Morality: Does it matter anymore?

1. Morality: Does it matter anymore? • By Katie Smith

2. So what’s this all about? • This isn’t your mother’s morality. • “Talking about morality is unfashionable, very 50’s” (Grossman). ncjsp.org Sarah Grossman: Outside expert, former Sunday School teacher.

3. How did I come to this topic? flickr.com

4. Essential Question & Thesis • EQ: What factors make up a person’s moral compass? • Thesis: Every person has the opportunity through their actions and decisions to be a moral person, no matter their background, family or religious belief. cartoonstock.com

5. Table of Contents: • Moral Theory • Moral Absolutism v. Moral Relativism • Science and Morality • Religious Influence flickr.com

6. Please write down your own definition of morality and, if you are comfortable, share with those around you. Begin at the beginning: What do you think morality is? flickr.com

7. Some definitions to consider: • Biswas-Diener: “I think it’s a code for determining right action, and you can extend that to say right feeling or right thinking as well. It’s essentially an internal code, an internal set of beliefs about how one should think, feel or behave.” • Jennifer Schuberth: “Morality tends to, especially in a more secular society, to be about more specific issues, like murder of theft or those sorts of things. This especially concerns religion.” www.pdx.edu Jennifer Schuberth, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Portland State University. financialpsychologyceus.com Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, happiness psychologist and author of three books. He also teaches part time at Portland State.

8. Definitions Continued • Stanford Encyclopedia of Psychology: “The term “morality: can be used either descriptively to refer to a code of conduct put forward by a society or some other group such as religion, or accepted by an individual for his or her own behavior.” coasm.wordpress.com

9. Moral Theory: A Crash Course • Lawrence Kohlberg • Created set of stages of moral development. • Something to ponder: gender. relong.myweb.uga.edu

10. The Heinz Scenario: What’s the right thing to do? • Heinz’s wife is near death from a rare type of cancer. • There is a druggist in town who has the drug that will cure his wife. • The druggist is selling the drug at an inflated price because he is the one one who can make it. • Heinz has tried to come up with the money necessary but cannot - Heinz resorts to stealing. web.mit.edu

11. Debriefing Heinz • What factors did you take into account when judging Heinz? Just the druggist, the wife and Heinz, or the larger community? listeningear.com

12. Well, according to Kohlberg... • Kohlberg created 6 stages of moral development with 3 main stages. • Partially based on reaction to Heinz. Look on the back! flickr.com

13. Moral Absolutism vs. Moral Relativism • Moral Absolutism: All or nothing, moral style. • Moral Relativism: Situational morality. flickr.com

14. Moral Absolutism • Stanford Encyclopedia of Psychology: “Some actions are morally wrong for any agent no matter what motivations and desires they have.” • Example: Killing, war. www.insatiablereaders.blogspot.com

15. Moral Relativism • Stanford Encyclopedia of Psychology: “An action is morally wrong for an agent to carry out only if there is a reason for the agent not to do it” • Turns morality into a maze of justification. “....and this is the moral maze” cartoonstock.com

16. Example: Osama bin Laden • Things to remember: • bin Laden created a clear rationale for his actions, citing when the Americans pulled out of Afghanistan after the Soviet occupation, leaving Afghanistan to the rule of the mujahideen. • He claims the US abandoned his people, among other reasons. • Does his rationale make his actions moral? japanfocus.org

17. Science and Morality • At first thought, science seems like the furthest thing away from morality. • Morality is connected to our passions, not to our sense of reason. sandia.gov

18. Science and Morality • Author Sam Harris, TED talk titled “Science can answer moral questions” • “There is no version of human morality that is not at one point reducible to a concern about a conscious experience and its possible changes.” rubenerd.com

19. Science and Morality • Thinking about it, one can construct an argument around that. • Example of moral dilemma of helping another or benefiting individually. • Cathleen Smith’s study. pdx.edu Professor Emerita of Developmental Psychology at Portland State University.

20. Science and Morality • “There are truths to be known about how human communities flourish . . . morality relates to these truths, so in talking about values we are talking about facts.” • Sam Harris. blog.bioethics.net

21. Science and Morality • Jennifer Schuberth • “Science understands and stays within its own limits.” www.marinburch.com

22. Religious Morality • I came into this project with the assumption that being religious was equivalent with being moral. tamilucc.com

23. Write down 5 words or statements about religion and morality (on the front of your handout) Religion and Morality

24. Religious Morality • Religious people are reported to be happier according to Dr. Biswas-Diener. • Also, organized religion leads to more cooperative and pr0-social behavior within people (Haidt). • But....does this make them better, more moral people? dailymail.co.uk

25. Religious Morality • All religious groups have one thing in common - they offer a guide by which their followers should live - a sort of moral code. blogspot.com

26. Religious Morality • “Without God, everything is permitted” • If there is no God to underpin moral values, they lose their seriousness. • (Remember Stage 1 of Kohlberg’s moral progression?)

27. Religious Morality: A Case Study of Christianity • The 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes are accepted by many as a moral code. • Spelled out are the values of not killing, stealing or committing adultery, among others. blog.bincsearch.com

28. Religious Morality • Dispute of the interpretation of the moral of not killing. • Soldiers, self defense, maybe it only means unlawful killing? • This kind of thinking results in a moral debate independent of religion. takedowns.co.cc cartonstock.com

29. Does having a moral debate independent of religion prove they are not one in the same? getreligion.org

30. Wrapping Up • So much information, no one conclusion. • Through my research, I settled on the idea that. . . • Morality is a rubix cube. blogspot.com

31. stumbleupon.com Let’s keep it simple.