Why do we need morality and what list of moral qualities should we focus on?

Landmark, position, principles

A moral guideline is the goals and prohibitions (existing in the mind) that a person uses as a model for constructing a line of behavior.

Those. a moral guideline represents a clear framework beyond which a person does not allow himself to go.

Moral position is an assessment of the norms of social behavior and their compliance. A person passes this assessment through an internal “filter”, realizing it and accepting it as a guide for his own actions. Moral position includes:

• behavioral motives;
• self-regulation and control of one’s own actions;
• conscientiousness;
• a sense of human dignity (from the position of a person who has chosen a certain moral position for himself).

Moral principles are the framework on which social and interpersonal relationships are built.

At the same time, it is fair to assert that moral principles are universal, support social foundations through an external mechanism of influence (public approval or censure of behavior patterns), and can be expressed in moral norms.

What are we talking about?

Textbooks on raising children and adolescents usually discuss this topic as one of the mandatory topics.
Among the moral qualities, the concept of conscience is often mentioned, love for the Motherland, respect for parents and others, belonging to the family and the state are mentioned.

Such qualities are usually not included in the list of advantages when writing a resume or cover letter. At the same time, the problem of moral education is much more obvious for society than, for example, the lack of people with higher education or the ability to drive a car.

In addition, moral qualities must be instilled in a person from childhood and brought up during adolescence. If there are any gaps or difficulties in this matter, then, unfortunately, not many people of conscious age recognize the existence of a problem.

Not every adult will openly say that he was not brought up with the correct attitude towards nature, others, and the state. He will rather begin to develop those qualities that will help him achieve success in his work, as well as take his rightful place in society.

Human qualities: list

Morality and ethics intersect, forming a single system of qualities. This category includes the moral block:

• love for people;
• respect for others;
• devotion (loyalty);
• selfless beginning (motivation to act due to good intentions rather than potential benefit);
• spirituality (combination of morality and religiosity).

And the moral block :

• call of Duty;
• responsibility;
• honor;
• conscience;
• desire for justice;
• dignity.

In addition to positive moral qualities, there are also negative ones : anger, envy, deceit, etc.

If the level of morality in a society is low, over time, negative actions and qualities become acceptable and preferable for society, and are then instilled in younger generations as the current norm.

The substitution of concepts occurs very quickly and the dynamics can be tracked even using the example of children and their parents.

A positive moral quality is recognized as such at the level of entire communities. And such universal qualities guarantee that their owner will be identified as a moral and educated person.

The most highly valued in modern society are responsibility, humanity, openness, sincerity, discipline, loyalty, collectivism, tact, hard work, diligence, and cleanliness.

High moral qualities are those qualities that are at the “positive” pole in a given society/culture.

But in some cases, “high” are those qualities that are dictated not so much by the need to successfully integrate into society, but by the deep and sincere feelings of an individual. This category includes patriotism, chastity, and absolute humanism.

Class hour “Moral values ​​and standards of decency

Class hour

"Moral values ​​and standards of decency"

Main stages:

1. Greetings
2. The purpose of the class hour
3. Formulation of the concept of “decency”
4. Acquaintance
5. Conversation rules
6. Situations, situation analysis
7. Results. Reflection

1. Greetings

Hello! Today we will talk about a rather simple and at the same time serious moral quality: Decency (???). How would you characterize this quality?

1. Extracurricular activity goals:

1. Identifying students’ attitudes, their feelings and intentions, assessments and positions, the reasons for certain actions in relation to various moral situations.
2. Formation of the concept of morality.
3. Strengthening the desire of students to have moral qualities that meet the requirements of public morality.

Tasks:

• Enriching the consciousness of students with knowledge about morality and correct views on life
• Formation of students’ skills and abilities of thinking and practical activity
• Development of moral qualities, in particular decency
• Promoting the formation and manifestation of students’ individuality and their creative abilities.

