Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Moral Improvement (II of III)


The majority of moral theories propose that people often have bad or a low standard of good morals which can be a large contributor to most of the world’s contemporary issues. Since successful living in this world requires a group effort, it becomes obvious that these moral defects are problems in need of fixing.

As society has industrialized, morals have been an important teaching of society. Previously we have incorporated moral education to help improve moral standards of our society and teach individuals the necessity of morals in the contemporary world. More recently, scientists have researched and developed technology – particularly in the fields of neurobiology and genetics – that have allowed us to manipulate the human mind in terms of moral improvement. These tactics include drugs, gene selection, and external technology that can influence the brain to act in favorable ways.



But these moral deficits do not have an easy fix, as it becomes unclear of what psychological aspects of the mind for each person, who have their own situation and career, are in need of moral enhancements to help improve them.

Two vastly different personality types would argue which motives are morally good and to what degree. One may argue it is best to be motivated by systematic beliefs formed from deduction and reasoning, and take actions that will give good consequences. The opposing opinion may claim people should be motivated by emotions and take actions that are in line with certain values.

Also, for those receiving moral enhancement treatments, we would be unable to define what motives, morals, or personality types are the “good ones”. Each person is different and will see good motive and what counts as improvement of their own morals differently from others. For example, a lawyer may need to acquire a logical, legal reasoning while a mother would need a more loving and caring nature.

Each of these people are different and it is difficult to conclude one definition of good morals that will best benefit them and help them benefit society.


Links for further reading:

Moral Enhancement


Philosophy Now


Manipulating morals: scientists target drugs that improve behavior

2 comments:

  1. I actually think this is way interesting. I like the mentioning of different type of personalitites and trying to figure out which one id better.

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  2. Moral goodness, strong character, personal integrity... call it what you will, but it's a product of experience and nurture and time. It surely can't be packaged and grafted as an "enhancement."

    And yet, I don't doubt that some people are "hard-wired" in a way that expresses as anti-social behavior. Anything we can do to rewire those people seems at least worth exploring.

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