The Moral Instinct

Understanding morality requires careful, deliberate, and systematic efforts. The sad thing is that despite these things, one cannot be fully guaranteed that he or she will grasp the amorphous nature of morality. Different people understand morality differently. There are those who look at it as an instinct. An instinctive behavior is one that does not need an understanding of its object; this understanding comes after the behavior. Instinct has a priori element that made Plato believe that instinct is something that an individual learns or does, but has never learned or done before. Conversely, an act of reason follows an understanding of its aim and purpose. This act follows a rule embodied in the understanding of its object or purpose. On the other hand, an instinctive action follows a rule that is not initially eminent in its course, but that could be apparent in the end of the action.

All human experience derives from theoretical reasoning. Theoretical reason embodies all of the rules that guide an individual’s experience. Instinct carries all the rules which guide an individual’s actions for as long as the actions go unobstructed. In a way, it comes out as a practical reason that individuals use in their actions. Moral law is an element of consciousness that transcends reason, both practical and theoretical. It also transcends all experience, and at a high level, it unites reason and experience. As such, it leaves individuals pondering between their reasons and consciousness (Cory, 2004). Often, individuals find themselves favoring virtues over practical reason, or genius over theoretical reason. People have for long been at crossroads with what are the sources of morality. In 2008, Steven Pinker published an article in the N...

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...evidence to support the existence of an innate moral grammar in human language. While moral instinct may seem to be the direct opposite of moral reasoning, they are complementary. When confronted with moral dilemmas, people use different ways to resolve them. A science of moral sense has many benefits in understanding morality and demystifying unclear moral concepts.

Works Cited

Cory, G. A. (2004). The consilient brain: The bioneurological basis of economics, society, and politics. New York [u.a.: Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers.

Harding, C. G. (2010). Moral dilemmas and ethical reasoning. New Brunswick [N.J.: Transaction Publishers.

Joyce, R. (2007). The myth of morality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Verplaetse, J. (2009). Localising the moral sense: Neuroscience and the search for the cerebral seat of morality, 1800-1930. Dordrecht: Springer.