Application success:

• Developing a clearly thought-out plan for conversation with students.
• Taking into account the age needs, individual characteristics and interests of students
• Creating a favorable, calm, stress-free environment leading to success.
• Ensuring that the conversation is emotionally rich, with group discussions and experiences that unite all participants.
• Varying questions, posing them in a form that is pleasant to the interlocutor
• Ability to use the situation, resourcefulness in questions and answers.

3. Formulation of the concept of “decency”

(Basic answers:)

To be decent means to treat your neighbor as yourself, not to do or even wish for him what you don’t want for yourself. Is it possible?

Maybe.
Is it possible?
As much as possible

Decency

- honesty, inability to do low things.

(My explanation)

Decency

- the moral quality of a person, characterized by strict adherence to established standards of behavior in the society in which his life takes place; inability to consciously, intentionally commit acts that are contrary to the norms of public morality, morality and education, and in the event of an accidental or forced violation of these norms - the ability to experience feelings of guilt and shame.

Decency is a more generalized moral quality than honesty, kindness, nobility, generosity, dignity and other private highly moral human qualities, since it is certainly a combination of them. Decency, as a moral quality, is a category of ethics and is included in the broader ethical concept of Good.

History of the development of the concept

According to the teachings of Plato, decency is sincerity of character combined with the right way of thinking; honesty of character. A decent person is absolutely honest; one who has his own virtue.

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle, reflecting the moral standards of his time, emphasizes that the one who prefers moral beauty to everything is considered decent; one who “does a lot for the sake of friends and the fatherland and even dies for them, if necessary.” The aphorism attributed to Aristotle is also widely known: “Decency is the ability to act consciously and fairly where the law does not apply.”

4. Getting to know each other???

5. Rules of conversation

Before we begin our discussion-reasoning on the situations we read, I want to remind all participants of the rules

:

• do not raise your tone, respect others;
• do not start with the words “You are wrong”, “I do not agree”;
• explanations should be based on facts and logic, not emotions;
• Categorical assessments such as “Nonsense!”, “Stupidity!” are prohibited.
• generalization such as a set of beautiful words is prohibited;
• Arrogant answers are prohibited: “Well, of course!”, “You are an expert!”

6. Situations, situation analysis

Situation No. 1

A young grandson, a 15-year-old guy, plays computer games while listening to music loudly. In the next room is his elderly grandmother, who cannot concentrate on reading the prayer. She makes comments to him, which the teenager ignores. And makes the sound of music even louder.

What is the generational paradox here?

Situation No. 2

When traveling on public transport, you unwittingly become a witness to abuse of the elderly. Having heard a frank conversation between two girls, I was amazed by the current situation in their family. The girl admitted that while receiving her aunt’s monthly pension, she drove her out of the house. An elderly woman wandered in search of shelter from one house to another.

Who is guilty? What to do?

Situation No. 3

According to the stories of one of the residents of the nursing home, they learned that she was driven out of the house only because she occupied one room in the 3-room apartment of her own children. “You live, you don’t die, and your only grandson could live in this room. They would make repairs, remove all your trash, but you’re not even sick,” her children reproached her. Unable to withstand the constant reproaches and scandals, the woman went to a nursing home. Is it possible that having raised her children alone, in her old age she becomes of no use to anyone?

Situation No. 4

This happened on one of the coldest nights. Around midnight, the director of a large rural school received a call from a frightened watchman: pipes at the school had burst and water was flooding the office with expensive equipment. The director rushed to the school boarding school and got the high school students out of bed: “Guys,” he said, “this is not an easy task: you can get burned and catch a cold. Therefore, I cannot and will not force anyone. I ask volunteers to help." Everyone turned out to be volunteers.

Questions:

— What motives were the guys guided by, and what principles?

— What character traits did the high school students display?

— They say: “a man lives while he burns,” what is the meaning of these words?

