Moral agency is an individual's ability to make moral choices based on some notion of right and wrong and to be held accountable for these actions. A moral agent is "a being who is capable of acting with reference to right and wrong."
A moral agent is a person who has the ability to discern right from wrong and to be held accountable for his or her own actions. Moral agents have a moral responsibility not to cause unjustified harm. Traditionally, moral agency is assigned only to those who can be held responsible for their actions.
In this way, moral agents can discern between right and wrong and be held accountable for the consequences of their actions. Likewise, moral agents have the responsibility to anticipate and avoid causing unjust harm.
Dogs have the ability to work out when someone is being rude or dishonest, according to a new study into the morality of man's best friends. Researchers in Japan's Kyoto University suggest that dogs have a human-like sense of morality and are able to perceive if someone is acting dishonestly or unfairly.
People are always considered subjects of moral worth. A subject of moral worth can also include beings, such as animals or objects such as art, that are vulnerable to harm and have importance to the moral community. The moral community includes all people from birth to death.
Moral agents act upon moral patients and vice versa. In order to be considered a moral patient, that is, as the object of a moral responsibility, an entity must have some kind and degree of moral status.
We need to be honest and trustworthy: Refrain from lying, cheating and stealing. It includes being honest with yourself as well as with others. One should be courageous: Do what is right, even when you're faced with unpleasant or difficult personal consequences including personal danger and rejection by others.
Moral character is formed by one's actions. The habits, actions, and emotional responses of the person of good character all are united and directed toward the moral and the good.
Through the process of reasoning and judgment, an individual is able evaluate interpret the moral situation, formulate the moral ideal and choose a course of action that corresponds to one's moral values. Thus, higher order moral reasoning may lead to greater likelihood of moral behavior.
A new study finds that dogs will seek more information if they know they don't have enough facts to make a decision, much like humans and chimpanzees. This ability, according to researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, is called a “metacognitive” trait.
Moral beings must be able to think about their actions, life, and values in ways that nonhuman animals cannot. Animals may be the recipients of moral (or immoral) treatment, or be moral patients, but only humans are truly moral agents.
Dogs evolved from wolves, and seem to have maintained a wolfish sense of fairness. "They do have a sense of right and wrong. You see it when they play at the dog park, for example; when a dog asks another dog to play — even if it is larger and may be dominant — it's going to be honest about it.