Natural Moral Institutions in Society

Obeying Rules

We have considered ethical choice, but given little attention to the way that ethical rules permeate society and form ethical authorities.  «Making a choice» and «observing» (or not) ethical rules and ethical authorities are two entirely different aspects of the human use of values (or of the way that values use humans).

Society contains 7 Natural Moral Institutions. Their function is to sustain society by ensuring that its members act to ensure its survival and coherence.

These institutions are termed «natural» because they spontaneously emerge in any community. Within Experience-PH4, they allow us to exist as social beings (PH’4-L6), providing and sustaining both a personal identity and a communal identity.

Natural Moral Institutions derive from… the various approaches to sustaining personal (i.e. psychological) existence or identity i.e. arguably they do not belong primarily to Purpose-PH6 but to Experience-PH4 as proposed in the diagram. 

See the Full Framework Picture

The 7 Institutions

The 7 institutions are listed below. Their nature and distinctiveness can be grasped using the following simple schema:

• Need that is met;
• Characteristic concerns;
• Identity focus for those concerns.

Work out the details for each and then click to check the propositions:

L"I: Formal Etiquette

—provides ceremonial respect, and is concerned with appearance, dining, speech (i.e. sensory focus). 

L"II: Popular Morality

—provides conformity, and is concerned with sex, aggression, work, alcohol, drugs, money (i.e. vital/body focus).

L"III: Communal Ideals

—provides energy, and is concerned with any quality or aspect of a society that enables attachment (i.e. emotional focus).

L"IV: Social Structure

—provides order, and is concerned with claims, duties, powers, disabilities, privileges, immunities, liabilities (i.e. individual focus).

L"V: Ethical Teachings

—provides virtue, and is concerned with handling personal and social relationships (i.e. relational focus) to

L"VI: Governance System

—provides stability, and is concerned with maintaining peace, order, justice, freedom and the common good (i.e. social focus)

L"VII: Organized Religion

—provides meaning,and is concerned with mysteries of existence—especially evil, suffering, and God (i.e. transpersonal focus)

► More about the natural moral institutions.

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• Continue to the moral influences on government;

  and then

• Consider the ultimate and personal context for politics.

Originally posted: July 2009; Last updated: 12 June 2014.