Moral Awareness
There is a disaccord between the moral structure of human relationship and the practical structure of society. Through the discovery of science, mankind made his world more comfortable to live in. He is far ahead in the knowledge of technology, while at the social level he seems lacking of moral values. His history is mainly the stories of his wars. History can be illustrated through different perspectives. For example, through the scientific evolution of mankind, and his control over natural laws; it can be demonstrated through the ethical evolution of man’s morals, man and his moral values. And, within the practicality in man’s actions, history can be evaluated at a collective level, or, and following one’s opinion in how he may perceive himself, a member of history, history in its making. The discord that exists is the wide contrast between the technological development of society and the development of man’s social behavior. This essay will deal with the discrepancy that exists in the moral evolution of man, within the practical development of mankind. The lack of awareness about the moral structure brought mankind to moralize the immoral. In the action of killing another human being practicality won over morality.
The lack of awareness about the moral structure of society can be underlined through human history. Within two fundamental structures mankind evolved. One, the practical structure of society, which is built through the scientific discoveries. They gave to mankind the tools he needed in his search for concrete knowledge, the scientifically proven reality. In this field of development man gained a higher control over the natural world that surrounds him. This development is defined as the physical evolution of mankind in the realm of the practical structure of society. Sciences are the foundations of the practical structure following which one discovers the laws that affect him; they will be used either to reproduce life or to destroy it.
Mankind evolved also through the social relation within itself, the relationship between human beings. It is defined as the moral evaluation of man’s actions. This philosophical development of human awareness is the essence; its tools are the moral and ethical virtues that defined humanity as a leader in the world evolution. History shows us that in this field mankind is lacking. The discrepancy that exists between the development of sciences and the philosophical etiquette of virtue is enormous. A man can call himself superior to another man, and decides whether or not he may live. While it is scientifically proven that all men had started as embryo, and all will end as carbon. Therefore, a man can not be called superior to another. Still mankind will find a reason to develop a wide variety of weaponry with enormous power; some can annihilate thousands in a blink of an eye. Where are the moral values that originated man creation? For which purpose science is used? To destroy life! In this moral argument practicality won over morality. Man found many reasons for the killing of another human. Mankind desires to live in peace, but he lives in constant wars, not only at a national or international level, but also at the individual level. The battle that each man is engaged in within himself, the struggle between the forces of right and wrong. It is the moral dilemma behind each of his actions. Einstein said: “Peace is the time between two wars.” The war is the moral dilemma that exists in each man. But as he chooses and acts, his actions are to be done in a peaceful manner. In the actual relationship between man peace is a must. Man overlooked morality in its evaluation of the value of life. He putted a price on a man’s life. Now he seeks inner peace, within the daily struggle of his life.
The moral structure that was developed by early philosophers was based on the premise that man is the ruler of his world; the need then to have a high set of moral values was a necessity. They are the foundation to the constant evaluation that a man does within himself. It is between him and his creator. History shows that a man was not able to hold on such a strict moral structure. He started early to show the need of more practicality in his life than morality. Early family disputes ended in the killing of a member of the family. When a Greek philosopher by the name of Socrates stood firm in his opinion that the youth should be taught the virtues of honesty and humility he was put to death. Plato, one of his students, defined a well ordered individual as one who acquired the virtues of wisdom, courage and temperance, and unifying all justice. They are the basis for human development. These moral virtues would be acquired through the teaching of music, gymnastics and philosophy. The power of few men stopped the momentum of the teaching of philosophy and pushed the military training to gain power over other men. Other philosophers tried to bring man to a higher level of awareness. Voltaire, a French philosopher, once declared that it is in the hand of a man to form his path. This is hidden in the famous sentence that ends the book of Candide, “go and cultivate your own garden.” He also published the first philosophical dictionary, from which man will be able to comprehend a higher meaning to his life. Jean Jacques Rousseau a French philosopher from the eighteen century wrote and essay on the origin of the foundation of inequality within mankind. Expressed in the essay is the opinion of one moral for all as the basis for man equality. The social competition between human being forced man to find reasons to abolish morals. It was not practical enough, too serious. The practicality in the battle for success was to acquire wealth, power and fame. To be a moralist was not practical. Still, more people will come and battle on the side of morality. For example, Gandhi in India stood firm in his conviction that non-violence was the way to go. Marthin Luther King would have wished for a peaceful world, where a man’s color will not determine if he will be free or will be a slave. And many more stood firm in their belief that man is the ruler of his world. Still, it seems that mankind developed a different opinion; he is no more that a sophisticated ape. Therefore, he does not need a moral structure to limit his development. To wage war against his own kind, his moral foundation is the one of an ape, no offence to the apes.
It is time to awake, and live peacefully between each other. Through the scientific evolution man perceived himself as a cultivated animal. He will seek power to acquire and fulfill his deepest desires. He will give up the identity of man, man as a higher form. A man that has control on his desires, and does not need to fulfill them. It is time to understand that history is repeating itself. If it is peace that man wants, in his hand the power to achieve it. He needs to start at the individual level and progress through a well established system of education. Where the main purpose is not to have more than others, but to grow as a whole, the growth of humanity. History shows us the need to reeducate ourselves. Each man needs to understand the danger that awaits him in the development of humanity. If evil prevails it is the end of mankind as we know it. The power of science could be used to heal the wounds it produced. The need to develop a higher level of awareness in the realm of collective identity at each individual level should be the priority in man’s development. If he keeps on making weapons with greater power of destruction, he will then use the power of science to destroy life. On the contrary, if man concerns himself in the learning of philosophy, and uses science’s power to produce life, he will then attain a higher level of awareness in the structural foundation of morality at the practical level, in every actions that he will experience.