What is morality? A historical exploration

Abstract

The objective of the article was to get more clarity on what morality is by addressing the question: ‘Can, in spite of undeniable adaptation and change through the ages, core elements of morality be detected that might be regarded as constitutive of morality?’ The method followed was to undertake a historical exploration of some of the pivotal factors contributing to the historical development of morality. An attempt was first made to identify the most important historical sources of morality. This was followed by a discussion of the social function and characteristics morality displayed in history. The article came to the conclusion that morality is a normative social institution with distinctive and stable core constituents: a core function of enhancing cooperation in communities by providing normative guidance to members on the fair advancement of wellbeing, a set of moral values attuned to the fulfilment of this function, a set of mechanisms to motivate people to act in accordance with the moral values and approved ways to make moral decisions in concrete situations based on the moral values. At the same time, morality is a flexible social institution that adapts to changes in the social and cultural environment.

Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The research undertaken in the article drew on research findings in the fields of religious ethics, philosophy, evolutionary ethics, and psychology. Research results present religious and philosophical ethics with the challenge to critically evaluate the conception of morality they take as point of departure.