Dili malingin an kahon. People justify their actions. Sometimes, others whitewash their deeds with lies for them to look correct. But again, you could not make a circle become square. Lying and covering up for your wrong actions won’t allow you to be changed. Development is then hampered. That is why we’d rather accept our mistakes and grow than remain stunted for the rest of our lives.
A reason is said to be a “normative reason” for acting because it favors someone’s acting. But what does it mean to say that a reason “favors” an action? One way of understanding this claim is in terms of justification: a reason justifies or makes it right for someone to act in a certain way. This is why normative reasons are also called “justifying” reasons.
The term “normative reason” according to Alvarez (2007) derives from the idea that there are norms, principles or codes that prescribe actions: they make it right or wrong to do certain things.
In the society we are living, there are set of norms directly or indirectly prescribed by it. Conforming on them can cause order and demeanor. But once we break the norms we sometimes become the subject of ridicule or tagged as the person who creates chaos and confusion in the community s/he belongs.
The existence of these norms or values depends on a variety of things: logical and natural relations, conventions, rules and regulations, etc. And the norms or values may be moral, prudential, legal, hedonic (relating to pleasure) or of some other kind. There are normative reasons, therefore, corresponding to the variety of values and norms: normative reasons that are moral, prudential, legal, etc.
But what if moral norms are the ones broken?
Moral norms are the rules of morality that people ought to follow. An evolutionary explanation of the emergence of moral norms proceeds in stages. There are different norms for different kinds of social interaction: norms of justice, norms of cooperation, and norms prescribing various kinds of altruistic behavior (Ruse, 2008).
Morality is the belief and understanding of what is right and what is wrong. It refers to the set of standards that enable people to live cooperatively in groups. It’s what societies determine to be “right” and “acceptable.”
Sometimes, acting in a moral manner means individuals must sacrifice their own short-term interests to benefit society. Individuals who go against these standards may be considered immoral (Morin, 2020).
But it is always human nature to justify their actions to perform self-preservation. Yet whatever justifications one can muster if the act is glaringly wrong, the justifications will fall flat. It is somewhat similar to an exercise in futility.
Some scholars don’t distinguish between morals and ethics. Both have to do with “right and wrong.” But some people believe morality is personal while ethics refer to the standards of a community. For example, your community may not view premarital sex as a problem. But on a personal level, you might consider it immoral. By this definition, your morality would contradict the ethics of your community.
Morin continued: Both laws and morals are meant to regulate behavior in a community to allow people to live in harmony. Both have firm foundations in the concept that everyone should have autonomy and show respect to one another.
Legal thinkers interpret the relationship between laws and morality differently. Some argue that laws and morality are independent. This means that laws can’t be disregarded simply because they’re morally indefensible.
Still, we go back to the main discourse: What is wrong is always wrong. If the justification you are arguing benefits the universal values and universal norms, then be it be placed on the table.
Ideas about whether certain behaviors are moral—such as engaging in pre-marital sex, entering into same-sex relationships, and using cannabis—have shifted over time. While the bulk of the population once viewed these behaviors as “wrong,” the vast majority of the population now finds these activities to be “acceptable.”
Some morals seem to transcend across the globe and across time, however. Researchers have discovered that these seven morals seem somewhat universal: Be brave; Be fair; Defer to authority; Help your group; Love your family; Return favors; Respect others’ property.
Let us not just find justifications. Let us live consistent to the universal peace.
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