Carlos Irizarry

12/19/14
Philosophy 231 The Big Questions
Question 7) What makes an action morally good?

There are many things thats make an action morally good, and upon reading one of many
readings by Emmanuel Kant. I realized that that even though there are many things that make an
act morally good, that there is only one moment when action is morally good without exception.
There was this philosopher whose one of his points was how an action is good when its
accept and bring the maximum happiness to the maximum amount of people. This relates to a
time in my life where, what would make an action morally good would depend if its accepted
and views as good by the majority of people. I always thought about this but to an extent. For
example, before when I was 17, I was going out with a girl whose ethnicity was different from
my own. When my family found out I was dating her they started to freak, saying all black
people are this and that blah blah blah. So if I kept seeing her, my whole family would be against
it, and it would also be as if I am not following the rules they. I knew this mindset of theirs was
stupid and not right, but this despite my opinion, I stopped seeing her just to keep everyone
happy.
Culture is also one of the factors that shouldnt have that much of effect on what is
considered a morally good action good, but unfortunately it does. One of my friends told me that
in his desi culture, one can marry and have 4 wives, and its also good and accepted for husbands
to hit their wives when they dont obey them. This is mainly because when they get married, he
apparently owns her, and she cant do anything because the culture she was raised says that the
man is always right in the relationship more or less. This alone is so wrong, and should never be

this way its a stupid and mindless mentality people have. In what world is it okay to hit a
woman, and how do you degrade her existence as a person just because shes a woman, as shes
just here to serve men and thats her purpose. This alone, shows how culture plays a big rule in
life actions and decisions whether they are morally right or wrong just because the culture says
its wrong. That should never be what its based on, because the majority are not always right,
and anyone with a clear mindset would see its wrong to make it a base case.
For quite some time, I would usually say what makes an action good would be if both
sides are happy about it. What I mean is that, if you think its ok to do something and think other
people would agree with what you do is fine, then the action would be a good action. Or an
action morally good is when not only you try to help someone else with good intentions but also
knowing that your help will be able to benefit them down the line or in the future. As the saying
goes "you want to treat others the same way as you would want to be treated. For example, I was
taught that whenever you see somebody else asking for something to eat you never deny them
food because you never know when a point in time will come in your life you where you could
be in the same position or in their same shoes and you would need a helping hand. If everyone
would exercise this it would make the world a better place because not only would we be
defeating hunger but also we would be creating a better place for us to live in a place where
everybody is filled with good intentions. However, unfortunately we live in a world where most
of the population would not do you any good action without expecting something in return or
expecting something that would benefit them in anyway.

Upon reading the text, I noticed how similar my thinking was compared to Kants. In one
of the texts, it explains how the only factor that makes an action good is good will. In the reading

Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals he talks about a few key items that makes an action
morally good. He talks about how the good will is the condition to good, but good will is good
without qualification, and that because morality is within all reasonable people, then when acting
from pure reason and not for any self-seeking interest, then youll be acting morally good. He
also explains that the moral worth of an action is determined by it motive and its intention, and
should not be determined by its consequences. He compares the intention to a jewel, and how its
value shouldnt lower because of its consequences. He then sets up a decision making procedure,
and says to see whether and action is morally good, Is to try to state the maxim, and then see if it
was be willed as a universal law. He also goes on saying that because reason is pure and is
universal, and because of that morality is also universal. So therefore, an action is morally good
only of you can will its maxim to be universal law.
In conclusion, now I realized that even though there are many things that would make an
action good, the only thing that would make it morally good without exception is good will. And
I agree fully, and action should be judged by its consequences, but by its intention to do good.
What makes an action good would be, acting from pure reason and not from self-seeking
pleasures and just do it because its the right thing to do.