Quinn Sinanan Neal

Ways of Knowing
October 19, 2015

Moralitys Impact On Our World

Morality is our only judgement that has helped shape our world to what it is today.
Although many can argue that our world is filled with corrupt, destructive, hateful, and malicious
human beings it is obvious that it couldve been a whole lot worse. With the help of Morality
humans can decide what is right from wrong and what is considered good and bad. By doing the
right thing, humans can learn how to innovate and create, how to be fit and socialize and overall
decide how to live their lives to the fullest. Of course there is always the decision to do the
wrong thing, which can lead your life into a world of illegal, sinful, and unethical decisions. But
I believe that these unjust decisions can help benefit right decisions as well by giving us the
knowledge to conclude what is right in any situation, as well as what is wrong in any situation.
While Morality itself can be viewed as subjective due to it only existing in the mind, I would
argue that having a high Moral standing can help make humans cooperate and work together
which can advance our culture and society.
A great example of how morality can give us a high moral standing is with virtues. For
example, the four most common virtues would be kindness, honesty, justice and independence.
In the book Moral Literacy or How to Do the Right Thing Colin McGinn states, A kind person
treats the happiness of others as if it were his own happiness (page 100, McGinn).
By being kind you can show interest into other peoples feelings and wellbeing, as well as
treating others as they would want to be treated. If all humans tried to be kind to each other than

bonds can be created with people, which can help people collaborate and give more incentive
into helping turn the world into a better place. Without kindness most people would choose to be
cruel which can give an exact opposite effect by creating distance with people and giving no
incentive to work well with others, and if we all decide to work against each other we would be
busy fighting rather than helping. Honesty is a very important virtue as well, as with it you can
gain the trust of others as well as let others trust you. If honesty was not present, then many
people would lie to others rather than tell the truth. If everyone in the world was untrustworthy
with each other then I believe that would cause a world of mass paranoia amongst people which
would leave everyone to be completely uncertain with themselves and each other.
I personally believe that the most important virtue that gives everyone the reason to have
a high moral standing would be justice. Justice gives balance, fairness and rewards what is due.
If everyone applied justice to everyday life than innocent people would not have to suffer any
consequences that is more deserving to people who are guilty. Without justice there would be no
rules and without rules there would be no consequences and if there were no consequences for
crimes, then the world would turn into mass chaos. I would not want to live in a place where
someone could steal, rape, or murder a person without any enduring any consequences. The
world would truly be an undesirable place as the innocent would be locked in prison for no
considerable reason, while the guilty live their lives as if they had done nothing wrong. In
todays modern society you can see that although many people do break the laws those people
will always get the justice they deserve and thus bring order, because without order everyone
would be able to commit whatever crimes they please. The last virtue I think everyone should
consider is being independent. With independence you should be able to make up your own mind
with the use of evidence and facts. Of course people without high moral standings would not use

evidence or facts in making their own decisions as it would require a little more work than
deciding on what the majority believes. People who are immoral would rather alienate
themselves from like-minded individuals and would just decide on what is favorable with the
majority. If we only listen to opinions, then there would be nothing to discuss which would lead
to a decline of knowledge in society. Like Colin McGinn states, Decide for yourself! And I
mean, really decide. (page 104, McGinn). I believe individuals with high moral standing would
use their independence and intelligence to bring facts into discussions, and will be able to use
evidence to figure out what is the right and wrong decision in any situation.
When I think of a world without any sense of morality, I only see a world of unrelenting
chaos. However, I believe that not all morals need to be followed by every human being in order
to make the world a completely safe environment. In an article called Folkways and Ethical
Relativism a man by the name of William Graham Sumner discusses the difference between
Folkways and Mores and how each are exemplified in real life. If I were to define a Folkway I
would describe it as a small norm or routine used in social interactions that could have been
made essential in certain cultures. For example, in modern society folkways could be small
manners like saying please and thank you when asking for an object, saying bless you when
someone sneezes, not speaking with a mouthful of food or not playing with your food for that
matter, and overall just acting like a polite individual. This is why I wouldnt care as much if
immoral people were to not obey folkways, as if they did it will not affect the lives of themselves
or others in ways that would lead to harsh consequences. My guess is that if you dont say bless
you to a friend or family member after they have sneezed, then the world would not crash down
upon yourself and others. I do believe however that almost all mores should be obeyed as it is
more essential to life and can cause many harsh consequences to yourself and others if they were

not to be considered. If I were to define a more it would be an essential norm or characteristic

that is common to all cultures of society. This is why I believe that almost all Mores should be
obeyed as disobeying one can lead to very severe consequences on yourself and others. Certain
examples of Mores include the abuse of dangerous drugs (Heroin, Cocaine, Meth), The act of
stealing processions, The act of physical harassment, and of course the act of murder. If we all
decided to be immoral than all these crimes could in fact be more accepted and there would be
no incentive into not committing these atrocities. Of course in modern society many unjust
people will commit these acts today however, we still have a justice system that will try to
prevent the unjust from thriving on these actions. If everyone was immoral there would be no
justice system and no prevention of the unjust from committing those acts.
Another great example to show how having a high moral standing can benefit yourself
and others was displayed in Platos Socratic Morality which showed a dialogue between the
great philosopher Socrates and his friend Crito. In this dialogue Socrates and Crito argue over
whether or not it would be morally right for Socrates to escape from prison and prevent his
demise. Crito believed that escaping would be much fairer, because Socrates could return back to
his family and Socrates imprisonment was unjustified in the first place. At first I would have
agreed with Crito as if I was in Socrates situation I would not want to be put to death
unjustifiably. But once Socrates explained his reasoning I realized that escaping would be
hypocritical and unjust as well. Socrates states, We shall do rightly either in escaping or in
suffering others to aid in our escape. (page 10, Plato). If Socrates were to escape he would have
been known across the land as a hypocrite and a criminal, and by being wanted as an escape
convict he would not be able to help his family in any way but rather endanger them instead. In
the end Socrates realized that he would rather die with a high moral standing and be a symbol of

guidance, rather than a wanted deceiver. Although I believe many people would choose what is
considered the immoral decision in this situation, I would not blame them, as being sentenced to
death would probably put anyone into a feeling of stress. However, I do think that many people
should consider what benefits everyone rather than what only benefits themselves. If I were to
escape from some prison only to realize that I would be making my friends and family a target
for my actions, I personally would not be able to live with myself.
In the end I believe that having a high moral standing is the only way for humans to
evolve. Even if the idea of morality is just a made up concept designed for all of us to get along,
I felt that it has made our race cooperate with each other and has helped build a safer and better
world for us to live in than what it was thousands of years ago. By realizing how to decide from
right and wrong and what is considered good or bad, we were able to communicate well with
others and create bonds that could help us build a better civilization for our humanity. If we all
decided to forget about what morality means to all of us, then we would all still be back into a
world where we fought with only sticks and stones.
References:
McGinn, Colin. Moral Literacy, Or, How to Do the Right Thing. London: Duckworth,
1992. Web.
Sumner, William Graham, and John Ladd. "Folkways and Ethical Relativism." Lanham,
MD: University Press of America, 1985. Web.
Plato, and Benjamin Jowett. "Socratic Morality: Crito." (1900): n. pag. New York, P.F.
Collier & Son. Web.