Take-Home Exam One
Review the biological/explanations for the development of morality. What are their limitations?
Explanations by the natural sciences and by the social sciences indeed have their limitations. Historically, the two disciplines have forged ahead in separate directions yet in today’s scientific communities, natural science is becoming evermore involved in the research of morality (Frerichs & Münich, 2010, p. 529-530). The reintroduction of the study of morality to the sciences has sparked new thinking across disciplines, particularly in those of natural science. Frerichs and Munich (2010) reason, “individuals are nothing without their bodies” (p. 531). These kinds of perspectives are what I believe to ignite the interdisciplinary studies of morality, neuroscience and philosophy, for example. Hitlin and Vaisey (2010) claim, “brains that are wired to draw moral distinctions” and such distinctions “did not develop in a vacuum” (p. 9). Such acknowledgements impose limitations on the objectivity of research conducted in this new interdisciplinary space because the researchers have an unfettered opportunity to assert their own values.
Such values are naturally occurring as Frerichs and Münich (2010) explain there is a “natural predisposition of human brains” (p. 534). The only way to move past these limitations are to move away from ‘value relations’ and towards a view of ‘commonalities of the world view.’ By doing so, we broaden the scope of our research and encourages our research to draw conclusions on humanity versus population X. Of course, this may not be a viable research methodology given resource constraints. Nonetheless, such an aspiration sets us in the right direction to transcend beyond the limits of current ...
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Moral regulation has been – and still is – a very heated topic for discussion. In chapters two and three of his book, Governing Morals: A Social History of Moral Regulation, author Alan Hunt speaks of various social organizations and their different attempts at moral regulation projects from the late 18th to early 20th century. Although the two chapters flow into each other, and time turns from one century to the next, various and complex societal changes, and in turn, approaches to moral regulation are noted. Said changes to society and regulatory approaches include evolving civil associations, the incorporation of character and females into the social sphere, and shifts away from the church. As society changes, so does the approach to, and implication of, moral regulation projects.
All members of society are subject to sociological rules and regulations that are often hypocritical. These hypocrisies, both concrete and unspoken, are the subject of criticism by authors the world over, utilizing various methods and styles to ridicule society's many fables.
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The first aspect of society that influences morality is observation—primarily, what children observe among their families. There are natural gender roles that are stereotypically embodied in a family. For
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When considering morality, worthy to note first is that similar to Christian ethics, morality also embodies a specifically Christian distinction. Studying a master theologian such as St. Thomas Aquinas and gathering modern perspectives from James Keenan, S. J. and David Cloutier serve to build a foundation of the high goal of Christian morality. Morality is a primary goal of the faith community, because it is the vehicle for reaching human fulfillment and happiness. Therefore, great value can be placed on foundations of Christian morality such as the breakdown of law from Aquinas, the cultivation of virtues, the role of conscience in achieving morality, and the subject of sin described by Keenan.