and corrects the practical activity of a person in terms of taking into account the interests of other people, society. At the same time, the active influence of morality on social relations is carried out through individual behavior.

The educational function of morality is that it participates in the formation human personality, her self-awareness. Morality contributes to the formation of views on the purpose and meaning of life, a person's awareness of his dignity, duty to other people and society, the need to respect the rights, personality, dignity of others. This function is usually characterized as humanistic. It influences the regulatory and other functions of morality.

Morality is considered and how special form public consciousness, and as a type of social relations, and as the norms of behavior operating in society that regulate human activity - moral activity.

Moral consciousness is one of the elements of morality, representing its ideal, subjective side. Moral consciousness prescribes certain behavior and actions to people as their duty. Moral consciousness assesses various phenomena of social reality (an act, its motives, behavior, lifestyle, etc.) from the point of view of compliance with moral requirements. This assessment is expressed in approval or condemnation, praise or blame, sympathy and hostility, love and hatred. Moral consciousness is a form of social consciousness and at the same time the area of ​​individual consciousness of a person. In the latter, an important place is occupied by a person's self-esteem associated with moral feelings (conscience, pride, shame, remorse, etc.).

Morality cannot be reduced only to moral (moral) consciousness.

Speaking against the identification of morality and moral consciousness, M.S. Strogovich wrote: “Moral consciousness is the views, beliefs, ideas about good and evil, about worthy and unworthy behavior, and morality is acting in society social norms regulating actions, behavior of people, their relationships.

Moral relations arise between people in the course of their activity, which has a moral character. They differ in content, form, method of social connection between subjects. Their content is determined by in relation to whom and what moral obligations a person bears (to society as a whole; to people united by one profession; to a team; to family members, etc.), but in all cases a person ultimately turns out to be in the system of moral relations both to society as a whole and to oneself as its member. In moral relations, a person acts both as a subject and as an object of moral activity. So, since he has obligations to other people, he himself is a subject in relation to society, a social group, etc., but at the same time he is an object of moral obligations for others, since they must protect his interests, take care of him, etc. d.

Moral activity is the objective side of morality. We can talk about moral activity when an act, behavior, their motives can be assessed from the standpoint of distinguishing between good and evil, worthy and unworthy, etc. The primary element of moral activity is an act (or misconduct), since it embodies moral goals, motives or orientations . An act includes: motive, intention, purpose, act, consequences of an act. The moral consequences of an act are a person's self-assessment and assessment by others.

The totality of a person's actions that have moral significance, performed by him in a relatively long period in constant or changing conditions, is commonly called behavior. A person's behavior is the only objective indicator of his moral character, moral character.

Moral activity characterizes only actions that are morally motivated and purposeful. Decisive here are the motives that guide a person, their specific moral motives: the desire to do good, to realize a sense of duty, to achieve a certain ideal, etc.

In the structure of morality, it is customary to distinguish between the elements that form it. Morality includes moral norms, moral principles, moral ideals, moral criteria, etc.

morality public consciousness

2. Moral standards

Moral norms are social norms that regulate a person's behavior in society, his attitude towards other people, towards society and towards himself. Their implementation is ensured by the power public opinion, internal conviction based on the ideas of good and evil, justice and injustice, virtue and vice, proper and condemned in a given society.

Moral norms determine the content of behavior, how it is customary to act in a certain situation, that is, the morals inherent in a given society, social group. They differ from other norms that operate in society and perform regulatory functions (economic, political, legal, aesthetic) in the way they regulate people's actions. Morals are daily reproduced in the life of society by the force of tradition, the authority and power of a universally recognized and supported by all discipline, public opinion, the conviction of members of society about proper behavior under certain conditions.

Unlike simple customs and habits, when people act in the same way in similar situations (birthday celebrations, weddings, seeing off to the army, various rituals, the habit of certain labor actions, etc.), moral norms are not simply fulfilled due to the established generally accepted order, but find an ideological justification in a person's ideas about proper or improper behavior, both in general and in a specific life situation.

