I found it of interest to read in the "Sunday Times - Sunday February 22nd' that President Jacob Zuma is advocating a discussion on Morals and ethics in South Africa and the need to establish a standard of morals appropriate to the country.
Yes, I agree there is a need for better understanding of each other and each others cultures but I cannot accept the need to understand each others morals?
Are the morals of one person different to those of another?
Morals I believe are ethical principles founded on "fundamental principals of conduct and behaviour'.
Morals are not governed or dictated by laws, rules, religions, governments or regulations. They are fundamental and in many respects common to all irrespective of race, religion, persuasion or belief.
Who believes it is right to steal? Who believes it is right to kill? Who believes it is right to rape? These are issues common to all and accepted by all and it is beliefs of this nature I believe that determine morality.
Morals to me do not change. They are constant, the same and always have been since the commencement of the human race. It is immorality that changes and it is behaviour of individuals that changes.
The behaviour of individuals gives an indication of their level of morality and their moral standing. Behaviour and immorality will continue to change but the basics of morality will stay constant.
Daniel Pekarsky, PhD and professor of Education Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin defines the concept of moral development as;
"The process through which a human being acquires sensibilities, attitudes, beliefs, skills, and dispositions that renders him or her a morally mature or adequate human being.'
Ethics and ethical behaviour define moral rights and wrongs. Ethics goes beyond culture and are relevant to all. They are not for the chosen few and they are not for one particular religion or culture. Ethics are the cogs in the wheel of morality.
Then we have a value system or the values by which a person lives. Once again these vary from person to person. Values refer to beliefs, to what we say and do. Some people are honest; others are not. Some people are ethical; others not.
"Character is not reflected by what we say, or even by what we intend, it is a reflection of what we do.'
Morals and values
Another school of thinking would indicate morals and values are determined by the way in which a person behaves and there is very little difference between the two.
Morals are determined by what we have learned and been taught and for that reason they are adhered to by a particular group. Values on the other hand come from personal beliefs.
Surprisingly we tend to judge people by their morals rather than their ethics and values and this may well be because morals are determined by ethics and values.
In this school the belief is that morals relate to religion, to business or to defined groups. It is for this reason morals are seen to be taught rather than coming from within.
Ethics and values become the fundamental principles that guide a person to judge between right and wrong. Ethics and value include honesty, integrity, respect, honour and so on. Each of these is dependent on and directed by the choices made by individuals.
Considering President Zuma?s intention it becomes fairly obvious that to address the issue of morals and morality it must commence at family, school and university.
John Dewey in his book Democracy and Education turns to education as the path towards this ideal. He says:
"Success or failure in achieving a more adequately organised society depends more on the adoption of educational methods calculated to effect the change than upon anything else. For the change is essentially a change in the quality of mental disposition - an educative change'.
What this indicates is that while we cannot change the character of the individual we can change the outlook and perception of individuals and expose them to the type of society we would like to develop and realise and to gradually modify moral behaviour.
Dewey believes that if we instill the right values and beliefs in our children and youth (in schools and universities) on a daily basis they will gradually be assimilated and we can ultimately achieve the desired results.
Acknowledgement to: Difference Between
http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-moral…
John Dewey - Democracy and Education
Des Squire (Director) AMSI (Pty) Ltd
dsquire@amsi.co.za
011 646 9369