Situation No. 5

“One day, children came to their old grandmother to help her. They asked her what needs to be done? She told them that with this money they needed to buy some food. The children brought her walnuts. The grandmother took them, put them in her apron and sat playing with them like pebbles. And she herself looks at everyone: someone laughed when they saw how grandma was playing, someone turned away, someone hid their eyes...”

7. Reflection.

At this stage, students share their impressions and evaluate their work in groups.

• What is your impression of today's round table?
• What new have you learned?
• What did you find useful for yourself?
• What will be beneficial for your moral development?

Examples of feelings

A person experiences moral feelings at the moment when he realizes how much his actions correspond or do not correspond to moral standards .

And if the analysis of the actions taken confirms that the requirements of society and morality were taken into account, the individual will experience positive feelings.

If behavior goes against widely accepted models, feelings will be negative and destructive.

Examples:

1. A person who responds rudely to an elderly person in line judges himself and experiences unpleasant feelings.
   At the moment of committing an unsightly act, the hero was led by his own irritability. But at the same time, a person considers respect for elders to be an obligatory point in the system of moral guidelines.
2. The traveler, returning to his homeland, realizes the depth of his patriotism. At this moment, he experiences positive feelings, which take the form of pride for his fellow countrymen, love for his native land and respect for the country.
3. A girl is waiting for her beloved guy from the army. Realizing that her behavior corresponds to the highest moral guidelines (loyalty and devotion), the heroine experiences positive emotions.

A little about the medical profession

A doctor is one of the oldest professions in the world, and the further you go, the more in demand this profession becomes. Every person in his life has turned to a doctor more than once for treatment and help. After all, it is doctors who help people be born; without their participation this is impossible. Modern healthcare is aimed at maximally protecting a person’s life from disease and maintaining his health. Congratulations on Doctor's Day are conveyed not only by the relatives and friends of doctors and doctors, but also by Channel One and the press. Everyone thanks them for coming to the rescue in the most difficult moments and helping to save our souls, instilling hope, even when everything hangs by a thread.

Behavior

Behavior becomes moral when an individual ties it to the existing system of moral values ​​and tries to bring his actions to positive guidelines.

The key element of moral behavior is action .

An act, in turn, consists of an action and can receive a positive or negative assessment from members of society.

Abstaining from any action at a time when morality requires a person to be active can also be regarded as an act.

Moral behavior is difficult to evaluate objectively, but others always pass other people’s actions through “filter factors” :

• motives (if a noble motive led a person to an unsightly result, the degree of indignation of society will decrease);
• the result of an action;
• objective reality (the circumstances in which the act was committed);
• means of achieving the task (a person can use “forbidden techniques” on the way to a good goal, which will seriously darken his moral character).

Moral behavior is always an attempt to find a balance between the restrictions established by society (framework) and one's own freedom (creative choice).

Morality in modern society

Some scientists believe that morality and morality are contrary to animal human nature, limiting it too much. But in fact, they are what define us as a civilized society .

Without morality, people would still live like animals, acting purely on instinct. The presence of morality indicates the existence of a mind that controls human behavior. And the presence of intelligence indicates the possibility of developing moral qualities.

The stumbling block is that moral requirements are always put forward by society, but whether to comply with them or not is up to the individual to decide, but his decision is greatly influenced by collective beliefs. Now there is a cult of freedom of choice . Everyone does what they want and lives the way they want. Therefore, the younger the generation, the lower their moral ideals, because nothing is required of them.

No, this does not say that morality must be hammered in with fists. It is enough to show the standard of morality that one would like to strive for, not because it is necessary, but because it is good, it makes the person himself and the people around him happy.

It is impossible to teach a child to respect elders if you yourself do not respect elders, and if you do not respect the child. Only if you bully him, which will eventually break his personality.

If every person thought about the moral education of himself, then the level of morality in society as a whole would increase many times over. But this is not profitable for most, because many people want to live solely to please themselves and their desires .

What are the standards?

Moral standards can be represented as a scale with two poles , one of which displays encouraged behavior patterns, and the other condemned.

