Moral Choice

New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 946, 27 September 1957, Page 27

Moral Choice

"HE most important fact about the world we live in is that other people live in it, too, and that we have to come to terms with them. In our relations with them we are constantly called on to make decisions on moral questions. What shall we Go when others seem to threaten our independence, when we find ourselves growing away from ‘the family, or when some new and exciting interest:threatens old loyalties and friendships? What shall we do when we are given power over others, when we fall in love, or when we have the chance to show revenge or magnanimity to an enemy? Every ethical situation in which we are -involved is a new situation which must be faced afresh. This question of moral choice will _ be discussed in a series of BBC talks to be heard from YC stations on Wednesdays, starting on October 2. In the first of these, Rachel Pearse, Headmistress. of Mary Datchelor Girls’ School, London, examines the tangle of conflicting thoughts and feelings which have to be woven into a unity if we are to live happily in a society and yet retain’ our individuality. Two speakers will then discuss our responsibility to give a shape to our livesthe moral decisions which may have to

be taken in choosing a career and in handling the problems which must be solved if we are to realise our hopes and ideals; and a talk on the conflict of loyalties will examine such predicaments as those in which all the possible courses of action involve both good and evil. The problems likely to confront a person who, in a confused and dangerous situation, insists upon maintaining his own standards, and problems involved in fulfilling our responsibility towards others will be discussed, before a talk on the complexity of moral choice sums up this first part of the series and introduces the second group of broadcasts. This will concern itself with some intellectual questions in the field of Ethics. One of these is the origin and authority of conscience-does it, for example, reveal absolute standards of right or wrong, or does it merely reflect the habits and customs of society? Other talks will discuss the way in which heredity and environment influence men’s actions and limit their free-

wr = dom of moral choice, and will examine from both the Christian and Humanist points of view the question: Where is a man to find the convictions, guidance, courage and staying power he needs to‘

on -S live responsibly and virtuously? Then after asking whether we are in fact free to choose, the series will end with a talk on Christian authority and moral action.