Religion and Morality

Religion and Morality Ai) Morality as dependant on religion The idea of whether morality and religion are linked or not was first looked upon by Plato, where in his Euthyphro Dilemma he asks, 'Is what is pious loved by the Gods because it is pious, or is something pious because it is loved?' In other words he is questioning whether things are good because God commands them to be, or does God command them because they are good? I will first examine the view followed by theists today, that things are good because God loves them and that religion and morality are linked. There are a number of ways which you can establish a possible link between religion and morality, the first being heteronomously. Heteronomy is the view that morality depends on religious belief, or things derived from religion. The rules in heteronomous societies are from religious authority so will obviously be linked to religion, however a non-religious person is still capable of being heteronomous as they live and abide by the culture's laws therefore adopting a morality based on religion. To a certain extent it is hard to deny aspects of heteronomy, since words like 'good' and 'evil' are shaped by religion. It would be hard to present an ethical theory free from these terms. A theonomous link can also be made, where morality and religion depend on one source (for example, in Western cultures God) who is

  • Word count: 1870
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Situation Ethics

Situation Ethics Situation ethics is not dissimilar from utilitarianism, in that it is a way a deciding upon the correct action that is to be taken in a given situation. It does however take an individualistic approach, with the emphasis being upon each person, rather than looking after the majority, as is the case in utilitarianism. It is a Christian principle, and so would not apply to those outside of Christianity. It revolves around what the most loving thing to do is. Joseph Fletcher, an American professor of ethics used his beliefs and concerns to come up with what he believed was a fair way of deciding what was the right action to take in a situation. He didn't like the way in which so many ethical theories, such as utilitarianism were based upon and around a basic set of rules, a legalistic approach. He believed that it was too rigid, and did not allow for exceptions. He also firmly disapproved of any antinomian, because it "Rejects the idea that there are any authoritative laws, rules or regulations that you ought to obey in a decision-making situation."1 Instead he used love as a general rule in decision making; not "storge", to love a country or place; not "philia", to love a family member or friend; and not "eros", to make love and to lust for someone; but instead "agape", self-giving love, as is demonstrated by Jesus dying upon the cross. To Fletcher, "agape"

  • Word count: 2176
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Situation Ethics

i) Identify the distinctive characteristics of situation ethics ii) Outline the main weaknesses of situation ethics and assess how far they lead to a rejection of the theory i) Situation ethics can be summarised as a guide to show the most agape love in a particular situation. Joseph Fletcher was an Anglican Theologian and as he did, we must ask ourselves, how are we meant to go about life? If we look at Matthew 22:35, Jesus says, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself". So this gives us what Jesus wanted us to do, but is this not an outdated proposition? We can draw on Archbishop William Temple to modernise this quote, "There is only one ultimate and invariable duty and its formula is 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself'" Temple went on to add, "How to do this is another question" This is where Joseph Fletcher came to try and forge a link between Jesus' message and more modern scholars to teach us how to act. Fletcher began his book1 with a story from one of his friends who was talking to a cab driver in America near the time of the presidential elections. The cab driver said " I, my father and grandfather before him and their fathers have always been straight ticket Republicans" Fletcher's friends replied saying "I take it that you will vote republican as well?" The Cab driver responded with something that stuck with Fletcher's. He said, "No, there are

  • Word count: 1254
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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"People should always do their duty". Explain how Kant understood this concept.

"People should always do their duty". Explain how Kant understood this concept. Immanuel Kant was an eighteenth century German philosopher, who lived all of his life in the town of Konigsberg, East Prussia. Kant belied that the only way we can make selfless, rational moral decisions is by acting out of a sense of duty. Kant was troubled by the apparent inconsistency between the findings if the physical sciences in his day, and that of the accepted moral and religious attitudes and doctrines of his contempories. What particularly concerned Kant was the fact that everything that occurred in the natural sciences could be explained by the use of strict laws, whereas human beings appeared to behave in a relatively chaotic and unpredictable manor when faced with moral decisions? Kant believed this to be a contradiction that had to be resolved, and subsequently started work on a deontological, universal moral theory defined by him as "the categorical imperative", something that he believed should underpin all moral decision-making. Kant starts his argument by making a distinction between a posteriori statements and a priori statements. Kant held that an a posteriori statement is one that is based on experience of the material world, whereas an a priori statement requires no such knowledge; it is known independent of the phenomenal world. Kant then continues to make a further

  • Word count: 707
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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natural law

Discuss the approach of Natural Law to morality According to Jenkins, "The natural law theory begins with theories about the nature and purpose of the world and moves on to ask about the purpose of every action or object. The right thing to do is that which fulfils the natural purpose." Natural law was developed by Thomas Aquinas, in which he believed that there is such a thing as natural moral law. Natural law ethics depends on the belief that the world was designed by a creator, God. It teaches everything God made has a purpose, including every aspect of human life, and everything should work towards the purpose assigned to it. If we fulfil this purpose we do 'good', for example it is good to preserve life ("Do not kill"). If we frustrate the purpose for which something has been created then it is morally 'wrong', to destroy life is against the will of good. In addition, human sexuality was designed for the reproduction of the species. Any action which helps towards the fulfilment of this purpose is good; anything which hinders this fulfilment is bad. Aquinas believed there were four primary precepts, "God's aims for humans", which we are to follow to live according to natural law. These are to reproduce, learn and develop potential, live harmoniously in society and worship god. These precepts are moral absolutes and under no circumstances can be broken. Natural law is

  • Word count: 1287
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Ethics in Business

