Updated July 24, 2021 465 Author: Dmitry Petrov
Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog. Most people remember the moral of the fable “The Dragonfly and the Ant”, which is that you can’t always have fun, you need to have time and work. Otherwise, after long idleness, heavy retribution will come in the form of hunger and cold.
In this and his other works, fabulist Ivan Krylov tries to convey to the reader generally accepted rules that should be followed so as not to harm yourself.
Thus, morality represents general provisions designed for all members of society and reflecting the consciousness of the public.
Let's look into this in more detail.
Definition: What is morality?
The term "morality" (moralitas - " generally accepted traditions ") was introduced by Cicero.
Translated from Latin, morality is a set of ideas about good and evil, good and bad, right and wrong, conscience and dishonesty, justice and injustice, and so on.
These are norms of behavior that are adhered to by the entire society (but not always), resulting from the above-mentioned ideas.
The word “morality” is often used in Russian as a synonym for morality . The latter also means a certain prism of beliefs, consciousness, through which a person looks at life, organizes his behavior and activities in general.
Morality is the subject of the study of ethics - this is a science that is a subsection of philosophical teaching. Morality is also considered from the point of view of law, psychology, sociology and religion. This concept is very diverse.
The distinctive features of morality are such things as:
- Universality . Moral standards apply to all people equally, regardless of their gender, status and age. If stealing is bad and illegal, then it is for everyone. Both a child thief and an adult, serious person will be condemned by people (at least morally);
- Voluntariness. This characteristic lies in the fact that each person decides for himself how to live and behave: to adhere to universal moral principles or not.
We make such a choice based on our personal beliefs and motives, due to our personal characteristics. For most people, cheating in a relationship is considered betrayal. But there are also those who consider going “to the left” to be their personal, inalienable right, which does not have a negative assessment.
It is important to note that our good deeds do not always truly correspond to our inner desires. You can help another because it is expected of you (for example, others are looking at you at this moment), and not because it is a true impulse;
- Comprehensiveness - moral norms apply equally in all spheres of life: be it politics or friendship. For example, lying is not encouraged in any of them.
How to relax mentally?
First of all, it is worth keeping in mind that mental stress is inseparable from physical stress. You have probably noticed that after conflict and difficult mental situations, muscles tense and different parts of the body hurt. The body is the seat of the soul, so moral relaxation includes physical relaxation.
The main way to relax and get rid of tensions at all levels is meditation. It allows you to stop wasting energy on trifles - constantly thinking about situations that cannot be solved immediately, as well as maintaining unnecessary tension.
Moral standards
Moral norms are certain “requirements”, desirable and socially approved forms of behavior that must be adhered to.
The norm is what is good and correct. For example, to be fair, honest, kind, sympathetic (these are social norms). Anything that contradicts this is “abnormal” and causes negative public resonance.
With the passage of time and the development of civilization, moral standards constantly changed. But among them there are still those that are fundamental, unchangeable . And they are unlikely to undergo any deformation, since they are included in a variety of teachings, and therefore have strong roots.
The main norms include:
- prudence - think first, then act;
- abstinence is the volitional ability to restrain oneself from excessive pleasures in food, sex, entertainment, acquiring material goods, etc. It is believed that passion is an obstacle to the spiritual growth of a person (what is it?);
- justice - despite the subjectivity of this term (everyone has their own understanding), one should treat people fairly as far as possible;
- perseverance - you need to learn to overcome life’s difficulties, not give up in difficult situations;
- diligence - labor made a man out of a monkey, so it is a priori (what is it?) useful;
- humility (borders on prudence) - consists of the ability to tell yourself “stop” in time, to stop resisting where it is useless and unnecessary (if your loved one fell in love with another and left, you need to let him go and continue to live);
- politeness is the basis of diplomatic relations. With its help, you can build a relationship with almost any person, achieve a lot and succeed.
Talion
Also on topic:
JUSTICE
- (Latin talion, from talio - retribution equal to the crime, from talis - the same), which in expanded form reads: “a soul for a soul, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, a burn for burnt, wound for wound, bruise for bruise” (Book of Exodus, 21:24-26). One of the earliest forms of talion in legislation was the Laws of Hammurabi (a set of laws of Ancient Babylon, created at the end of the reign of Hammurabi around 1760 BC). In a philosophically generalized form, the rule of talion states: “In response to the damage caused, act towards others (strangers) as they act towards you and your relatives.” From this formulation it is clear that the action according to the talion rule must be directed at the one who caused the damage or his loved ones and its results must be proportionate to the damage caused. The rule of talion regulated actions in response to evil committed. Actions in response to good done were determined by the rule of gratitude. If the rule of talion was detailed and graded for different situations, then the rule of gratitude only required returning kindness for kindness.
