Morality

Human beings necessarily understand their social worlds in moral terms, orienting their lives, relationships, and activities around socially-produced notions of right and wrong.Both morality and theories of morality play many distinctive—and sometimes apparently conflicting—functions: they identify and prohibit wrongful aggression; they chart and analyze basic duties; they present ideals for emulation; they set the terms or justice, rights and entitlements; they characterize the norms of basic decency and neighborliness. Since many of these can, in practice, come into conflict with one another, morality provides guidance for integrating priorities. Claims to morality can, however, be misused as well as used: sanctimonious selfrighteousness, self-centered moral narcisism and deflecting, misleading justification all present an abusive mask of morality.--- RortyThe Use and Abuse of Morality Amelie Rorty The Journal of Ethics Vol. 16, No. 1 (March 2012), pp. 1-13 (13 pages) Published By: Springer 
Morality is sociologically understood as more than simply helping or harming others; it encompasses any way that individuals form understandings of what behaviors are better than others, what goals are most laudable, and what "proper" people believe, feel, and do. Morality involves the explicit and implicit sets of rules and shared understandings that keep human social groups intact. Morality includes both the "shoulds" and "should nots" of human activity, its proactive and inhibitive elements. [Hitlin10]
== Moral outrage ==
"Moral outrage is a powerful emotion that motivates people to shame and punish wrongdoers . Moralistic punishment can be a force for good, increasing cooperation by holding bad actors accountable. But punishment also has a dark side — it can exacerbate social conflict by dehumanizing others and escalating into destructive feuds. Moral outrage is at least as old as civilization itself, but civilization is rapidly changing in the face of new technologies. Worldwide, more than a billion people now spend at least an hour a day on social media, and moral outrage is all the rage online. In recent years, viral online shaming has cost companies millions, candidates elections, and individuals their careers overnight."
M. J. Crockett 2017
The example of Charles Manson and his mother, raises questions about morality. Many of Manson's criminal acts during his teens were done out of desperation, and not out of malice. His mother severely neglected him, and his lack of love created a hunger for acceptance which resulted in the creation of his 'Family' cult. One wonders whether it is reasonable to have expected Manson to have understood socially-produced notions of right and wrong, if he had no exposure to socially accepted behavior during childhood.
Ironically, Manson's cult turned out to be as dangerous and unpredictable as his own family.
Manson's mother rejected him in a similar way that a cult leader would reject a follower, and she left him to his own devices. Manson spent an enormous amount of time in his life in prison. Manson didn't want to leave prison, as it offered warm meals, a shower, human interaction and a bed to sleep on. Perhaps Manson - though a criminal - suffered from learned helplessness and found some stability in prison and saw prison wardens as replacements of his mother. 
- Written by Anonymous 
"Manson wasn’t happy. He made few friends and found the boys there untrustworthy. His only happy moments were the rare and sporadic visits by his mother, during which she would promise to take him home when she had enough money. After ten months, Manson couldn’t take it anymore. He broke out of the school and made it all the way back to his mother’s home, knocking on the door and hoping to earn one more loving embrace. Instead, though, his mother told him she couldn’t handle him, closed the door on him, and sent him back. She never picked him up, and Manson never lived with her again."
https://listverse.com/2016/08/30/10-tragic-stories-from-the-childhood-of-charles-manson/
== Rhizomata ==
Mores; Ethics; Moral outrage; Religion; Behavior
Virtue; Virtue signaling; Virtus; Institutions;
Category:Morals
Category:Virtues