Moral Development
This is a continuation from the page, The
Meaning of Morality
A look at the moral development of a baby shows us how the
most basic animal selfishness becomes an enlightened self interest.
A baby is born, and begins to cry. He identifies only with the
raw feelings and desires he's having, like the desire to eat.
He doesn't care in the least that his crying causes his parents
to lose hundreds of hours of sleep the first year. He just wants
his food, drink, diapers, and to be held.
His is a selfishness or self interest that is very narrow.
In fact, it's so limited by ignorance, that if possible, a newborn
baby would drink the last drop of his mothers milk even at the
cost of her life, just to satisfy a temporary hunger. He cannot
understand what his mother needs nor care if she is hurt.
However, when he is a little bit older he starts to value
others, and starts to show the first real signs of concern for
them. Partly this is a matter of the direct rewards he receives,
like the smile and hug he gets when he brings daddy a blanket.
This is the beginning of his moral development.
He also has begun to identify with people. He sees his mothers
tears, for example, relates this to his own experience of pain
at some level, and so he wants to comfort her. This is his first
experience of empathy, an important next step in moral development.
(Self interest - the basis of morality - requires that we learn
to associate with and understand others.)
Previously, he was concerned about little beyond his mouth
and anus. But now his concept of self is growing beyond his body.
He is a body and mind, and in a certain sense, the people around
him are also a part of who he is. With this larger sense of identity,
he develops the desire to satisfy not just his own hunger, but
the needs of others as well. This is still a very primitive state
compared to later maturity, still very limited by a lack of knowledge
and experience. But it is an indicator of things to come.
Before continuing with this story, lets look briefly at what
self identity is. Who are you? As a matter of practice, you consider
your arms and legs as part of you, and yet you do not feel that
you cease to exist if you lose one or two (or all) of them. You
consider your thoughts to be "you," but if you forget
some of them, you still are "you," right? So there
seems to be a core identity we each have, but beyond that we
choose who we are, or develop into who we are by choice and circumstance.
We even come to see our things as part of ourselves. This
process of identification can cause a man to wince in pain when
his new car gets a dent, as though the damage was to him - because
in a sense it was. We identify with others as well, and they
become important to who we are. We want them to be happy, as
though they are us - because they are. This is the process described
in the story of the baby.
As the baby grows older, his very natural selfishness becomes
a very natural concern for others around him. Of course, a child
can be taught to be polite and to "show" respect for
others, but to the extent that his development is normal, it
isn't just a performance. He sees that "this person is like
me," and treats others how he would like to be treated.
Of course, the idea "This is a person like myself,"
is an intellectual concept that may come later. For now it may
just be an unspoken, even unthought recognition, and the psychology
is probably more like, "This person IS me." Interestingly,
the latter perspective is perhaps more directly useful in human
relations than are the intellectual understandings that we invent
later in life. (An idea worth exploring I think.)
When the child becomes old enough to think in moral terms,
to have not just feelings, but ideas about good and bad, he may
turn to religion. But contrary to what many think, religions
often do little to cause love for others or moral feelings of
any sort. These things are natural in humans as they develop.
A person is born into a religious or philosophical system, and/or
later chooses one that fits what is already felt, sensed or believed.
At most, these systems help direct moral impulses that are already
developing.
Now, like the proverbial "aha" moments of geniuses
and inventors, we sometimes are introduced to moral ideas that
make us feel (and perhaps say aloud) "Exactly -that's right!"
This is essentially a recognition of something we have already
experienced in some way. Now we just have the words for it. This
may even cause us to "buy into" a new morality.
What it really shows is that morality itself is entirely natural,
starting with normal self interest and developing (hopefully)
into a more expanded and enlightened view of your self and what
is actually in its interest. A moral system can be a great help,
providing guidance and support, but it does not create the impulse
to do good.
As the child becomes a man, he sees that he is one of many
men and women, and they all have some of the same concerns and
needs as himself. He is interested in his own life, but he feels
a part of the larger group as well, and so has a respect and
concern for others. Without a doubt part of this is that others
will be useful to him. They will provide jobs, money, goods and
services. Society - or his religious and spiritual leaders -
may discourage him from thinking of people in terms of "usefulness,"
but this too is natural.
Also natural, is the impulse to help others for no immediate
financial or otherwise measurable gain. The gain is real, just
not commonly or easily measured. We want to help others.
Consider how in the privacy of our own homes, we feel for
a character in a movie, after "knowing" him or her
for just a few minutes. If we can identify with and feel the
impulse to help a character in a movie, why wouldn't we want
to help real people? It makes us happy to so, and so is entirely
selfish and natural.
How far this self concept expands - or should expand - is
open to debate. The man may now love a woman and love the family
that results, and stop at that. Beyond a general respect for
others, he may limit his concern to the people immediately around
him. On the other hand, he might continue to grow his conception
of himself and what is of value to him.
There may be people, for example, who truly "love"
everyone they meet, and are happy to help them in any way they
can. I'm not one of them, but they probably exist. The development
of the self and its expansion and enlightenment is natural, but
how far it goes - and in what specific direction - isn't predictable.
This moral development is different for each of us.
Continued here: Moral Values |
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Note:
This is all speculative, but I do think there is a "natural
morality," or "moral compass" that almost everyone
has.
It's easy to see that it is in our own self interest to "do
the right thing." Acting immorally does not give people
anything of real value. Our experience shows us this, as does
the latest scientific research on happiness levels in those who
practice the conscious development of compassion.
On this page I'm suggesting that morality is a normal
development, not requiring forced "training," but perhaps
helped with better understanding. |
