Ethical Dimensions of the Existence of Personality

Moral Motivation and Value Orientations

The fulfillment of moral demands requires internal, subjectively determined impulses to act—distinct driving forces which, in ethics, are referred to as motives (from the Latin moteo—to move, to stir, to propel). A motive is the primary indicator of a person’s interest in performing a particular act and simultaneously serves as the answer to the question: why, exactly, was this action carried out? The essence of motivation is revealed by determining the alignment between the moral worth of the act and the moral worth of the motive. A significant issue arises when actions that, in their objective nature, seem capable of embodying certain moral values are often driven by subjective motives that bear no relation to morality and are, in fact, based on extra-moral or immoral systems of motivation (a type of behavior ethics defines as legal behavior, or legalism). For example, a person who anonymously donates to a church shelter may not do so out of love or compassion for the destitute children but as an attempt to atone for their sins before God. Conversely, entirely moral motives behind actions taken with sincere intentions to help others frequently lead to unintended, negative consequences. The phrase about the road to hell being paved with good intentions is known worldwide, as is the phenomenon of the "bear's favor." Morality, however, tends to be less critical of those negative actions whose consequences stem from a misunderstanding of duty, an honest mistake, or a desire to do good.

Thus, in providing a moral evaluation of human actions, it is essential not only to consider the motives but, more importantly, to assess the outcome. A crucial element of moral consciousness, which ultimately harmonizes the motives and results of actions, is value orientation. If motivation answers the question of why or for what purpose we act in a particular way, value orientation answers the question of for the sake of what—to what do we devote our actions?

In the humanities, the concept of values has been so thoroughly examined that it has even given rise to a specialized branch of philosophical knowledge—the theory of values, or axiology (from the Greek axios—value). The moral and ethical aspect of the problem of values is only apparent where a person imposes certain self-restraints, demonstrates the capacity to treat others as equals, and chooses, as the principal guiding point of their conscious life, the highest value: the idea of Good.