Morality
I think a lot about morality. Morality means conforming to rules of conduct. The difficulty always arises when we try to agree about what rules are applicable.
Most of my columns are about my view of rules of conduct, rules that, if followed, will make us moral people. Where did I get these rules? Well, some of stem from my religion but I've made it a rule not to discuss religion in these pages. Some of them stem from the law, but not everything in the law conforms to my ideas of morality. Most people would agree on some basic rules of morality, like honesty and respect for others, but beyond that there's a lot of confusion. For my own definition of morality, I've adopted rules of conduct based on my view of how to treat other people.
Whenever I think of good behavior I try to think about other people. How will they be affected by my behavior? Will it make their lives better, will it make their lives happier, more productive, easier to live? Or conversely, will it make things difficult for them, more unpleasant, confusing, will they feel threatened? I also think about myself. How will I feel about my behavior? Will I feel that I've done my best to do good things, will I feel that I've helped others?
I think of myself as a moral person and I think of the people I deal with as moral people. I don't want to deal with immoral people, although I've had many opportunities in my life. My behavior doesn't always meet my standards but, especially in recent years, I can say that I've always done the best I can in the circumstances. I feel that I've always looked to morality in choosing my behavior. If we can always try our best, if we can always think about morality in our conduct, we will be moral. Without ever achieving perfection, we'll still make others' lives better. I guess that's the best I can do to define morality.
8-6-07
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