MORALITY, ETHICS AND MODERN SOCIETY - February 2006 Issue

 Much has been said in recent years about what is believed to be a decline of morality and ethical behavior in this country. Of course, people have been making this complaint for centuries, lambasting the piety, politics, commercial and personal behaviors of their fellow citizens (but rarely their own). This complaint has been a recurring theme, from the Bible to the writings of Hunter Thompson, William Bennett and William Raspberry.

An understanding of ethics is accessed through morality. The American Heritage Dictionary defines morality, “Of or concerned with the judgment or instruction of goodness or badness of character or behavior.” As for ethic, “A principal of right or good conduct or a body of such principals; a system of moral principals or values.” Morality can be considered a personal code of goodness, while ethics concerns how one acts on that code in the world.

Aristotle wrote: “Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and choice, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Ethics and religion differ herein; that the one is the system of human duties commencing from man; the other, from God. Religion includes the personality of God; Ethics does not.”

From Bertrand Russell, this somewhat cynical explanation: “Ethics is in origin the art of recommending to others the sacrifices required for cooperation with oneself.”

Raymond Chandler had this to say about ethics and commerce: “Such is the brutalization of commercial ethics in this country that no one can feel anything more delicate than the velvet touch of a soft buck.”

And Albert Schweitzer, a great exemplar of moral behavior: “Ethics, too, are nothing but reverence for life. That is what gives me the fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, promoting, and enhancing life, and that destroying, injuring, and limiting life are evil.”

The theme of the forth issue of The Commonwealth Tree is Morality, Ethics and Modern Society. You may write on any topic you feel relates to morality and ethics, as they apply to your life, politics, society, or anywhere else. Some questions to consider: Where does morality come from – religion, family, experiences, laws? Is our society in danger due to less morality and ethics? Is religion necessary for a moral life? Can government help to create a more moral society?

Take a look at It’s Your Turn to Write for guidelines. Thanks for reading The Commonwealth Tree. I look forward to reading your writing.

Please keep in mind that the Commonwealth Tree is happy to print well-considered political opinions, but will not print screeds against particular politicians or parties.