Unless a commitment to living ethically is part of who we are, what we are all about, or what we are really after, the recognition that doing something is ethical (or that it is unethical) won’t have any direct impact on our action. In order for our ethical sensitivity and ethical decision-making skills to affect our behaviors, we have to first be committed to some set of ethical values or goals. This commitment is what we refer to as moral purpose.
Photo Credit: Milestoned
Moral purpose is sometimes thought of as an individual’s personal commitment to some goal, value, or set of values. The superhero’s commitment to justice, for example, is what motivates her to do good deeds and to fight villains. The protestor’s commitment to peaceful change is what motivates him to resist striking out when he is provoked. The teacher’s commitment to equal opportunity is what motivates her to work in an inner-city school instead of in a well-funded private preparatory academy. Many of us may be motivated by things like greed, vanity, or revenge, but these individuals have some moral purpose that distinguishes them from others.
Photo Credit: Erik Kilby
If we look closely, however, we will often see that, although the commitment is intensely personal for the individual, it is also something that connects this individual to others in a certain kind of community. Through her personal commitment to justice, for example, the superhero contributes to communal efforts to protect all inhabitants of the city, and she joins the community of crime-fighters across the globe. Through his commitment to peaceful change, the protestor contributes to communal efforts to improve the living conditions or the social standing of countless persons, and he joins the community of peaceful activists. Through her commitment to equal opportunity, the teacher contributes to communal efforts to improve the prospects for people born into extremely challenging circumstances, and she joins the community of similarly motivated people around the world.
Depending on the context, we may choose to focus more on the role of moral purpose as an individual’s motivation to do things that separate her from the crowd, or we may focus more on its role as a shared commitment that connects individuals into distinctive communities. In both cases, moral purpose involves being generally directed towards certain ends or values in a way that has a motivational affect on one’s behavior.