What are moral values?
Moral values are socially constructed judgments, based on the idea of good, of what is right or wrong. The set of these judgments is called moral – a knowledge common to individuals in a certain group, which guides their feelings and actions.
In general, moral values represent what a society understands to be correct in a given historical period.
Thus, these values serve as a moral compass for guiding actions, the so-called moral sense – a sense capable of generating positive (admiration, happiness, pride) and negative (guilt, shame, sadness) feelings.
Human beings are endowed with a moral sense capable of building moral values based on the experience of individuals and universalized, forming a common knowledge.
The transmission of this knowledge is related to the socialization process. These are rules (said or not) that regulate coexistence.
From de facto judgments to moral judgments
Judgments are based on the human capacity to judge and value actions. Judgments of facts are mere definitions of reality, without attributing value.
For example, stating that a house is green or that it is sunny today are judgments of facts. However, human beings are able to value things.
Judgments such as “this house is beautiful”, “sunny days are more pleasant” or “it is unbearably hot”, require more than a direct interpretation of reality, are based on the human capacity to judge something positively or negatively, as desirable or undesirable.
This same relationship will make moral judgments possible. Human beings, endowed with a moral sense, are able to classify good and bad actions, feelings, intentions or thoughts.
Thus, the moral sense supported by ethical principles (good / bad, right / wrong) acts as a rule in the measurement of actions. Good behaviors tend to be repeated, while bad behavior is scolded.
The importance of moral values in building a society
For there to be a community life, it is normal for individuals from the same group to share a series of moral values, thus, their behaviors and actions assume a certain familiarity.
Different social groups, at different historical moments, will also have different moral codes. This does not prevent them from having some common points.
In this way, moral values are directly related to the idea of duty, that is, how individuals should act and unacceptable behaviors that they should not practice.
Individuals who act contrary to established moral values will have immoral or amoral behavior and, depending on the case, may suffer some type of sanction or punishment for inappropriate behavior.
Thus, a morality is built and the fundamental ethical principles of a society are defined. This ethics has an influence on the emergence of new moral values and new behaviors understood as acceptable or unwanted.
Laws, for example, arise from the values developed within a society. In general, they formally consolidate what values guide, aiming at the resolution of possible conflicts and the maintenance of a harmonious coexistence between individuals and moral values.