What determines the morality of an action? Outcomes, intentions, or something else?

Morality is a subjective term with many definitions. Aristotle defines it as the lesser of two evils while Plato considers morality as doing what is best for the harmony of society hence an individual is a microcosm of society. For example, using the pro-life v. pro-choice debate, in a society where autonomy is highly valued having an abortion may be seen as moral while using Aristotle’s definition the pro-life argument may be stronger if the person believes it would be a higher evil to have an abortion.

A key thing to note in this debate is the use of a consequentialist line of thinking which locates morality in the consequences of the actions such as deciding to give a low-priority patient medicine out of protocol. In this instance morality is found in the actions of abiding by the system in place. Categorical thinking places morality in the process of one's actions such as following the procedure of allocating medicine. Categorical way of thinking leads to better outcomes as it allows for contextualisation such as guidelines used in hospitals therefore allowing for nuisance in various situations. Consequentialism is a weaker argument as it would be difficult to regulate many of the actions of people in society particularly the law.

People are socialised into their moral principles by both their family or household and wider society which results in most individuals' moral compasses being aligned with society but this isn’t always true due to other agencies such as family values or religion. This contrast in moral ideas may result in morality lying in the intention of their actions as many people have the same values such as love but have different beliefs in how to achieve the objective. While individuals have agency to act out what they believe to be morally right very few are able to exercise this because very few people are privileged enough to do so to the societal repercussions whether formally or informally but it can also act as a catalyst for reforming society. For example, when the suffragette movement emerged it was seen as immoral in society but the women were financially privileged so they could afford to have these views and fight for them to be implemented.

Ultimately, morality is very complex but much of morality is determined by people’s outcomes and how it is perceived by society but it is dynamic so can be moulded according to various contexts.

What would winning a Crowd Scholar scholarship mean to you?

Coming from a low socio-economic background has caused many struggles in my family and personal life but despite this I have been able to thrive both in academics and extracurriculars. While my GCSEs are not exceptional, I am very proud of them as I was among the top 5% of my cohort in terms of achievement. During Sixth Form I worked a part-time job to support myself financially, and whilst this built my communication and interpersonal skills, juggling work with school was difficult. Along with my personal circumstances at home, work had a very negative impact on my performance at school. Winning the Crowd scholarship would allow me to go to university without financial restraint therefore allowing me to reach my full academic potential and to venture into new opportunities.

The scholarship would also enable me to expand my experiences by joining societies and give back to my community because while at university I plan on doing access work to help people from low-income backgrounds like myself access spaces they find difficult to get into but without the scholarship I wouldn’t be able to do so.

Being a winner of the Crowd Scholarship would allow me to be a proactive and zealous representative of this powerful scholarship.

Director of Sixth Form, Dunraven School:

[First paragraphs withheld by request of the Scholar.]

Hilary is a very bright, mature and self-motivated student who is dedicated and diligent in all aspects of her studies. She has made fantastic contributions to the wider school life, such as fundraising for cancer charities, volunteering to lead across the school as part of the house system and supporting open evening events. In other volunterring across London she has been awarded the Jack Petchy award for her work. She is very well organised, and balances her studies with activities outside of school such as the cadets, charitable volunteering and extracurricular lectures. Hilary has grasped a number of opportunities including participating in the London School of Economics 'Pathways to Law; initiative. As part of this programme Hilarly completed a week long work experience placement with SMPB where she was introduced to a number of aspects of corporate law whilst visiting organisations such as Microsoft and O2 UK. Hilary has also participated in the 'Target Oxford' project.

Hilarly is a student with genuine drive, ambition and talent.