Moral norms, values and rules

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

Moral norms are similar to legal norms in that both of them play the role of the main mechanism by which human behavior is regulated. Moral norms are unwritten laws that have developed over the centuries. In law, laws are legally enshrined.

Moral culture

Moral norms, values are the practical embodiment of morality. Their peculiarity lies in the fact that they determine the consciousness and behavior of people in all spheres of life: everyday life, family, professional activities, interpersonal relationships.

Moral norms are a set of rules that define human behavior, the violation of which causes damage to society or a group of people. They are formulated as a specific set of actions. For example:

• need to give way to those who are older;
• greet when meeting another person;
• be generous and protect those who are weaker;
• be on time;
• speak culturally and politely;
• wear this or that clothes, etc.

The Foundation for Building a He althy Personality

Spiritual and moral standards andvalues make up the image of a person perfect in the sense of conforming to the pattern of piety. This is the portrait to strive for. Thus, the ultimate goals of this or that act are expressed. In the form of an ideal, such an image as Jesus in Christianity is used. He tried to lay justice in people's hearts, he was a great martyr.

Moral rules and norms play the role of personal life guidelines for this or that person. The personality sets its own goals, in which its positive or negative side is manifested. Most people strive for happiness, freedom, knowledge of the meaning of life. Moral standards help them regulate their moral behavior, thoughts and feelings.

Morality functions in society as a combination of three structural elements, each of which represents one of the sides of morality. These elements are moral activity, moral relationships, and moral consciousness.

Moral past and present

These phenomena began to appear quite a long time ago. Each generation and community of people formed their own understanding of good and evil, their own ways of interpreting moral norms.

If we turn to traditional societies, we will see that there the moral character was considered as an invariable phenomenon, actually accepted in the absence of freedom of choice. A person of that time could not choose between accepting and not accepting the prevailing trends, he had to follow them unconditionally.

Bour time, unlike legal norms, moral norms are more considered as recommendations for achieving happiness for oneself and the surrounding society. If earlier morality was defined as something given from above, prescribed by the gods themselves, today it is something similar to an unspoken social contract, which is desirable to follow. But if you disobey, in fact, you can only be condemned, but not called to real responsibility.

You can accept moral laws (for your own good, because they are useful fertilizer for the sprout of a happy soul), or reject them, but it will remain on your conscience. In any case, the entire society revolves around moral norms, and without them, its functioning would be inferior.

Diversity of moral standards

All moral norms and principles can be conditionally divided into two groups: requirements and permissions. Among the requirements are obligations and natural duties. Permissions can also be divided into indifferent and overdue.

There is public morality, which implies the most unified framework. There is an unspoken set of rules that operates in a particular country, company, organization or family. There are also settings in accordance with which a separate person builds his line of behavior.

In order to know the moral culture not only in theory, but also in practice, you need to do the right things that others will accept and approve.

Perhaps morality is exaggerated?

It may seem that following the norms of morality shackles a person into a narrow framework. However, we do not consider ourselves prisoners using the instructions for this or that radio device. Moral norms are the same scheme that helps us build our lives correctly without conflicting with our conscience.

Moral norms for the most part coincide with legal ones. But there are situations when morality and law come into conflict. Let's analyze this issue on the example of the norm "do not steal". Let's try to ask the question "Why does this or that person never steal?". In the case when the fear of the court serves as the basis, then the motive cannot be called moral. But if a person does not steal, based on the belief that theft is bad, then the act is based on moral values. But in life it happens that someone considers it his moral duty that, from the point of view of law, is a violation of the law (for example, a person decides to steal a medicine in order to save the life of a loved one).

Importance of moral education

Don't wait for the moral environment to develop by itself. It also needs to be built, cognized, that is, to work on oneself. Simply, along with mathematics and the Russian language, schoolchildren do not study the laws of morality. And, getting into society, people can sometimes feel as helpless and defenseless as if they went to the blackboard in the 1st grade and were forced to solve an equation that they had never seen before.

So all the words that morality fetters, enslaves and makes a slave out of a person are true only if moral norms are perverted and adjusted to the material interests of a particular group of people.

Social hunger strike

In our time, the search for the right path in life worries a person much less than social discomfort. Parents care more about the child becoming a good specialist than a happy person in the future. It becomes more important to enter into a successful marriage than to know true love. Having a baby is more important than realizing the true need for motherhood.

For the most part, moral requirements do not appeal to external expediency (if you do this, you will succeed), but to moral duty (you need to act in a certain way, as this is dictated by duty), thus having the form imperative, regarded as a direct and unconditional command.

Moral norms and human behavior are closely related. However, thinking about the laws of morality, a person should not identify them with the regulations, but fulfill them, guided by his own desire.