Moral duty approach

The moral duty approach is a kind of ethical approach that implements a tough, forceful, demanding, paternal model of love.

In the field of practical psychology, the approach of moral duty is not often encountered. James, Adler, Fromm, then thoughtfulness … — the psychotherapeutic approach often deals with clients who are preoccupied with personal problems, and talking with them about moral duty is as adequate as talking about the dangers of sweets with young children. They don’t hear. The approach of moral duty realizes itself mainly in developmental psychology, in work with healthy people who are ready to set themselves serious life tasks. The approach of moral duty requires a person to constantly study and develop, teaches and educates, sets social tasks for a person, sets moral guidelines and ideals for him.

The basic premises of the moral duty approach are: “Man, your dignity and the value of your life are measured by your deeds. Each of us serves something higher. You must take care not only of yourself, but also of your family and Motherland.” “A man must plant a tree, build a house, raise a son” — this is from here. In this approach, strength is valued: the strength of the mind, the strength of the will, the strength of the given word, and here it is believed that all the best should belong to the best: not to children, but to adults, not to idlers, but to efficient people, not helpless, but promising. In psychological work, they try to take people out of their comfort zone in order to strain them into business and accustom them to the difficulties of life. The task of a psychologist in such a process is to take a person out of his comfort zone, strain him to work, accustom him to the difficulties of life and train him, requiring tension of his mind and will. In the choice between «Take care of safety, do no harm» and «Take care of sufficient workload, provide education», the proponents of this approach choose the latter. Here they do not regret, they are not afraid of injuries, they go to the goal and appreciate high results. An educator working in line with this approach takes responsibility for the result, for the fact that he will turn his pupil into a Human. Here the freedom of the individual is not an end in itself, but a means: freedom for! Individuals are not born, individuals are made. The ideal of both upbringing and self-education is a hierarchically developed personality with high values.

The moral duty approach, together with the humanistic approach, constitute the «two wings» of the ethical approach.