Morality
Table of Contents
The morality is the adherence of an idea or an act to the principles of moral. The term comes from the Latin word morals.
Before proceeding, it is important to define what the moral. This is what is called that associated with the actions of an individual by virtue of his link with the evil or the good. A good deed is consistent with the norms of morality; a bad deed, on the other hand, is contrary to its precepts.
It can be affirmed, therefore, that morality is given by the adherence to moral mandates. The morality of an artistic work, in this framework, is in tune with the work in question with the norms of the morality of a society.
The idea of morality is also used to refer to the set of moral rules of one community, a time or even a person. For example: “The morality of a people is seen in times of crisis, when thousands of people depend on solidarity to survive”, “In this government morality is absent”, “I am not willing to do business with someone without morality”.
Morality: A Psychological Perspective
Let’s look at this concept from the point of view of psychology. Every day, our lives are conditioned by endless decisions of varying importance, which lead us down an unpredictable path. although our personality dictated by the preponderance of certain attitudes, we are not safe from surprise, since a seemingly insignificant action can considerably alter our course.
Ethics is one of the axes of these decisions, which constantly position us in “the balance of good and evil” since our childhood. This happens because morality develops throughout the early years, based on a series of ideals or principles that not only guide us towards what is good but also give us back a sense of satisfaction if we reach it, and one of frustration if we ignore it.
Morality depends on the process known as internalization which consists of the adoption of the rules that we observe in the people around us to make them our own. The importance of the first years of life in the development of these concepts is such that it never hurts to remember it: raising good people is as easy as it is difficult, but surely we have a much better chance of success if we give them good examples.
In accordance with Sigmund Freud until the age at which we begin to walk we still do not have the superego the moral instance of our mind; for this reason, we act selfishly, moved by our impulses, unless our elders control our behavior. When the superego finally appears, it begins to question our decisions and actions, causing us the aforementioned sensations depending on whether we act well or badly.
The emergence of the superego takes place in the phallic stage, which is characterized in that the partial drives are unified under the domain of the genital organs, after the Oedipus or Electra complex. At this point in his growth, the child acquires the values morals of the adult he takes as a reference.
Morality in the Arts and Literature
In the field of theatera morality is a class of allegory in which the main character comes across personifications of different moral properties that seek to guide him so that he follows the correct path in his life. Moralities were common among the 15th centuries and 16th.
The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), finally, points out that morality can be used as a synonym of moral: the teaching that emerges from a fable, a story or another type of narration.