OUTLINE IN ETHICS

(BY: GROUP 4)

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that investigates questions such as "what is good

and what is bad?" "What action should an individual or organization take if a
client mistreats him/her/it? In practice, ethics is decision-making tools that try to
guide questions of human morality, by defining concepts such as good and bad,
right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime etc.

Religion and ethics are treated as the same thing, with various religions making
claims about their belief systems being the best way for people to live, actively
proselytizing and trying to convert unbelievers, trying to legislate public behaviors
based around isolated religious passages, etc.

Introduction:

Ethics involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts between

what is right and what is wrong.

Furthermore, (Singer 1993) emphasizes that, A central aspect of ethics is “the

good life”, the life worth living or life that is simply satisfying. Some ancient
Greeks called it as “Eudamonia” which also means “happiness”. They believed
that eudamonia was brought by living one’s life with virtue and good
characteristics.

Most Religions have an ethical component, often derived from purported

supernatural revelation or guidance.

Some assert that religion is necessary in order for us live ethically

While from other scholars, Religion as a unified system of beliefs and practices
relative to sacred things.

Blackburn stated here, that there are those who “would say that we can only
flourish under the umbrella of a strong social order, cemented by common
adherence to a particular religious tradition”
Ethics and Religion

Ethics and Religion are cornerstones of society

According to bible, It is the rock upon which the weight of the entire structure
rests. It is the cornerstone. Scripture describes Jesus as the "Chief Cornerstone"
of our faith. While dictionary states that, Religion is an important quality or feature
on which a particular thing depends or is based.
The importance of Ethics is becoming recognized in all aspects of everyday life.

A strong background in Ethics and Religion is important for many careers today

Ethics is universal decision-making tools that may be used by a person of any

religious persuasion, including atheist. While religion makes claims about
cosmology, social behavior, and the “proper” treatment of others.

As Burke suggests of the “Hortatory Negative” of the “ Thou Shalt Not’s” found in
many religious traditions that tell people how to behave by “moralizing”, ethics
includes no such moralizing.

There is a spectrum of views about how religion and ethics are related-from the
view that religion is the absolute bedrock of ethics to one that holds that ethics is
based on humanistic assumption justified mainly and sometimes only, by appeals
to reason.

Religion is based in some measure on the idea that God (or some deity) reveals
insights about life and its true meaning.

These insights are collected in texts (the Bible, Torah, the Koran etc.). Ethics, from
a strictly humanistic perspective, is based on the tenets of reason. Anything that
is not rationally verifiable cannot be considered justifiable. Aristotle said that
cultivating qualities he called them “virtues” like prudence, reason,
accommodation, compromise, moderation, wisdom, honesty, and truthfulness
among others, would enable us all to enter the discussion and conflict between
religion and ethics.

A central aspect of ethics is “the good life”, the life worth living or life that is simply
satisfying. The ancient Greeks called it eudaimonia or happiness. The ancient
Greeks believed happiness was brought about by living ones life in accordance
with virtue positive trait of character. The essence of virtue is in the wholeness of
the person brought about by integrity.
The influential Philosopher, Immanuel Kant Defended the idea of God as a basic
requirement of ethics. And also, we ought to be virtuous and do our duty, Kant
believe that virtue should be rewarded by happiness and it would be intolerable if
were not so. Since its clear that virtue often goes go unrewarded in the present
life. Kant Argue that soul is immortal and virtue must receive its due recompense
in a future life and there must be a God, guaranteeing that its is so rewarded.
Existence of God and the immortality of the soul were what Kant called the
Postulates of Practical reason. So, he claimed ethics and moral life would not be
possible.

If religion has a role in moral decisions-making, then what should be that role? For
me and for many individuals, religions are defining characteristics of who they are
as an individual. Such that they would be nearly incapable of making ethical
decisions independently of their religious beliefs.

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 institutions. We do
seem to regard the religions as a good source of basic moral guidance. Making it
unwise to argue that there ought to be no connection between religion and
ethics.

What is Golden Rule that link between religion and morality?