The formulation of moral norms as reasonable, expedient and approved rules of behavior is based on real principles, ideals, concepts of good and evil, etc., operating in society.

The fulfillment of moral norms is ensured by the authority and strength of public opinion, the consciousness of the subject about worthy or unworthy, moral or immoral, which also determines the nature of moral sanctions.

The moral norm is, in principle, designed for voluntary fulfillment. But its violation entails moral sanctions, consisting in negative evaluation and condemnation of human behavior, in a directed spiritual impact. They mean a moral prohibition to commit such acts in the future, addressed both to a specific person and to everyone around. The moral sanction reinforces the moral requirements contained in moral norms and principles.

Violation of moral norms may entail, in addition to moral sanctions, sanctions of a different kind (disciplinary or provided for by norms). public organizations). For example, if a serviceman lied to his commander, then behind this dishonorable act, in accordance with its severity, on the basis of military regulations an appropriate response will follow.

Moral norms can be expressed both in a negative, prohibitive form (for example, the Laws of Moses - the Ten Commandments formulated in the Bible), and in a positive one (be honest, help your neighbor, respect elders, take care of honor from a young age, etc.).

Moral principles - one of the forms of expression of moral requirements, in the most general view revealing the content of morality that exists in a particular society. They express the fundamental requirements regarding the moral essence of a person, the nature of relationships between people, determine general direction human activities and underlie private, specific norms of behavior. In this regard, they serve as criteria of morality.

If a moral norm prescribes what specific actions a person should perform, how to behave in typical situations, then the moral principle gives a person a general direction of activity.

To the number moral principles include such common beginnings morality, as humanism - the recognition of man as the highest value; altruism - selfless service to one's neighbor; mercy - compassionate and active love, expressed in readiness to help everyone in need of something; collectivism - a conscious desire to promote the common good; rejection of individualism - the opposition of the individual to society, any sociality, and selfishness - the preference of one's own interests to the interests of all others.

In addition to the principles that characterize the essence of a particular morality, there are so-called formal principles, which already relate to the ways of fulfilling moral requirements. Such, for example, are consciousness and its opposite formalism, fetishism, fatalism, fanaticism, and dogmatism. Principles of this kind do not determine the content of specific norms of behavior, but also characterize a certain morality, showing how consciously moral requirements are met.

Moral ideals are the concepts of moral consciousness, in which the moral requirements imposed on people are expressed in the form of an image of a morally perfect personality, an idea of ​​a person who embodies the highest moral qualities.

The moral ideal was understood differently in different time, in various societies and teachings. If Aristotle saw the moral ideal in a person who considers the highest virtue to be self-sufficient, detached from the worries and anxieties of practical activity, the contemplation of truth, then Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) characterized the moral ideal as a guide for our actions, "the divine man within us", with which we compare ourselves and improve, never, however, being able to level up with him. The moral ideal is defined in its own way by various religious teachings, political currents, philosophers.

moral ideal, accepted by man, indicates the ultimate goal of self-education. The moral ideal, accepted by the public moral consciousness, determines the purpose of education, affects the content of moral principles and norms.

One can also talk about the social moral ideal as an image of a perfect society built on the requirements of higher justice, humanism.

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morality
(or morality) is called the system of norms, ideals, principles accepted in society and its expression in real life of people.

Morality is studied by a special philosophical science - ethics

Morality as a whole manifests itself in understanding the opposition of good and evil. Good is understood as the most important personal and social value and correlates with a person's desire to maintain the unity of interpersonal relationships and achieve moral perfection. Good is the desire for harmonious integrity both in relations between people and in the inner world of the individual. If good is creative, then evil- ϶ᴛᴏ everything that destroys interpersonal ties and decomposes inner world person.

All the norms, ideals, prescriptions of morality aim at maintaining good and distracting a person from evil. When a person is aware of the requirements of maintaining goodness as a personal task, we can say that he is aware of ϲʙᴏ duty - obligations to society. Debt performance is controlled outwardly- public opinion and internally - conscience. In this way, conscience there is a personal awareness of his duty.

