◈ METALANGUAGE ◈

Ethics – encompasses right conduct and good life

Virtue – positive traits of character
Revelation – through the written and oral law, directs people to an understanding of the nature
of human values, of how they ought to live and of what constitutes right conduct; such teachings
and examples are scattered amongst various verses and sources

◈ ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE ◈

Can we be Ethical without being Religious?

A longstanding debate has been whether ethics plays a role in religion. Most religions have an
ethical component. Ethics, which is a major branch of philosophy, encompasses right conduct
and good life. It is significantly broader than the common conception of analyzing right and
wrong. Ethics deals with ideas such as Right, Good and Duty and these concepts were
discussed in ancient Greece by Plato and Aristotle in the 3rd & 4th Century BCE.

A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply satisfying,
which is held by many philosophers to be more important than traditional moral codes. The
ancient Greeks called it eudaimonia or happiness. The ancient Greeks believed happiness was
brought about by living one’s life in accordance with virtue – positive traits of character. Virtue in
the highest sense, in an adult who has been brought up well, will not just involve good personal
habits such as courage and temperance, but also friendship and justice and intellectual virtue.
The essence of virtue is in the wholeness of the person brought about by integrity.

Concepts and Importance

The influential philosopher, Immanuel Kant defended the idea of God as a basic requirement of
ethics. "We ought to be virtuous and do our duty", he said. Kant believed virtue should be
rewarded by happiness, and it would be intolerable if it were not so. Since it's clear that virtue
often does go unrewarded in the present life, Kant argued that the soul must be immortal. Virtue
must receive its due recompense in a future life, and there must be a God guaranteeing that it is
so rewarded. The existence of God and the immortality of the soul were what Kant called the
postulates of practical reason - the assumptions without which, so he claimed, ethics and a
moral life would not be possible.

Revealed religions like Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam do prescribe some clear
and unambiguous rules to follow. If their scriptures were authored or dictated by God, then the
commands in them are God's own commands. They cannot be changed if human
circumstances change or ethical ideas progress.
If religion has a role in moral decision-making, then what should be that role? In America, for
many individuals, their religion is a centrally defining characteristic of who they are, such that
they would be nearly incapable of making ethical decisions independently of their religious
beliefs. 

Further, some of the most basic moral sentiments are directly connected to religious ideology. 
For example, most people agree that things like murder and adultery are always wrong,
regardless of circumstances.  Most major world religions echo these sentiments, and it can be
argued that the ancient codes of conduct these traditions embody are actually the original
source of our social intuitions.  At a minimum, people do seem to regard religion as a good
source of basic moral guidance, making it unwise to argue that there ought to be no connection
between religion and ethics.

The link between religion and morality is best illustrated by the Golden Rule.  Virtually all of the
world’s great religions contain in their religious texts some version of the Golden Rule: “Do unto
others as you would wish them do unto you”. In other words, people should treat others the way
we would want to be treated. This is the basic ethic that guides all religions. If people do so,
happiness will ensue (Mintz 2012).  

Some people, especially religious people, say that there can be no morality without religion.
They say that without God, ethics is impossible. In my religion, Judaism, a revealed religion,
ethics or morality is the attempt to arrive at a view of the nature of human values, of how we
ought to live and of what constitutes right conduct. In order to arrive at a view, it sets goals and
assesses actions by the extent to which they further these goals, e.g. if happiness is a goal then
the action which produces most happiness to all affected is the right one.
 
Revelation too, through the written and oral law, directs people to an understanding of the
nature of human values, of how they ought to live and of what constitutes right conduct; such
teachings and examples are scattered amongst various verses and sources.  Examples of such
moral teachings are:-
 
You shall do right and good (beyond the call of duty)
Love your neighbor
Discipline or training of character under the law
Piety beyond the law
The need to be respectful, earn a living; engage in learning and culture and so forth.
  
The role of philosophers is to accurately try to define and promote ethical concepts based upon
logic and reason.  A religious person on the other hand, follows his or her code of conduct
because he believes that it is proper behavior and reaction to the varying challenges and
circumstances which arise during the course of life. 
 
Steven Mintz (2012) ended with two quotes. The first is from Kant: “In law a man is guilty when
he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.”

The second one sums up, which Mintz believed, the moral challenges of the time. Archie Carroll
in Mintz's literature, a noted ethicist stated that religion and faith are being driven out of the
public square, the Judeo-Christian ethical foundations that have sustained the American country
since its beginning, are being lost and are being replaced with a humanistic amorality, a self-
centered, pragmatic indifference that will ensure that our moral compasses will fail to point us in
the right direction in the future.
 ◈ SELF HELP ◈
You can also refer to the source/s below to help you further understand the lesson.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Religion and Morality
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/religion-morality/

◈ LET’S CHECK ◈
Differentiate the following concepts:

Divine Command Theory Natural Law Theory

◈ LET’S ANALYZE ◈
Can a person's religious beliefs be relevant in justifying moral judgment? Qualify the answer.
Review your answer at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE9EFZhSqR0

◈ Q & A List ◈

Students’ Questions / Issues Professor’s Answers

◈ KEYWORD INDEX ◈
 Morality
 Religion
 Integrity
 Virtue
 Eudaimonia
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