Should you always be moral Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Should you always be moral - Essay Example Although morality is coalesced with notions like duty, obligation and codes of conduct, Kant has considered morality to include self-imposed law which is free of one's personal gains (Axinn: 1994, p. 39). The concept of morality holds ambiguity in the light of contemporary debates that often debilitates its importance by considering it as an instrument of detachment from one's self. According to Louden, it would be unjust to confine morality into a single 'other-regarding' aspect since a profound analysis of this concept proves a considerable coalescence with the 'self-regarding' aspect. Contrary to the contemporary beliefs that reckon self-importance as a merely anti-moral characteristic, the early Greek philosophers like Socrates gave primary importance to self-perfection thereby placing the welfare of others to a secondary level of morality. Similarly, Kant in the Doctrine of Virtue states that 'if there were no duties to one, then there would be no duties whatsoever'. (Louden, 14 and 15). Such an understanding of morality provides a moderate approach for both the 'self' and 'others' thereby leaving no space for its abeyance. When encountered with the notion of adhering to the moral principles, what comes into question is the reason behind practicing morality - a question first made to Socrates by Thrasymachus (Parsons: 2