Morality, according to Oxford Dictionary, is concerned with
character. It is connected with the disposition or with distinction between
right and wrong. Morality is related to character or conduct considered as good
or evil; ethical; conformed to or directed towards right; virtuous. Thus
morality seems to imply socially approved conduct, virtue or good character. It
also refers to ‘Standard of human behavior determined either subjectively or objectively
and based what is considered ethically right or wrong1.
The word morality has been derived from the Latin word ‘Mores’
which means the custom or habit or the way of life. The word ‘ethics’ has been
derived from the Greek words ‘ethike’ and ‘ethos’ meaning custom, habitual
conduct, usage and character. Sometimes, the word ethics is used synonymously
with morality.2 There are various terms
related to morality. ‘Moral sense’ refers to the power of distinguishing
between right and wrong or sense dealing with regulation of human conduct.
‘Moral courage’ means the courage to encounter contempt rather than abandon
right course. ‘Moral law’ refers to those requirements to which right conduct
must conform. ‘Morality good’ implies virtuous as regards general conduct.
‘Moral philosophy’ is the same thing as ethics. ‘Ethics or moral philosophy is
that branch of philosophy that is concerned with what is morally good and bad,
right and wrong. Its central concern is the double task:
(1) Of meta-ethics, of analyzing the meaning and
nature of the normative moral elements in man’s actions, thought and language
and of the methods of supporting moral judgments.
(2) And of normative ethics such as evaluating
these elements and methods by developing criteria for justifying rules and
judgments of good and right and presenting, analyzing and appraising them.1
In the Theravada Buddhist perspective, morality is nothing but
controlling physical actions and verbal actions and it is the highest and
noblest thing in the world.
The Moral Code
According to the above definition of morality and ethics and
their derivatives, we can see the moral codes in the following way.
(1) Morality and ethics are concepts related to
human conduct and character.
(2) They refer to a set of ‘virtues’ more or
less of universal nature and valued as such by most persons and carrying the
implications of ‘good’ as opposed to ‘bad’. It is with reference to these
virtues that the conduct of human beings is evaluated and judged. This gives
birth to a moral code of conduct.
(3) They refer to a mode of behavior approved by
the society as ‘right’ and ‘desirable’ as against their opposite and
disapproved by the society as ‘wrong’ and ‘undesirable’. This gives birth to a
manual of social ethics. The moral code and social ethics are based on a
philosophical frame normally borrowed from some religion which justifies the
elements incorporated in the moral code and social ethics.
(4) The moral codes as well as social ethics are
enforced through social pressure and personal persuasion and not by the law of
the land.
The logical concomitants of moral code and social ethics are
very noteworthy facts. The moral codes of conduct and social ethics point to a
way of moral and ethical life which human beings are expected to emulate and
adopt in their own life. The family, the society, and other social institutions
are supposed to support the whole system of moral code and social ethics and
persuade as well as pressurize the individual to know, understand, accept,
adopt and imbibe in himself the prescribed moral code and the social ethics.
The social harmony, the economic prosperity and the individual happiness depend
upon the nature of the moral code, the sincerity of the implementing agencies
and the support which the social institutions provide to the implementing
agencies.
The Buddhist moral system lays its stress on the universal
norms that are constant, apply to everyone and do not conflict with human
nature. What is noteworthy is the middle path that avoids both the extremes of
outright pursuit of worldly desires and the practice of severe discipline of
self mortification followed by ascetics.
References---
1 Encyclopedia of Britanica, vol. VII P.11
2 Machazie John S. A Manual of Ethics., Oxford
uni. Press 1964. P.1
1 Encyclopedia of Britanica, Vol. III p. 976-977
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