Are we "Born to be good?" Why do we act the way we do towards others? Celia Kitzinger examines morality of people in her paper and gives explanations as to why people act the way they do towards others who may be in pain or suffering. She also describes how people help others in emergency situations and gives examples of studies done that help to explain the reasons behind many of our actions. Celia also demonstrates that morality sometimes cannot rely on empathy and if people are put in a certain situations, they will sometimes fail to act in accordance with their moral values. After reading her paper, I found that her position regarding morality is that moral behavior is a social, not an individual issue and people behave out of conformity or fear of what others might think. She also believes that people are fundamentally pro-social and acting altruistic is sometimes inhibited by social pressures.
             My position on morality disagrees with Celia Kitzinger in that people do no act altruistic out of social pressure. I think most people help others out of pure compassion for others in distress rather than for personal gain. I also believe that human nature allows us to care for those in need. I do not think the people in Nazi Europe risked their lives out of social pressure or fear of what others might think. These individuals saved Jews purely out of compassion and empathy and were willing to die for them if they were caught. They were not doing it for personal gain and I do not believe social conformity applied to this situation; however, the people who did not help were the ones who acted out of conformity.
             Lenny Shutnik risking his life by diving into the icy waters of the Potomac River to save an airline crash victim was an act of heroism done out of compassion and not for personal gain. I also think his heroism was a natural reaction for him and he probably did not hesitate be
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