A person is free in moral activity - he is free to choose or not to choose the path of following the requirements of duty. By the way, this ϲʙᴏboda of a person, his ability to choose between good and evil is called moral choice. In practice, moral choice is not an easy task: it is often very difficult to make a choice between debt and personal inclinations (for example, donate money to Orphanage) The choice becomes even more difficult if different types debt contradict each other (for example, the doctor must save the life of the patient and save him from pain; sometimes both are incompatible) For the consequences moral choice a person is responsible to society and to himself (ϲʙᴏ her conscience)

Summarizing these features of morality, we can distinguish the following of its functions:

  • appraisal - consideration of actions in the coordinates of good and evil
  • (as good, bad, moral or immoral);
  • regulatory- establishment of norms, principles, rules of conduct;
  • controlling - control over the implementation of norms on the basis of public condemnation and / or the conscience of the person himself;
  • integrating - maintaining the unity of humanity and integrity spiritual world person;
  • educational- the formation of virtues and abilities of a correct and justified moral choice.

From the definition of morality and its functions follows important difference ethics from other sciences. If any science is interested in what eat in reality, ethics is that should be. It is important to know that most scientific reasoning describes the facts(for example, "Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius"), and ethics prescribes norms or evaluates actions(for example, "You must keep a promise" or "Betrayal is ϶ᴛᴏ evil")

The specificity of moral standards

Moral standards are different from customs and legal regulations.

Customs -϶ᴛᴏ historically formed stereotype of mass behavior in specific situation. Customs differ from moral norms:

  • following the custom implies unquestioning and literal obedience to its requirements, while moral norms imply meaningful and ϲʙᴏbodny person's choice;
  • customs are different for different peoples, epochs, social groups, while morality is universal - it sets general rules for all mankind;
  • the observance of customs is often based on habit and fear of the disapproval of others, and morality is based on a feeling debt and supported by the feeling shame and remorse conscience.

Right -϶ᴛᴏ a system of legal norms that are generally binding. Rules of law differ from moral norms in a number of ways:

  • law is sanctioned by the state, while morality is based on personal conviction And public opinion;
  • legal norms are binding, while moral norms optional(although desirable) for performance;
  • legal norms are documented in laws, constitutions, etc., while moral norms can be unwritten and passed down orally from generation to generation;
  • for failure to comply with legal norms, administrative or criminal liability follows (for example, a fine or restriction of ϲʙᴏboda), and moral sanctions are expressed in public disapproval And pangs of conscience.

Some moral norms may coincide in form with legal ones. For example, the norm “do not steal”. You can ask the question: "Why does a person refuse to steal?" If because of the fear of the court, then the motive is not moral, if from the conviction that theft is bad, then the act is based on moral grounds. In some situations, law and morality conflict, and what a person considers his moral duty will be a violation of the law (for example, someone steals medicine to save the life of a loved one)

In the early ϲʙᴏ their stages, moral rule-making was closely connected with religion, which derives morality from divine revelation, and treats non-fulfillment of norms as sin. All religions offer a set of moral precepts that are binding on all believers.

Concerning moral norms in different religions there is no disagreement: murder, theft, lying, adultery are considered reprehensible in all three world religions.

The role of morality in human life and society

Thanks to the ability of an individual and society to subject all sides to moral evaluation public life- economic, political, spiritual, etc., as well as to give a moral justification for economic, political, religious, scientific, aesthetic and other goals, morality is included in all spheres of public life.

In life, there are norms and rules of conduct that require a person to serve society. Their emergence and existence is dictated by the objective necessity of the joint, collective life of people. Based on all of the above, we come to the conclusion that we can say that the method itself human existence extremely important generates people's need for each other.

Morality operates in society as a combination of three structural elements:moral activity, moral relations And moral consciousness.

Before revealing the main functions of morality, let us emphasize a number of features of the actions of morality in society. Do not forget that it will be important to say that ɥᴛᴏ a certain stereotype, pattern, algorithm of human behavior is expressed in the moral consciousness, recognized by society as optimal at this historical moment. The existence of morality can be interpreted as the recognition by society of the simple fact that the life and interests of an individual are guaranteed only if the strong unity of society as a whole is ensured. Based on all of the above, we come to the conclusion that morality can be considered a manifestation of the collective will of people, which, through a system of requirements, assessments, rules, tries to reconcile the interests of individual individuals with each other and with the interests of society as a whole.