Ethics in Business Ethics and Human Resources Ethics commonly refer to the rules or principles that define right and wrong conduct. In the United States, many believe we are currently suffering from an ethics crisis (Ricklets, Robbins & Coulter, 1996). Behaviors that were once thought unacceptable -- lying, cheating, misrepresenting, and covering up mistakes -- have become in many people's eyes acceptable or necessary practices. Managers profit from illegal use of insider stock information and members of Congress write hundreds of bad checks. Even college students seem to have become caught up in the wave where studies show significant increases in cheating on tests (Robbins et al.). Concern over this perceived decline in ethical standards is being addressed by organizations, and companies are relying on Human Resource (HR) to build an ethical culture. Human Resource departments are creating codes of ethics, introducing ethics training programs and hiring ethics officers. Why is ethics important to Human Resources? When employees in organizations make decisions to act unethically, they affect not only the company itself, but also its shareholders, employees and customers. Employees make a myriad of choices every day in businesses -- if unethical, they can damage a company's productivity, profits and reputation. Unethical decisions can come in many forms: the employee who

  • Word count: 1981
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Utilitarianism. Identify the main problems of Utilitarianism. To what extent do these make Utilitarianism unacceptable?

)What are the advantages of Utilitarianism? Jeremy Bentham, born 1748 was 'an extremely shy and sensitive person, who always felt insecure in the company of strangers.'1 In matters of religion, he was an atheist and he opposed to both Monarchy inherited upper class. He was interested with the social conditions of his day. His father wanted him to become a lawyer, however he changed his course halfway through his studies saying he was 'going to set out to reform it into the perfect system.' The idea he based this aim on was the 'Principle of Utility.' He defined this is the action that is right or creates the greatest amount of pleasure for the greatest amount of people. Happiness or pleasure to Bentham is maximum pleasure and minimum pain or suffering. He said that whatever increased or led to pleasure is morally good and whatever led to pain or the decrease of pleasure is morally bad. Bentham used something called the Hedonic Calculus to measure the amount of pleasure and pain in an action. This concerned intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent. However, it is impossible to calculate the pleasure or pain an action brings Bentham's use of the Hedonic Calculus was no longer used. Bentham failed to realise that his theory is only the basis of Utilitarianism and that his idea has many faults, for example, he did not make any distinctions

  • Word count: 1830
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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The Teleological Argument

The Teleological Argument The word 'teleological' comes from the Greek word 'telos' which means 'end' or 'purpose'. The teleological argument is also known as the design argument, which is an a posteriori argument because it is an argument based on external evidence. The argument makes the basic assumptions that there is order, purpose and regularity in the universe and that all things function to fulfil a specific purpose. The argument further states that the complexity of the universe shows evidence of design and such design implies a designer, and therefore the designer of the universe is God. There are two aspects of the teleological argument and they are design qua regularity and design qua purpose. Design Qua Regularity looks at design in terms of order and regularity in the universe. Those who support this argument think that the order and regularity in the universe is the evidence, which shows that there is a designer at work. One of supporters of this aspect of the argument was St Thomas Aquinas. He stated that everything works to some purpose or other and lifeless objects that have no rational powers must be directed to this purpose by some external power. For example, an arrow, which is directed by the archer. Aquinas then concluded, that therefore some intelligent beings exists by whom all natural things are directed to their purpose and this being Aquinas

  • Word count: 942
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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What is Abortion?

Abortion Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of independent life. Abortions must be conducted before the end off six months, or the fetus will leave the womb and it would be considered a premature birth. There are two types of abortions. One is spontaneous and the other is induced. If the fetus ways less than 18oz or is less than 20 weeks into the pregnancy, it is usually considered an abortion. Spontaneous abortions are known by another name, miscarriages. These usually occur during the first three months of pregnancy. It is estimated that 25% of all pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion. The second form of abortion is induced abortion. This is the deliberate termination of the fetus. There are four main types of induced abortions. The first takes place up to 12 weeks. It is called vacuum aspiration. This is where a tube attached to a vacuum is inserted into the uterus and sucks out the embryo and all other material. The second type takes place after the 15th week and is called saline infusion. Here, the doctors replace a little fluid with a salt solution. This causes the uterus to contract. The fetus is then expelled. The third type is a hysterotomy. This is a similar procedure to a cesarean section. The only difference is, in this operation, is that the cut is smaller and lower. The fourth type is available in the first fifty

  • Word count: 734
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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What is meant by meta-ethics?

January 2002 Foundation a) What is meant by meta-ethics Ethics is the study of moral standards and conduct. For this reason, the study of ethics is also often called "moral philosophy," meaning "What is good?" "What is bad" etc. However, Meta-ethics is the study of this moral language and of what different people mean when they use ethical terminology. There are many accepted schools of thought that give definitions of ethical language. Meta-ethics is the study of how these theories account for moral language. Take, for example, Ethical Naturalism; this theory takes it origins from the teachings of Aristotle. Aristotle believed that everything in the universe has a purpose, which he called its 'final cause,' for which it has been designed. In fulfilling this purpose things can achieve 'goodness.' From this Ethical naturalists believe that 'good' can be explained in terms of features of the natural world. However, ethical non-naturalists believe that you cannot determine goodness in terms of natural phenomena. They believe that goodness is simply a term we use to describe something, not something which can be discovered within the nature of something. To ethical non-naturalists, ethical statements can be reduced to non-ethical ones, without denying that they are meaningful. G.E Moore accused ethical naturalists as committing what he called the 'naturalistic fallacy;'

  • Word count: 932
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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