Stating that the concept of moral reason has been the subject of many fields such as philosophy, sociology, and psychology since ancient times, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said that moral norms have a very significant role in ensuring social order. Noting that high values are observed in the highest level of reasoning, Tarhan said, “In this reasoning, individuals adopt values such as compassion and respect, resist their own instincts, and do what is right rather than what they like.” Prof. Dr. Tarhan noted that the highest norm among moral norms is the conscientious norms within a person.
“High values are observed in the highest level of reasoning”
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, made evaluations on moral reasoning.
Stating that the concept of moral reasoning has been a widely discussed topic in Europe since the Middle Ages, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan added that this concept later became one of the main subjects of all philosophy. Prof. Dr. Tarhan pointed out the importance of the concept of morality in psychiatry and psychology, where it forms the basis of personality theories for mental health.
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan noted that although modernism has tried to create its own moral norms, it has not yet succeeded in doing so, and said, “The first strong voice in Europe comes from a French philosopher who says, ‘Where there is no justice, there is no morality.’ Justice means judgment. Judgment means discernment, reasoning. Someone living in the 1550s said this. What influenced him more was the state traditions and moral order of the Umayyads of Andalusia. When works dating back to the Umayyads of Andalusia are examined in Toledo, Spain, it is understood that they had a moral order before establishing a state order. It is concluded that morality was based on justice, and that the Umayyads of Andalusia disintegrated with deviations from it.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that during a period of severe church oppression and century-long wars in Europe, European thinkers realized the importance of justice while researching what could be done to improve things, and said, “Here, the relationship between justice and morality is understood. The point is reached where moral reasoning should exist, and Puritan ethics emerge. This is also called Protestant ethics. It is considered the ethics that gave birth to capitalism. Being honest, fair, hardworking, and doing good deeds for religious reasons – this is the essence of Protestant ethics, which begins with religious justifications.”
Protestant ethics stem from moral reasoning
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that the concept of Protestant ethics was initiated by Martin Luther King, and said, “Martin Luther King opposed the church. The church was selling plots in heaven, making serious money. People were innocently buying them. One day, Martin Luther King went to court. He said, ‘I have bought all of hell; there is no empty place in hell. Let no one search for plots in heaven in vain.’ This is moral reasoning. He refuted their imaginary theories by saying, ‘I have bought all the plots in hell. There is no need for anyone to sell plots in heaven anymore; no one will go to hell.’ Following this, Protestant ethics, which was already fed up with church oppression, rapidly spread in Northern Europe. The Middle Ages was actually a period of searching for moral norms.”
Problems not completed by reasoning exhaust the brain
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that philosophers have also developed various norms regarding universal reason, and said, “The German philosopher Immanuel Kant developed norms related to universal morality. For example, the saying accepted by all religions and all moralists, ‘Do as you would be done by,’ or ‘We can summarize morality with these words,’ he says. However, we see that the vast majority of people always act differently. Why is there so much difference and variety from a moral point of view? To overcome this diversity, people need to believe in morality through moral reasoning. They need to make it suitable for their minds. The human brain and mind have a working system. When it does not place a subject in a logical framework, it cannot make that information permanent. When an unresolved trauma is placed in a logical framework, it becomes a resolved trauma. When it is not placed in a logical framework, the brain becomes incredibly tired. Many mental illnesses emerge this way. Just as a computer slows down if there are open files in the background, when problems not completed by reasoning accumulate in the brain, the brain becomes incredibly tired.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan noted that reasoning and judgment are functions of the brain's frontal region, and said, “Among living beings, humans are the ones with the largest frontal region of the brain. If it weren't for our brain's frontal lobe, there would be no civilization. We would be people chasing after food, drink, and reproduction. Reasoning methods are very important in making moral decisions.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that moral norms have a very significant role in ensuring social order, and said, “For example, lying is not an appropriate and correct behavior. Morality makes right and wrong decisions. Can order be maintained in a world where everyone lies? Would it be possible to live healthily there? You live in a town where everyone lies. Life would be very difficult there. It is not possible to establish order in a society without norms.”
