Topics Ethics

Question When someone asked: "Do you think jealousy is morally wrong or is it a natural thing to be jealous?" I'm surprised the answerer didn't address the implied false dichotomy in the question: Some things are both natural AND morally wrong. In fact, morality in general serves as a restraint from our doing what comes naturally.

Accepted:
March 7, 2013

Comments

I suppose the point is that it is particularly difficult to avoid doing and feeling what comes naturally. To a degree we might admire someone morally who never felt jealousy but we would find it difficult to understand their character. It is the struggle to control our natural feelings which as you say is so important in morality. On the other hand, a complete control of character would perhaps be equivalent to an absence of character. What makes moral life interesting is the attempt to restrain our persistent impulses and feelings while maintaining sufficient individuality to retain some notion of character.