Summary Of The Moral Instinct

What Should One Do? What is right to some people might seem wrong to others. What is wrong to some people might seem right others. Who is right and who is wrong? No one is wrong or right; it all depends on the individual’s morals. Many may think that people are born with morals, but in reality it is said that morals are taught. People can say that morals are universal. They are taught what is right from wrong. People might disagree with others, but to each his own. In The New York Times article “The Moral Instinct” , author Steven Pinker expresses his view on morals and argues that the study of the moral sense can help people become “better” . He also argues that morality is universal, but it varies depending upon each individual’s religion,
She knew that she would come across the dog lab, but she did not know exactly what it consisted of. Even though “the lab was optional” (93), McCarthy felt like it was her obligation to complete this lab. The lab was optional because the professor himself wanted to see who was up for the challenge and who was not. These students sooner or later would have to come across a moment in their lives that they would have to do something that they did not want to do, and they would have to decide whether or not they wanted to go on or not. At first it was clear that McCarthy did not want to do the lab because she stated that “[she] didn’t want to kill a dog” but she also “wanted to take advantage of every learning opportunity” (93). McCarthy wanted the best of both worlds. She wanted to go through the experience, but did not want to kill an innocent dog. Like Pinker would say, McCarthy needed to find herself and ask herself what she truly wanted. What McCarthy truly wanted was the best education possible. She decided that she could not let go of this once in a lifetime opportunity and she even volunteered to “anesthetize the dogs” (McCarthy 94). To her it was a sense of feeling good about herself. She would get to meet the dogs alive and make sure that they did not suffer and were cared for. She would hold the dogs as they would get the injection and as she saw them collapse, she said “[she] didn’t cry, but [she] wanted to” (McCarthy 94). When someone cries it is because they are either sad, happy or angry. In this case, McCarthy felt frustrated that she had made the decision of completing this lab and that poor innocent dogs had to suffer. At the end of it all, she put her morality to the side and went with what to her was more important, which was her “education”