Unlike other manifestations of the spiritual life of society (science, art, religion) morality will not be the sphere of organized activity. Simply put, there are no institutions in society that would ensure the functioning and development of morality. And therefore, probably, it is impossible to control the development of morality in the usual sense of the ϶ᴛᴏ word (how to control science, religion, etc.). If we invest certain funds in the development of science, art, then after some time we have the right to expect tangible results; in the case of morality ϶ᴛᴏ is impossible. Morality is all-encompassing and at the same time elusive.

Moral requirements and assessments permeate all areas human life and activities. Material published on http: // site

It is important to know that most moral requirements do not appeal to external expediency (do this and you will achieve success or happiness), but to moral duty (do this because your duty requires it), i.e. it has the form of an imperative - a direct and unconditional command. People have long been convinced that the strict observance of moral rules does not always lead to success in life, nevertheless, morality continues to insist on strict observance of its requirements. There is only one way to explain this phenomenon: exclusively on the scale of the whole society, in the total result, the fulfillment of one or another moral prescription acquires its full meaning and responds to a social need.

Functions of morality

Let's study social role morality, i.e. its main functions:

  • regulatory;
  • appraisal;
  • educational.

Regulatory function

It is important to note that one of the main functions of morality will be regulatory. Morality acts primarily as a way of regulating the behavior of people in society and self-regulating the behavior of the individual. In the course of its development, society invented many other ways of regulating social relations: legal, administrative, technical, and so on. At the same time, the moral method of regulation continues to be unique. First of all, because it does not need organizational support in the form of various institutions, punitive bodies, etc. Secondly, because moral regulation is carried out mainly through the adoption by individuals of ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙ of norms and principles of behavior in society. In other words, the effectiveness of moral requirements is determined by the extent to which they have become the inner conviction of an individual, an integral part of his spiritual world, a mechanism for motivating his command.

Evaluation function

Another function of morality is estimated. Morality considers the world, phenomena and processes from the position of their humanistic potential- the extent to which they contribute to the unification of people, their development. Accordingly, she classifies everything as positive or negative, good or evil. The moral evaluative attitude to reality is its comprehension in terms of good and evil, as well as other concepts adjacent to them or derived from them (“justice” and “injustice”, “honor” and “disgrace”, “nobility” and “baseness” and etc.) At ϶ᴛᴏm specific shape expressions of moral assessment can be different: praise, consent, censure, criticism, expressed in value judgments; expression of approval or disapproval. A moral assessment of reality puts a person in an active, active attitude towards it. Assessing the world, we are already changing something in it, namely, changing our attitude to the world, our position.

educational function

In the life of society, morality implements the most important task of shaping the personality, it will effective means education. Concentrating the moral experience of mankind, morality makes it the property of each new generation of people. In ϶ᴛᴏm it consists educational function. Morality permeates all types of education insofar as it gives them the correct social orientation through moral ideals and goals, which ensures harmonious combination personal and public interest. morality considers public relations as connections of people, each of them has a value in itself. It is worth noting that it focuses on such actions, which, expressing the will of a given person, do not trample on the will of other people at the same time. Morality teaches to do every thing in such a way that it would not be bad for other people from ϶ᴛᴏ.

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Morality (from the Latin moralis - moral; mores - morals) is one of the ways of normative regulation of human behavior, a special form of social consciousness and a type of social relations. There are a number of definitions of morality, in which one or another of its essential properties is highlighted.

Morality is one of the ways to regulate the behavior of people in society. It is a system of principles and norms that determine the nature of relations between people in accordance with the concepts of good and evil, fair and unfair, worthy and unworthy accepted in a given society. Compliance with the requirements of morality is ensured by the power of spiritual influence, public opinion, inner conviction, and human conscience.