Moral norms can be divided into two types: about what is permissible and what is unacceptable (about good and evil).

The concepts are opposite and mutually exclusive, which means that each norm has its own antipode.

This forces a person to take a stable position, since it is impossible to maintain neutrality in conditions of polarity (unless inaction is a conscious choice of a person who is ready to be condemned by others).

How to develop moral qualities?

If the reader is one of those people who are prone to introspection and have the ability to objectively evaluate themselves, then sooner or later such a question will arise before him. Not every one of us is endowed with all the moral qualities of a developed, intelligent person in the generally accepted sense.

In addition, the realities of modern society often dull the sense of conscience, compassion or respect for other people. A person who is usually kind to others and also understanding of other people's shortcomings may show a different side of himself in some situation. This depends on the individual characteristics of each person, his ability to develop certain skills through willpower, control himself and observe principles.

Relativism - what is it?

Moral relativism is a position whose proponents deny the possibility of the existence of absolute evil or good.

According to moral relativism, morality is not tied to universal standards.

Ethical behavior is only a variable value that changes as a result of changing scenery (culture, participants in the action, nuances of the situation, etc.).

Relativism can be viewed in two ways:

• the concepts of “good” and “evil” are conditional in themselves;
• public morality is conditional relative to unconditional standards of good and evil.

Briefly about the theory of moral development

How is morality formed in children? Many scientists have asked this question. But in the modern world, only Lawrence Kohlberg's theory has achieved wide recognition.

Kohlberg used the dilemma method. He projected onto children situations in which the young participants in the experiment had to make difficult moral choices.

As a result, the idea that children develop spontaneous morality, not tied to any numbers or indicators, was rejected.

Kohlberg identified three levels of development of moral consciousness:

1. Age from 4 to 10 years. This level was called "pre-moral". In the period from four to ten years, a child puts his own benefit and safety at the forefront. At the first stage of development, he seeks to gain approval in order to escape punishment. And the correct tactics of behavior are easy to build with the help of tips (social norms). At the second stage, the child is already focused on potential rewards for good behavior. The kid thinks not about punishment, but about benefit.
2. Age from 10 to 13 years. The level is called conventional. During this period, the child already begins to understand the rules and values ​​​​accepted by society. At the first stage, the measure of moral success is people from one’s close circle. Shame and the reluctance to disappoint authority figures pushes people to follow the rules. At the second stage, the child already understands the reasons why the restrictions were introduced. He also sees them as a way to assert and protect his own rights.
3. Age after 13 years. A teenager creates his own system of moral values, adjusting the template accepted by society.
   At the first stage, a lot of attention is paid to those norms that help to survive and maintain peace in society. At the second stage, a person already has stable moral principles, which he adheres to despite external influences and circumstances. If necessary, the individual will be able to fight back and endure the disapproval of the crowd if the behavior of the crowd seems unfair.

A little about the history of the holiday

Medical Worker's Day has been celebrated for many years. The beginning of this holiday was the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, which was issued back in the USSR, and stated about the introduction of holidays and memorable days into the life of the people. The tradition of the holiday has survived to this day.

The medical profession is one of the oldest in the world, and nowadays it is in demand literally everywhere. Each of us at least once in our lives turned to a doctor for help and treatment. After all, even at the very beginning of a person’s life - at the birth of a baby - doctors are directly involved. And modern healthcare and the efforts of doctors are aimed not only at treating diseases and maintaining human health, but also at its development.

This professional celebration is usually celebrated at the state level. Medical workers are congratulated not only by their immediate management, but also by the Minister of Health. The most outstanding and active hospital employees are awarded honorary titles. Awards are given for professionalism, long term work, and publication of works on medicine.

Award ceremonies are also held at the local level. Employees attend a meeting where they are congratulated and given awards. Traditionally, monetary rewards are awarded. Grateful patients, who willingly bring various gifts to the people who helped them, do not forget about the work of doctors. Students have a tradition of filling their glasses with alcohol on this day.