Moral Psychology, by Laurence Thomas
The task of moral psychology is to determine if there is or is not a strong congruence between being psychologically healthy and embracing an altruistic conception of morality.
I Parental Love
A child who is loved by his or her parents, and shown love in all circumstances, whether or not he or she is morally excellent, will develop a sense of intrinsic self-worth.
II The Golden Rule
It might be interpreted that people act morally because they want to be treated morally in return. It also might be interpreted that people are so repulsed by the thought of treating others immorally that they choose to treat them morally. Both of these seem off the mark, one pessimistic, the other optimistic.
We fall somewhere in between, as wanting to behave morally, but with proper appreciation for all things involved, including the moral climate, our relationship to the other people. Our own reactions to things help us see the right thing to do. If I recognize that I would desire gratitude for helping someone, then if someone helps me, I will be gracious. If I recognize that I don't like being harmed, then if I harm someone, I recognize he or she doesn't like it. We can feel repulsed by immorality because we recognize how it makes us feel -- a combining of the two interpretations made in the above paragraph. We recognize that we ourselves are intrinsically worthy and reasonable people, and we recognize the same in other people, so we can extrapolate from our own circumstances and feelings to theirs.
A psychologically healthy person will not commit a vicious deed with no motivation at all. But we can accept that a psychologically healthy person will commit a more vicious deed than the motivation entails. It's not that he or she stops knowing what is right and wrong, but that the motivations, such as anger, jealousy, greed, act to temporarily handicap morality's effect on the will.
There are various levels of psychological health -- it's not just a clear break from healthy to unhealthy. So someone in less than optimal psychological health could have his or her effective will more easily impeded by other motivations, or might be motivated against morality by more things. But still, we talk about this as different than someone we call psychologically unhealthy. Where do we draw the line, then?
III Conceptions of the Moral Self
The robust conception of the moral self supposes that in the absence of insanity, a person is sufficiently able to grasp morality and act accordingly. The fragile conception recognizes how much hinges on early parent-child relationships, and thinks that even a psychologically healthy person might have been adversely affected, and so be at less than optimal psychological health. To reconcile these views, we can allow those who recognize their own problems from childhood to take responsibility for making sure it doesn't turn into a problem. This is different than just willing it away -- as a psychologically healthy person, he or she actively knows what's right and wants to do it effectively. She takes steps to make sure that her flaws don't get in the way. The psychologically healthy person is capable both of having the appropriate moral sentiments, derived from healthy childhood interactions and a sense of intrinsic self-worth, and a person who can reason practically, to achieve desired ends.
Moral reasoning, while it includes practical reasoning, cannot include only that.
IV Moral Motivation and Others
As social animals, too, we are effected by the morality of the environment and individuals around us. Just as we are moved by the innocence of an infant, we are also inspired by the selfless acts of the best people around us. Even if it doesn't change the way I as an individual would act, the inspiration of others around me will change the quality of it, and make it even more worthwhile to me. Humans are social, and our lives are richer for it, morally and otherwise.