A feature of morality is that it regulates the behavior and consciousness of people in all spheres of life (production activity, everyday life, family, interpersonal and other relationships). Morality also extends to intergroup and interstate relations.

Moral principles are of universal significance, embrace all people, and consolidate the foundations of the culture of their relationships, created in the long process of the historical development of society.

Every act, human behavior can have a variety of meanings (legal, political, aesthetic, etc.), but its moral side, moral content is evaluated on a single scale. Moral norms are daily reproduced in society by the force of tradition, by the power of a universally recognized and supported by all discipline, by public opinion. Their implementation is controlled by all.

Morality is considered both as a special form of social consciousness, and as a type of social relations, and as norms of behavior operating in society that regulate human activity - moral activity.

Moral activity represents the objective side of morality. We can talk about moral activity when an act, behavior, their motives can be assessed from the standpoint of distinguishing between good and evil, worthy and unworthy, etc. The primary element of moral activity is an act (or misconduct), since it embodies moral goals, motives or orientations . An act includes: motive, intention, purpose, act, consequences of an act. The moral consequences of an act are the person's self-assessment and assessment by others.

The totality of a person's actions that have moral significance, performed by him in a relatively long period in constant or changing conditions, is commonly called behavior. A person's behavior is the only objective indicator of his moral qualities, moral character.


Moral activity characterizes only actions that are morally motivated and purposeful. Decisive here are the motives that guide a person, their specifically moral motives: the desire to do good, to realize a sense of duty, to achieve a certain ideal, etc.

In the structure of morality, it is customary to distinguish between the elements that form it. Morality includes moral norms, moral principles, moral ideals, moral criteria, etc.

moral standards- these are social norms that regulate a person's behavior in society, his attitude towards other people, towards society and towards himself. Their implementation is ensured by the power of public opinion, internal conviction on the basis of the ideas accepted in a given society about good and evil, justice and injustice, virtue and vice, due and condemned.

Moral norms determine the content of behavior, how it is customary to act in a certain situation, that is, the morals inherent in a given society, social group. They differ from other norms that operate in society and perform regulatory functions (economic, political, legal, aesthetic) in the way they regulate people's actions. Morals are daily reproduced in the life of society by the force of tradition, the authority and power of a universally recognized and supported by all discipline, public opinion, the conviction of members of society about proper behavior under certain conditions.

Unlike simple customs and habits when people act in the same way in similar situations (birthday celebrations, weddings, seeing off to the army, various rituals, the habit of certain labor actions, etc.), moral norms are not simply fulfilled due to the established generally accepted order, but find an ideological justification in a person’s ideas about proper or improper behavior both in general and in a particular life situation.

The basis for the formulation of moral norms as reasonable, expedient and approved rules of behavior are based on real principles, ideals, concepts of good and evil, etc., operating in society.

The fulfillment of moral norms is ensured by the authority and strength of public opinion, the consciousness of the subject about worthy or unworthy, moral or immoral, which also determines the nature of moral sanctions.

Moral standard in general intended to be voluntary. But its violation entails moral sanctions, consisting in a negative assessment and condemnation of human behavior, in a directed spiritual influence. They mean a moral prohibition to commit such acts in the future, addressed both to a specific person and to everyone around. The moral sanction reinforces the moral requirements contained in moral norms and principles.

Violation of moral standards may entail, in addition to moral sanctions- Sanctions of a different kind (disciplinary or stipulated by the norms of public organizations). For example, if a soldier lied to his commander, then this dishonorable act, in accordance with its severity, on the basis of military regulations, will be followed by an appropriate reaction.

Moral norms can be expressed both in a negative, prohibitive form (for example, Mosaic law- The Ten Commandments formulated in the Bible), and in a positive way (be honest, help your neighbor, respect your elders, take care of honor from a young age, etc.).

Moral principles- one of the forms of expression of moral requirements, in the most general form, revealing the content of morality that exists in a particular society. They express the fundamental requirements concerning the moral essence of a person, the nature of relationships between people, determine the general direction of human activity and underlie private, specific norms of behavior. In this regard, they serve as criteria of morality.