Intention is considered a scientific category…
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that mirror neurons in the brain perform theory of mind, and this situation reveals the intention dimension of morality, adding, “Currently, it has revealed the neuroscience of intention. It has brought out the importance of intended behavior versus unintended behavior. Until now, none of those who wrote moral theories focused so much on intention, but in morality, they always focused on overt behavior. They focused on a person's thoughts. They focused on actions. Emotions were considered unscientific. Neuroscience took these emotions as a scientific category. Now, intention is considered a scientific category.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan noted that when a person intends to do something, an action potential related to it immediately appears in the brain, and said, “If it is something positive, the P300 wave starts; if it is something negative, the PN50 wave starts. That is, the negative wave, which is related to fear and threat, starts after 6 milliseconds. Consider that our brain works fear-prioritized, threat-prioritized, but it reacts to a positive event in 300 milliseconds. All of these show that intended behavior is a mental action, that a person does not have an immediate reaction to it like fear, that it is planned, and that the brain switches to a positive wave after processing. There is a mind above our brain; this is related to it. Currently, all studies are already related to consciousness studies. In the world, studies are being carried out under the name of post-materialist science as a new scientific field. Arizona and Columbia universities have also published their manifesto on this matter.”
Heinz's Story in Moral Reasoning
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that Lawrence Kohlberg has a famous Heinz experiment related to moral reasoning, and said, “There, he tells a short story to people of all ages. A person named Heinz has a wife who is critically ill and dying. There is a pharmacist in their small town. The pharmacist has produced the medicine for the illness and is selling it for 2,000 dollars. Heinz, the sick woman's husband, goes to everyone he can borrow money from. He collects a thousand dollars from acquaintances and friends. Heinz tells the pharmacist that his wife is dying and asks him to either sell the medicine a little cheaper or allow him to pay later, but the pharmacist refuses. In desperation, Heinz goes at night, breaks into the pharmacy, and steals the medicine for his wife. He asks, ‘What would you do if you were in Heinz's shoes?’ ‘Now, which is the moral thing to do in this situation? Would he steal the medicine? Would he steal the medicine if he didn't love his wife? Would he do the same if the dying person were a stranger?’ Here, a person's level of moral development is examined according to the answers to the questions.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that in the second part of this story, there is a police officer named Brown, and Brown, who knows the man, reads the news about the robbery in the newspapers, adding, “Brown saw the man quickly leaving the pharmacy at midnight and is hesitant about whether to report him or not. He asks, ‘What would you do if you were in Brown's shoes?’ Should Brown report it or not? What should he do? Here, questions are asked about where the moral situation lies. This is a beautiful metaphor.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said that Kohlberg's theory of moral development, which he put forward with the answers given to these stories, consists of three main stages and two sub-stages for each stage, totaling six stages.
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that moral education at the child level is based on fear and obedience, and said, “In the first level of moral education, there is punishment and obedience. We call this moral reasoning based on concrete values. It considers the visible results. For example, it is explained that if you break the window, it is a crime and you will be punished. A child's mind does not act by creating assumptions or options in such situations. Moral reasoning that thinks according to abstract values is the reasoning of an average person.”
Moral reasoning is also done according to abstract values…
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan noted that another stage of moral reasoning is based on abstract values, and said, “Here, an individual can put themselves in another person's shoes. Just as it is a common teaching of all religions, a fundamental and universal moral rule is not to do to others what you would not want done to yourself. They put themselves in someone else's place, have a sense of responsibility, have social needs, and have developed the concept of enduring hardship for the future. The individual does not only think about today but endures difficulties by thinking about the future. For example, a student thinks about abstract values, saying, ‘I need to prepare for this exam. I must study now to pass this course.’”
One does what is right, not what one likes
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, noting that high values are considered in the highest level of reasoning, said, “In this reasoning, intention and public-spiritedness are taken into account. The individual adopts values such as compassion and respect, resists their own instincts, and does what is right rather than what they like. They show the greatest impartiality towards themselves. They exercise the greatest control as internal control. Their internal control is developed. They do not do evil secretly. They have internalized the norms and now apply them automatically. For example, they like to alleviate suffering, foster goodness, like to do selfless good deeds, random acts of kindness, prevent evil, can be self-sacrificing, and can endure hardship and burdens not only for themselves but also for others. For their country, for their homeland, for universal values… The highest norm among moral norms is the conscientious norms within a person. Some social interests of the state are protected by laws, but with internal conscience and moral norms, a person's sense of conscientious responsibility develops. At the highest point of moral norms, one must possess conscientious norms and a sense of accountability to the unseen.”