Complexity of human being and their moral actions - Essay Example

Complexity of human being and their moral actions Introduction Human beings are complex. The question is; how complex? How is this complexity related to human actions? It is obvious that human actions are normally preceded by reasoning and decision-making. For these actions to be deemed ethical or moral, decisions and the reasoning that led to such decisions must be deemed as being ethical or moral as well. However, the truth is, the type of evidence required to make an ethical and a moral decision differs from that needed to make an immoral and unethical decision.

In what nature or form are these differences? This question or dilemma results in a search for a method that can be used by humans in ethical decision-making and justification, a method that would give the conditions to be met by any moral or ethical decision and consequently the action. This is the complexity in human beings. This essay will attempt to explain this complexity in relation to moral and ethical actions based on the Kantian deontology theory and how it reduces and evaluates this complexity.

The essay will also examine how Aristotelian-Thomistic ethics evidences this human complexity.Discussion The complexity of human beings is evidenced in their moral actions since all moral actions are a product of moral and ethical reasoning. Moral action is based on the principle of right and wrong which is preceded by reasoning. Many a times, when humans are to make decisions for actions there are to take, their reasoning and decisions are always based on either the approach of rights, duties, and obligations; consequences; and or human nature.

Should morality of our decisions and actions be based on rights, obligations, and duties? Or, should it be evaluated based on its consequences or human nature? According to Kantian Deontology, the only good thing is that action which is of free will motivated by the right reasons. Kant uses reason as a faculty which he considers is the way that human complexity in terms of reasoning and decision-making can be reduced and evaluated. Kant argues that, it is not inclination, but rather, it is reason that should guide human moral action.

In this sense, the resulting moral action according to Kant becomes a duty (Kant 61). Basically, Kant argues that, a purely free and good action of the will is one that is purely done not on the basis of inclination but because there are right reasons for it. For instance, let say you find a lost wallet that belongs to a stranger, Kantian deontology argues that, despite an inclination of keeping the money, one should return the wallet simply because there are good reasons for doing so. Therefore, the moral worth lies in the action of returning the wallet and not in ones happiness or the consequences associated with the action.

Works CitedKant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print.