On 3rd February 2012 our firm hosted the undisputed star of Polish psychology, the dean of the Sopot School of Social Sciences, professor Bogdan Wojciszke. The professor gave a lecture under the intriguing title, “Why do honest people act immorally.”
According to professor Wojciszke, ethical disagreements are due to different criteria for moral judgments: people often confuse morality with self-interest. The multiplicity of moral codes contributes to it, the two fundamental ones being the rule of justice (equal distribution of wealth) and the concern for others. It often happens that they contradict each other. As the author of “Psychologia miłości” (“The psychology of love”), he presented numerous studies and experiments showing, for example, the correlation between the sense of injustice and the sense of morality, as well as the divergence of the latter with the actual behavior at the level of ethics.
We were also told about the significance of local norms, and about the role that some simple reminders of ethical principles play in our daily life. The title of the lecture, paradoxical at first glance, proved to reveal a profound truth and – one might say, unfortunately – its everyday applicability in all areas of life. The presentation stimulated the participants to a heated debate, which included references to professional, legal dilemmas.
