The Distinction between Good and Bad

The Distinction between Good and Bad Since ancient times the notion has persisted that the ability to make the distinction between good and bad is inherent in human nature. The divine origin of this gift is expressed in an invocation set forth in the Quran: “…by the soul and how He formed it, then inspired it to understand what was right and wrong for it.” (91:7-8) But in present times certain thinkers of the West have presented the opposite theory, for instance, Sigmund Freud (d. 1939) and others who, in their self-styled or self-concocted psychological studies, held that human nature by birth was like a blank slate with no consciousness of how to discriminate between good and bad. All such consciousness was produced by social conditioning. This theory dominated the thinking of the educated classes in the twentieth century. But research in the field of psychology in the twentyfirst century has refuted this theory. It has proved that man is responsible for his actions, because wherever he does anything wrong, he does so by deviating from the consciousness with which his nature has been endowed. Man’s ethical sense stems from his inner nature. It does not owe its existence to external influences. In this way, there has been a restitution of the religious stand in modern history. In America there is a scientific institute of international repute, the Infant Cognition Center, Yale University, Connecticut, whose objective is to carry out scientific research in matters relating to children’s issues. Details of research recently conducted by this institute, under the guidance of the Professor of Psychology, Paul Bloom, were published in The Times of India, May 11, 2010. We reproduce here the summary of this research. This American research shows infants to be moral beings. According to a new study, contrary to the Freudian theory that humans start their lives with a moral “blank slate,” children may be born with the ability to tell good from bad. Newly born babies apparently start making moral judgements by the time they are six months old, claims a team of psychologists at the