Conatus: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

C O N A T U S

19. Theories of Morality

So far, in our deliberations about the ‘Good’, the main focus has been on what might motivate us as individuals in terms of our behaviour — and therefore, as suggested by our definitions of ethics and morality — this is ethics.

Following on from the last chapter, I just want to add a few personal thoughts on why we might try being good. You might try to do the right thing because of your conscience. Or you might try out of a sense of duty, or a sense of responsibility, or because of a religious conviction. Or it might be because you have abilities that it just seems right you should share, or because the universe has gifted you your life so you feel you must give something back. You may even try to do the right thing out of guilt, or because, as a species, we have evolved with an innate sense of altruism. You might try to do good because there is a social contract with the state that has laws — although these are mainly to try to stop us from doing bad. But then there’s a more informal social contract, such that we mostly think society would be better if everyone were kind and helpful to each other. So you try to play your part in this, because it seems like the right thing to do. Or you would just feel guilty if you didn’t make some efforts along these lines. Or you recognise that most people will like and respect

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