Morality and Ethics, What are they?
Morality and Ethics are evolutionary in nature. By evolution I simply mean the increasing of complexity over time through change. Morality is the evolved set of features a species uses that enables them to work together to solve complex problems using a social strategy. Ethics is the collection of ideas or rules we as a species have crafted that work at explaining and solving social problems in effective ways. Moral and ethical behavior is thus relative to a group and a given context. There is no morality amongst rocks, because morality is inherently about interactions between individuals of a group.
Morality involves five distinct sensitivities we have evolved as a social species. These sensitivities are 1)care/harm, 2)fairness/cheating, 3)loyalty/betrayal, 4)authority/subversion, and 5)sanctity/degradation. These sensitivities have been robustly studied and detailed in a descriptive theory called “Moral Foundations Theory.” Having studied moral theories broadly, I take this theory to be the best way we currently have of describing moral behavior in a quantifiable way and organizing our thinking about morality. A person's moral behavior can be described and predicted with eerily good accuracy by evaluating the degree to which they are sensitive to each of these categories. You can find quizzes to help you understand your own moral sensitivities at www.yourmorals.org
The Ethical systems we have developed as a society can be categorized into five main types that correspond with the primary concerns of each of the moral foundations. These systems are 1)outcome ethics, 2)action ethics, 3)rights ethics, 4)power ethics, and 5)virtue ethics. Each ethical system provides a basic rule, called a maxim, we can use to help us understand what actions we “should” or “should not” be taking in a given circumstance.
Unfortunately, the recommendations we get from ethical systems sometimes come into conflict, with one maxim saying we should take a certain action where the other says the exact opposite. When this happens its helpful to understand that these systems emerge in a hierarchical way. Meaning higher order morals/ethics emerge from and rely upon the lower order morals/ethics. So in most cases, the lower order system should be weighted more heavily in comparison to a higher order system. Because of this, group stability tends to rely upon minimizing conflict between more foundational ethics and the more emergent ones. For example, if my virtue ethics (5) are telling me the moral and virtuous thing to do is to harm everyone else (1), that is likely not an acceptable thing from an ethical standpoint. This is because the sensitivities and ethical systems relate to each other in a hierarchical fashion.
Now, this section likely feels very academic and possibly a bit daunting to understand, ethics can absolutely feel that way. However, the system I have developed for teaching and understanding ethics is something that takes a little less than an hour to be able to deeply understand. I routinely teach a class on this subject called The Ethics and Morality of Human Relation. Please email me directly for questions about my next offering or to schedule a private class for you or your group.
Ethics does not have to be hard to understand and it does not have to be something we take on faith. Understanding this natural perspective on ethics and morality is a potent tool in helping us know how to best act from a place of love, connection and mutual benefit. It is also incredibly helpful in giving us guidance on how we might want to actively temper our desires and question our beliefs.
