Morality an Offshoot of Philosophy and Psychology: A Theoretical Exploration

Abstract

The concept of morality and its roots may not be entirely new. Every day you hear people mention the word morality. Perhaps we all have our own opinions on what morality is. Several pieces of literature abound on morality (moral norms and the elasticity of moral actions) thus making it a little complex. Many are those who perceive morality to be the domain of religion and think that people who are avowed to one sect of religious belief or the other are those who should be concerned with morality. Far from these convictions, morality affects every human person and transcends all fabrics of human endeavors. We deal with people in our everyday life be it at work, church, in communities, and the like. Our relationships with others are sometimes adjudged as good, bad, and worse. By the same token, we also consider the behavior or lifestyle of others equally as bad, good, and worse. Why should it be so? The answer lies in what morality is. The exploration of the concept of morality led to the discovery that morality takes if not all a substantial quantum of its components from philosophy and psychology benefiting from their theories and concepts that act as guiding principles for moral behavior. In this paper, the authors aimed to explore the concept of morality and review how business managers and leaders can benefit from the application of morality to improve the success of their organizations. Generally, this theoretical exploration intends to illustrate the linkage between philosophy, psychology, and morality and to help us understand how they can shape our moralistic conduct and some consequential rewards we can get as individuals, communities, business organizations, or nations by putting them into practice. Specifically, this theoretical exploration relies on existing literature and attempts to expose readers to some insights that connect philosophy and psychology to morality by exploring the nexus between philosophy, psychology, and morality. It also examines how philosophy and psychology shape morality. It further explores moral psychology and its elements. Additionally, it considers moral norms, standards, or values by focusing on some key elements: fairness, altruism, trust, and cooperation and discusses how “reciprocity” a social mechanism can help promote compliance with these moral norms, standards, or values. Finally, the review on how business managers and leaders can benefit from the application of morality to improve the success of their organizations which has also been discussed.