This essay is exploring human behaviour both from an individual point of view, as well as considering society as a whole. Main causes of human behaviour have to be taken into the account along with the outcome or the effects of such actions; historical as well as psychological perspectives are considered. The next step of the essay is to reflect on what course of action is considered to be ethical and how the judgements can be attained. Further, due to difficulties encountered trying to evaluate human behaviour, some minor yet relevant factors are brought into the account to assist our understanding.
The problem of trying to understand human behaviour has been discussed for a long time, but the outcome does speak for the matter due to the fact that there are many factors that make every individual act in a unique way. The emphasis is put on the circumstances that affect human behaviour, in order to predict our reaction. One of the major factors that affects our behaviour is culture, even though every man is a self-made man. An individual is not independent of society, yet not entirely the creature of society. The identity of the person is not bodily depending on clothing style, skin color or beautification like plastic surgery, but

Different theories have been put forward, for example Freudian psychoanalysis pronounces that sexuality is the chief, if not the only, source of psychic energy, thereby accentuating the pleasure principle. On the other hand, B.F. Skinner wrote: “the term drive is simply a convenient way of referring to the effects of deprivation and satiation and of other operations which alter the probability of behaviour… it enables us to deal with many cases at once” . In contrast to what has been said about possibility to classify human behaviour, Dilthey proposed that “what man is, only his history tells” , thereby rejecting all possibilities of prediction. From the studies in psychology we see that “if there are any traits common to all people, they are so embedded in diverse cultures that we cannot say anything significant about them” .

The first step to analyse somebody’s actions is to look at the intention of the deed, as well as the consequences it brings. The only difference that distinguishes murder, religious sacrifice and euthanasia is the intention. It should be noted though that it is a generalisation to say that all actions have an intention; for example, is it possible for a knee jerk reflex ever be intentional? Or can one intend an action when drunk? The above examples show that it is difficult to identify a mental act called intention.

Taking into the account all the difficulties that we are facing when defining ethics, as well as problems encountered judging societal behaviour, it is almost impossible to defend the argument that our behaviour is ethical. Even if it is the case, it differs from person to person and can never be generalised to such an extend considering community as a whole. So far, we consider behaviour being ethical as one that is proper to the norms of our society, but no community is perfect and therefore there are exceptions within the ideology of ethics as well.

By means of putting up sanctions – social forms of approval and disapproval for role performances – the society eliminates the individuals that are not fit to live within a society. An everyday example would be imprisonment of persons who violated the laws of their society. Another question that comes up is related to the amount of control that society has over the individuals. How much c