If the moral norm prescribes what specific actions a person should perform, how to behave in typical situations, then the moral principle gives a person a general direction of activity.

Among the moral principles include such general principles of morality as humanism- recognition of a person as the highest value; altruism - selfless service to one's neighbor; mercy - compassionate and active love, expressed in readiness to help everyone in need of something; collectivism - a conscious desire to promote the common good; rejection of individualism - the opposition of the individual to society, any sociality, and egoism - the preference of one's own interests to the interests of all others.

In addition to the principles that characterize the essence of a particular morality, there are so-called formal principles, which already relate to the ways of fulfilling moral requirements. Such, for example, are consciousness and its opposite formalism, fetishism , fatalism , fanaticism , dogmatism. Principles of this kind do not determine the content of specific norms of behavior, but also characterize a certain morality, showing how consciously moral requirements are met.

Moral ideals- the concept of moral consciousness, in which the moral requirements imposed on people are expressed in the form of an image of a morally perfect personality, an idea of ​​a person who embodied the highest moral qualities.

The moral ideal was understood differently at different times, in different societies and teachings. If Aristotle saw the moral ideal in a person who considers the highest virtue to be self-sufficient, detached from the worries and anxieties of practical activity, the contemplation of truth, then Immanuel Kant(1724-1804) characterized the moral ideal as a guide for our actions, the "divine man within us" with whom we compare ourselves and improve, never, however, being able to become on the same level with him. The moral ideal is defined in its own way by various religious teachings, political currents, and philosophers.

The moral ideal accepted by a person indicates the ultimate goal of self-education. The moral ideal, accepted by the public moral consciousness, determines the purpose of education, affects the content of moral principles and norms.

You can also talk about. public moral ideal as an image of a perfect society built on the requirements of higher justice, humanism.

IN Everyday life we often encounter the concept of moral norms, immoral behavior. As a rule, actions against morality are condemned by society. We learn what morality is and what features it has as one of the regulators of social life.

concept

In society, there are such rules of conduct that are not spelled out in documents, but are observed by most people. For example, in the professional field. A person shows love for his work, tries to be useful, accumulates knowledge and skills that contribute to his more successful activities. All this is not established by special acts and operates without any written form. Family and friendly relations are also built, in which, for example, it is customary to respect and love each other, not to lie, to support in difficult situations.

In this regard, the question arises, is there any system of unspoken rules that is the same for the whole society? Morality is such a system.

Morality is a set of norms accepted in society that regulate relations between people, their mutual duties and rights.

The emergence of morality

Morality arose in antiquity and continues to operate in modern society.

  • The concept of ethics, the science of morality, was introduced by Aristotle in the 4th century BC. Then it denoted philosophical knowledge about all the phenomena of culture in general.
  • The traditions and customs that existed in society gradually began to take the form of ideals to which one should strive, for example, the ideal of beauty, justice, and so on.
  • The patterns of behavior approved by society were fixed in the form of moral norms.

Signs of moral standards

  • sustainability

Moral norms, represented, for example, in customs and traditions, can persist for a long time. Originating in one century, they continue to be observed by several generations of people until they are replaced by other norms, but this process, as a rule, takes a long time. From this follows the second feature of morality.

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  • variability

Moral norms tend to change, since the social structure itself is subject to constant changes. The emergence of new social groups is always associated with the formation of their own spiritual and material assets which do not always coincide with the values ​​of the majority. The strengthening of the role of new strata of society leads to the fact that their values ​​and norms are spreading more and more and become generally accepted.

  • good;
  • duty;
  • Justice;
  • dignity.

Of particular importance in society is the category of duty, since following it is an indicator of the level of development of the individual, her self-awareness. What is the concept of debt? That a person has own desires and needs, but he also has duties that he performs in society.

Moral duty is a person's choice between what he wants and what he must do.

Creating a family, a person feels his responsibility to her. Despite the fact that, by law, parents are obliged to take care of their children until they reach the age of majority, but in reality they continue to do so further, fulfilling their parental duty.

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