The features of talion as a normative and regulatory mechanism are as follows: a) it is a rule regulating reactive or reactive actions; b) retaliatory actions regulated by the talion are aimed at punishing the violator of justice, or at collecting compensation for the damage caused; c) in their content, the actions regulated by the talion are reversible, or reciprocal: the reciprocal action is aimed at the violator of justice (cf. “As he did to me, so I will do to him, I will repay a man according to his deeds” (Proverbs 24:29 )); d) the talion is not only aimed at restoring violated justice, it requires the observance of justice and punishment of the violator; demanding retribution, the talion limits the measure of retaliatory action to the criterion of adequacy to the crime and the damage caused; It is essential that the talion threatens, and its main sanction lies in the threat; e) the standard of justice assumed by talion is situational in its application, but as a principle of action it is supra-subjective: one must always act in accordance with the situation, but the measure of justice set by the requirement of equality does not depend either on the situation or on who exactly is in this the situation is turned on.
Functions of morality
Nothing in this world exists for nothing - this applies to both the material and immaterial world. Now we know what morality is, it remains to understand why it is needed, what meaning does it carry?
So, morality performs the following five functions:
- evaluative - allows you to distinguish good from bad, good from evil (cruelty from kindness). Lying is bad, giving way to old men and women is commendable, abusing animals is terrible, helping those in need is good. We assign evaluations to phenomena based on moral principles. Thanks to this function, the individual determines his place in society;
- regulatory function – the creation of new norms and principles. Some rules become outdated and disappear, and new ones take their place. For example, it was once believed that a man was the head of the family (patriarchy), whom the entire family had to obey unconditionally. In the modern world, many women claim equal rights: they earn no less and make an equal contribution to society.
- educational – the formation of moral values and beliefs. Any parents instill in their children a certain system of moral standards, thanks to which they realize the importance of their own and others’ needs, learn to create harmonious connections with others, respect and understand others;
- control function – ensures compliance with norms and rules. People who behave contrary to them are subject to public condemnation and persecution from the group, community, and sometimes society. If in a friendly company someone turns out to be a gossip, they will ignore him and exclude him from the general social circle;
- The function of integration brings together society and contributes to its survival and development. If we all lived by our own rules and each behaved in our own way, then the human species would have died out long ago, since mutual misunderstanding would give rise to aggression, murder, wars, persecution, etc.
In the dictionary D.N. Ushakova
MORAL, morality, plural. no, female (from Latin moralis - moral). 1. Moral teaching, a set of rules of morality and ethics (book). “It is necessary that the whole task of upbringing, educating and teaching modern youth should be the inculcation in them of communist morality.” Lenin. Bourgeois morality. Principles of morality. | Morality, behavior from the point of view of moral rules. A person of low morals. 2. A moral conclusion from something, a moral lesson. “The moral of the story is this.” Krylov. Hence the moral: no mercy to the enemy! Capital morality (see capital).
The moral significance of heroes of military literature
Examples of moral duty from life, films, and literature are best considered in works dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, since their plots are based on real events, and the actions of the characters are determined by the values that guided Soviet society at the time in question. A special feature of the description of the moral deeds of people is the amazing truthfulness of the narrative, since these difficult trials were written about by authors who themselves were participants in the war.
The best example in this case is the work “The Young Guard”, since it tells the story of young men and women who independently took up underground work. This was their conscious choice, since they understood their moral duty to their Motherland. Perhaps this is why Fadeev’s novel is one of the most popular books about the war.
In the dictionary Dictionary of foreign words
and, f.
1. pl. No. Rules of morality, as well as morality itself. A man of high morals.||Cf. ETHICS" title='ETHICS, ETHICS is, what is ETHICS, ETHICS interpretation'>ETHICS.
2. A logical, instructive conclusion from something M. fable.||Cf. APOPHEGMA" title='APOPHEGMA, APOPHEGMA is, what is APOPHEGMA, APOPHEGMA interpretation'>APOPHEGMA (APOPHTEGMA" title='APOPHTEGMA, APOPHEGMA is, what is APOPHEGMA, APOPHEGMA interpretation'>APOPHTEGMA).
3. decomposition Moral teaching, instruction. Read m.||Wed. NOTATION, RACE.
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Masha Troekurova
An example of moral duty in Russian literature can best be seen in the stories and novels of Pushkin. Masha Troekurova, having become the wife of Prince Vyazemsky, refuses to run away with Dubrovsky, although she understands that she will spend her whole life with an unloved person. The heroine’s firmness and inflexibility at a critical moment evoke the respect of the author and readers. Despite the dramatic ending of the novel, the work as a whole leaves a bright feeling precisely thanks to the image of Masha Troekurova.