Virtually all of the world’s great religions contain in their religious text some
version of the Golden Rule:

“Do unto others as you would wish them do unto you” in others worlds, we should
treat others the way we would want to be treated. This is the basics ethics that
guides all religions. if we do so happiness will ensue.

The Inseparableness of Ethics and religion

There is an old philosophical view that if there’s no God. There is no Morality. We

are children many of us learn about ethics in the context of religious instructions.
And as an adult the ethical or moral Judgement of many of us are often Shaped
by our religious background. Sometimes religion is even given as the justification
for our ethical ideas.
In the parlance of contemporary philosophy, Ethical properties have a certain
special or queer status. That is, we cannot see wrongness in killing in the way
that we see the whiteness of a stone kind support there can be for ethical beliefs
must come from somewhere else from some transcendent source. Effect if killing
is wrong, it can only be because God of some divine orders regards it as wrong
(Mackie, 1977)

There is also the view attributed In Dostoevsky, character Ivan Karamazov

according to which if God does not exist, everything is permitted. One finds pretty
much this same Karamazovian position in the words of the Senator and
Democratic candidate in 2000 for US President Joseph Lieberman who denied
that “morality can be maintained without religion”.

The 1900 century german philosopher friedrich nietzsche who is less well-
known gives an interesting twist to the matter in agreement with the
karamazovian position need to take also thought that morality which as he
understood it is a mode of valuation rooted in the contrast between good and evil
is intimately bound to the belief in the transcendental realm. (Weberman 2013)
Religion and Ethics in Decision Making

When making ethical decisions, no one stands outside a social and cultural world.
Each of us judges human reality according to a set of adopted and adapted moral
criteria based on such factors as nationality, education, social class, professional
occupation, and, of course, religious affiliation. Being with God is to inhabit a
universe of meaning, as well as a religious community extended in bole and
space. To be to a faith tradition is to participate actively in a whole world of
thought and action, of motive and image, of attraction and intuition. Religion is a
multicultural society bound together by a professed faith (the creed); a common
religious practices and an allegiance to Jesus Christ, whom we acknowledge as
Lord. This fundamental identity determines, to a great extent, an approach to
ethics.

The Art of Choosing Well. Ethics has to do with our choices and actions, which
form our character even as they express it. Ethics depends on that human habit
of reflection that takes into account our interests and values— as well as those of
others— in the process of deciding and doing. Since it cads on perceptive
thought, analytical and intuitive reasoning, and prudential judgment, ethics is
perhaps more art than science— the art of choosing well and wisely for the good
of self and others. Fortunately, we do not need to re-create the ethical wheel to
every new situation. We systematize our ethical insights and share them with
 others, for we are inherently conservative creatures. A careful weighing of the
practical outcomes of people's choices leads to the elucidation of moral norms.
These are established and enforced by members of a social order because of
then, perceived truth and applicability for the common good. The handing on of
such moral law can be compared to a family's history.

Much changes with each generation, but there is also a lot that stays the same not
only hair and eye color or a family name, but also certain character qualities and
moral habits that combine to define the pattern of our lives.

On an ethical level, the desire for happiness, community, love, and general
integrity of thought, word, and deed remains most true for the human family.

How do we position ourselves in order to make sound judgments?

The natural law tradition of Scholastic theology offers a way to put these values in
conversation with new problems and challenges, among other things.

Every day, millions upon millions of people interact physically and mentally with
one another in society. The choices and decisions we make on a daily basis,
especially the small ones, are all subconscious to some extent.

Humans are free will but the questions are how much religion actually affects our
decisions and choice making skills?

Religion and choices both play important roles in our daily lives; without some
form of spirituality, whether it is a lack of it or the belief in a specific god and
religion, humanity would perish.

To make a decision on a choice you need some type of foundation but what could
that be?

Mostly in more black and white situations we use rational thinking

Religions, spirituality, and the search for a higher power are all very personal and
sensitive topics.

While everyone is different, it is fair to say that religion has an impact on our
choices.
References:

http://prasko17.blogspot.com/2015/03/similarities -differences-of-ethics-law.html

https://www.ethicssage.com/2012/09/the -role-of-ethics-in-religion.html

https://www.differencebetween.com/difference -between-ethics-and-vs-religion/