Introduction
The way human beings perceive and think of anything is said to be the main determining factor of the outcome. This means that any situation depends on how it is handled. When one has a positive thinking about a given situation then the end result is in most cases doomed to be positive too (Snare, 2001, p.67). On the other hand when one has a negative feeling about something, the outcome ends to be most likely negative. Therefore, what we feel and think today determines the future.
This has led to the campaign of moral thinking among individuals. A great philosopher once said that, moral thinking is the way to achieving the happiness we desire. This fact is true as most of the times people in anger will have usually failed to deal with the problem the positive way. In every situation there is always the correct way which despite the route and time usually results into happiness or rather avoids anger.
When one is faced with an issue that requires solutions to be made, the end result is highly correlated to the way of thinking of the individual (Hare, 1991, p.63) l. Also, in the society where there is a larger population than our homes people are bound to say anything at any time. The arising phrases and comments from this are usually the indicator of the morality of the people of that society.
Research shows that moral thinking is a composite of acting and ruling or making the final decision (Schwartz, 2010, p.1). Moral thinking involves two levels that is the intuitive level also referred to as the lower level of thinking. During this level of thinking the individual bases their argument on what they have learnt and one’s own intuition.
The higher level now involves justification of the decision made (Drai, 2008, p.12). A renowned philosopher once said the highest stage of moral thinking is the post conventional stage. He further explained that it is at this stage that people are able to make concrete decisions that are not based on their own personal gain but are rather concerned about ethics and rights.
The incorporation of ethics in our way of thinking is what leads to moral way of thinking. There are many situations that require moral thinking so as to achieve the desired final decision. This paper is an analysis of a contemporary problem that involves moral thinking so as to arrive at the final decision.
A case study of moral way of thinking
The current global situation has led to many developments among the people of the world (Schwartz, 2010, p.1). It is through globalization that people from different countries have been forced by circumstances to travel all over the world. Some of these reasons include; business, education, family trips, professions like journalism just to mention but a few. This has therefore led to forced interactions among the people.
That is, people from different cultures are meant to accept those from non-related cultures. It is because of these interrelationships that moral thinking is incorporated so as to avoid cases of discrimination or even racism (Snare, 2001, p.45). The people are thus advised to think morally when dealing with the other people and especially those from the other nations and cultures.
A case in study may occur when a student from a country especially the non-developed ones is enrolled in a foreign country for studies (Drai, 2008, p.5). This may be caused by the migration of their parents or even their own desire to study in those foreign countries. The first thing that runs into their mind after making such a decision is the belief that they will get a warm welcome in their new environment.
The student will always fantasize of having new friends, meeting new people, seeing new places and many exciting things (Levine, 2010, p.2). So the moment such a student is disappointed and fails to attain all these and instead is faced with hostility the people of such a nation will be to blame.
The blame lies on the first people who receive the student in their new school. It especially lies on the other students as well as the tutors and any other non-teaching staff. This is because an environment that is composed with moral thinkers will be able to offer a good welcome to any one regardless of their culture.
Both the students and tutors are bound to be understanding and compassionate to anyone. It will be very wrong when a student from a foreign country is made to fail in their studies because of discomfort from the surrounding people.
The case is gets even worse when one is bullied. This raise the question, if there is morality within the school. This is because the students who bully their fellow students do not think morally and so can be able to commit such a crime. As discussed above, moral thinking mainly entails first having your own intuition on a subject and thereafter justifying whatever you want to do.
Students who bully their fellows do not think of the outcome and are not even to justify whatever they do. If this could have been the case they would not even think of committing such a crime at the first instance the idea comes into their mind (Levine, 2010, p.1).
On the other hand the teachers are as well to blame since they have been deployed to monitor the students. If at all the teachers think morally they are obliged to ensure that each and every student is comfortable in the place they are. Lack of moral thinking is what leads to negligence and failure of the teachers to closely monitor the students and know those who may be undergoing various problems.
Let us say that a foreign student is bullied within the school compound and the teachers claim that they are not aware of any possibility of being bully students among their students. This claim is not justifiable as an individual who really cares for other will be concerned about them since their own intuition which a level of moral thinking forces them to do so.
If such a student undergoes much stressful moments that they decide to commit suicide the case now becomes a national disaster (Rest, 2000, p.32). The causes of such an act may be ninety percent attributed to the difficult times they undergo during their course of study. Excess bullying, discrimination and other unethical situations may be the cause of depression which when one is not in a position to overcome makes the decision to commit suicide.
