Moral Points of View and Justifications

I have always been interested in how and why people think the way they do. Some of the time, it's obvious why someone does something; however, the vast majority of the time it seems as though there are underlying reasons, some of which can't be explained. Morality is a very strange concept because, as Lehrer says, "moral decisions are supposed to rest on a firm logical and legal foundation" (171), but the funny thing is that in reality they don't. Morality is based on countless things that can happen in any person's life. Based on the way people have grown up, on their religious views, on their current environments, on random events or any number of experiences that may have changed someones point of view, morality differs for everyone.There are multiple points of view found in every situation. In one person's eyes he is the hero, in another's eyes he is the enemy. Who is he in his own eyes? Lehrer states, "the decisions lead to the same outcome, yet one is moral and one is murder" (177). How can there be such a great discrepancy? If there was a logical foundation for morality, then right and wrong would be black and white. But people are way too complex to have simple morals. In certain situations one thing is acceptable; in another scene the same act can be disrespectful or immoral.

One thing that most people have become very good at, is justifying their actions. Whether they are trying to convince a friend, themselves, or some unseen deity, people attempt to tie meaning and purpose to what they do, even if they know it is wrong. If someone wants to do something, most of the time it is not difficult to come up with a reason, or an excuse, as to why it's alright. As Lehrer puts it, "So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do" (173). Is it wrong, even if you have a really good reason? People have the abilities to manipulate and change almost everything around them, since morality is already such a flexible subject, it's not a surprise that it is stretched and twisted to meet people's needs.