If you're human, I'll bet you've made some wrong choices. If you've been around for any length of time, then you've probably made some pretty bad ones. Why is it that we make poor moral decisions? In the language of the Judeo-Christian tradition from which our society sprang we tend to use the term, 'sin'. Whatever one calls it, the end result of such choices is often disappointment, pain, hardship, or suffering. Knowing that such is the nature of these wrong choices, and the outcomes are less than desirable, why then do I choose what is harmful. Why do I choose sin?
Some might, and have, suggested that the reason why we sin is due to external sources. At the risk of presenting caricature, I tend to think of this answer as 'the devil made me do it' view. That is, there are dark/evil forces at work in the universe which exert influence upon me such that I choose wrong even though I may know to choose right. It simply cannot be helped. Philosophically, this understanding doesn't make sense to me as an explanation since it effectively negates free-will. Nor does this jive with what I know experientially either. If this view is correct, then the free-choice that I seem to exercise is an illusion. I simply do not find any convincing evidence, or coherent philosophic argument, for this answer (let me know if you feel differently).
Another proposed understanding, and one that I find has more potential, is the concept of consuetudo and its effects on us humans. This Latin term, which has a broad semantic range (habit/custom/usage/way; normal/general/customary practice, tradition/convention; experience; etc.), provides a platform for how some thinkers have sought to understand why we choose what is wrong/destructive/sinful. From this view, habit (consuetudo) creates a compulsion which influences moral decision making. This takes place on both a societal and an individual scale, and is self-perpetuating/re-enforcing. What this means is that we are born into a society/world where moral infractions (i.e. choosing what is wrong / sinning), are ubiquitous; and it is this context which predisposes us to sin. This is not to say that we can't choose, but instead to suggest that the proverbial cards are stacked against us. From the moment we are born, we already have a history, a coercive context, and an inherited 'habit'. We are beings 'thrown into time' (to borrow from Heidegger, "Dasein ist geworfen Entwurf" - excuse my deficient German). People can argue whether or not we are born as clean slates (i.e. tabula rasa), but we most certainly are not born into clean slates.
The second way in which we might see consuetudo/habit influencing our moral decisions is at the level of the individual person. Here it is suggested that a person's previous wrong choices 'combine and collude' to compromise his/her exercise of freedom in the present; this compromise of freedom results in inner-conflict and ethical paralysis. I want to do what is good but find that I choose otherwise, or I do not want to do something wrong but find that I do it anyway.
The reverse of this state of restricted freedom is the intentional, conscious exercise of, ie. a redemption or re-appropriation of, one's free-will such that it transforms the consuetudo (on either a personal or perhaps even a societal scale) to that of a positive disposition towards what is good, rather than what is not (as discussed above).
So, why is it that I can make poor moral/ethical choices, ones that I am fully aware are destructive/harmful, when I know to choose better? Why do I know to do right, but fail to do it?
Hmmm...
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