When that is the case it becomes a shame to the nationals of the country. This is good indicator that there is lack of moral thinking among the nationals of the country as they failed in their way of thinking. The country therefore sends a bad report to the other foreigners that the country lacks moral thinking. This is because the people are supposed to welcome and associate with the other foreigners regardless of their cultural differences (Hare, 1991, p.56).
This case example thus campaigns for moral thinking among each and every person if at all good international relationships are to be maintained. If moral thinking is practiced, then there will be less chances of bad treatment among the people. This is due to the fact that each individual will be thinking before engaging in any matters or even making decisions hence minimizing the chances of mistreatments and misunderstanding (Cowell, 1995, p.1).
Factors influencing moral thinking
For one to think orally they have to make a decision, an assessment and justification of the subject at hand. This therefore revolves around many factors that influence the way of thinking of an individual. Some of these include; One’s personal life experience, gender, level of developmental stage and many others.
Life experience greatly affects the way of thinking of an individual as people tend to handle current situations from past experience. If at all one has undergone difficult periods in life, they usually have the fear of tackling situations when faced with them (Hare, 1991, p.78).
Despite gender being a minor issue, research indicates that it has some impact on the moral thinking of people. This is because males think differently from females in terms of moral thinking. It can be said that the females tend to think more morally as opposed to men who are less sensitive to handling of issues especially those involving other people. Males tend to be more concerned of matters that affect them directly.
For example in the case study discussed above, cases of bullying and student depression will be less in environments where the tutors are females as compared to an only male tutor environment. This is because the females will be forced by their own intuition to find out the condition of their students unlike the ale tutors who in most cases will leave everything in the hands of the students (Cowell, 1995, p.1).
The developmental stage of an individual is also a critical factor that has an effect on moral thinking of individual. The way the adolescents and teenagers handle their issues is different from the way adults and children solve theirs. The society has for a long period of time complained of immorality among the youths.
This gives a clear indication that even their way of thinking is not moral. Children on the other hand are juvenile and have no information on anything hence lack the ability to think morally in their own way (Jones, 1995, p.102). They instead follow the actions of the people that they are close to, so depending on the way these people think, the children will do the same. Therefore it is the obligation of the adults around these children to think morally so that the young children may follow suit.
Another factor that may affect moral thinking is the consideration of the consequences of action to be taken. Most people are always in a point of dilemma when faced with circumstances to make choices.
At times people may deviate from moral thinking because of the fear of the resulting outcome. For example when dealing with real life situations that may affect the future of an individual, it becomes difficult as life does not have a reverse button. The situation is usually more vivid and practical involving less of the hypothetical way making decisions.
Conclusion
From the aforementioned cases, it can be clearly seen and understood that moral thinking is not about the law or education system (Csongradi, 2010, p.2). Research has shown that it is not possible to measure moral thinking empirically. Instead, it involves an individual’s own intuition and way of thinking.
It is thus not possible to force people to think morally is at all they do not want to or are not in a position to do so .Moral thinking involves ones decision to do so and those who do not think morally are not to be blamed. Such people should instead be counseled and educated on the philosophy of moral thinking.
Apart from the aforementioned case example, the society is encompassed with an endless list of cases that show presence or absence of moral thinking in decision making. Some of these cases include the cases of mistreated adopted or inherited children, working environments, leader’s treatments, cases of slavery and many others. All these problems can be solved if every person is in a position to think morally (Jones, 1995, p.45).
The lesson to be learnt from the above case is that moral thinking is way of eliminating injustice in the society. For justice to be observed, the people have to be moral thinkers such that every person becomes their brother’s keepers. Through this, cases like those mentioned above will be a thing of the past or reduce to minimal sizes.
Reference List
Csongradi, C. (2010). Factors influencing the way in which decisions are made. Web.
Cowell, B. (1995). Developing a basis for moral thinking. Web.
Drai, D. (2008). Moral Supervenience and Moral Thinking. Web.
Hare, R. (1991). Moral Thinking: its levels, methods and point. Oxford University press.
Jones, S. (1995). Organizational influence in moral thinking. Journal of Business Ethics.
Levine, P. (2010). Moral Thinking. Web.
Rest, J. (2000). Post conventional Moral Thinking. Routledge.
Schwartz, A. (2010). Where are Concern, Empathy and Moral Thinking? Web.
Snare, F. (2001). The Nature of Moral Thinking. Routledge.