How easy is it to make moral decisions?

Answer 1

A:People have value systems that they learn from childhood or perhaps inherit instinctively. These value systems form what we term our consciences, that guide us in making routine moral decisions. It is easy to ignore conscience, and whether we choose to do so depends on our level of greed, selfishness or empathy.

Conscience can sometimes be enhanced by religious belief, which at least encourages us to listen to our consciences. It can also be enhanced by ethics training, which helps us to appreciate the finer points of conscience and to resolve conflicting obligations.

Some moral decisions are easy to make, while others are hard. While religion arguably over-simplifies moral dilemmas, ethics aims to look at the goals of moral behaviour and thereby make appropriate choices when there are conflicting moral duties. In real-life situations, it is often difficult to make the best moral decision, and we learn to accept that well-intentioned decisions do not have to be perfect every time.

A famous example, often studied in philosophy courses is the case of the woman whose husband was condemned to death by the Nazis. The guard agreed to spare her husband's life in return for the wife having regular sex with him, which meant that she would be committing adultery. This was a most difficult moral decision, that few of us would ever face, and she chose to commit adultery in order to save her husband.