"Ethics: The Common Good -- Torah, the Law of Christ, Taurut

A REFLECTION ON ETHICS AND MORALS (Atena Editora), 2022

Ethics is a factor that governs the behavior of good people and that contributes to the evolution of a society because it aims at the common good; This way, it brings benefits to societies in which people base their behavior on it. It induces a person to behave in a straight line that helps to overcome the influence of emotional factors, which interfere with decision-making and individual and group performance, it also prevents that person from practicing acts contrary to practices aimed at the common good in a society. Morality can be conceptualized as the set of principles, norms or rules of behavior considered correct by a whole society, at a given time, being the result of its historical-social evolution. Globalization is based on the integration of markets and the deepening of transactions due to the great ease of communications. Economic barriers were being deactivated and the interdependence of markets intensified between economic blocks and between companies from different countries. Currently, groups of globalists are acting strongly to destroy ethical and moral values ​​that are some of the most important pillars of societies in all countries.

Ethics comes from the Greek, ethos meaning culture, custom or values. The words morality and morals emerged from the Latin moralis meaning manners or customs. Ethics is the knowledge of the way to behave. Morals are principles of behavior – personal and public. Acting morally requires acting with justice at all times. Justice requires according each his or her due. Morals structure existence and keep us from slippery slopes. Without principles, we become unstable. The confusion in existence is a result of the paucity of ethical principles. For Muslims, morality is articulated by Islam. For unassisted human reason is unable to articulate sustainable principles of action. The trail of devastation wrought on ethics by Western philosophy, particularly by Nietzsche, appears vast. The past is strewn with crushed expressions of thought reminding us of a junkyard of rusting vehicles. For to be able to withstand assault, ethical principles require the support of revelation – properly articulated – in addition to reason. Present-day existence is distinguished by a drift from revelation. But positive or man-made laws are not enough to regulate existence. In Islam, ethics is drawn from the teaching of revelation. There is a relationship between morals and morale. The feelings we experience are the result of actions or habits. Immoral actions result in dispiritedness. Ethical actions raise our morale. All acts of worship by Muslims constitute ethical actions and all ethical actions are acts of worship. An improvement of habits results in an elevation of morale. People who become Muslims experience rising morale or a strengthening of the spirit. It is beneficial to adopt habits that keep morale high, and refrain from actions that depress it. For all practical purposes, this means that it is wise to remain faithful to revelation for Muslims, and that it would be wise for to turn to revelation those that did not do so already. To live well, it is necessary to be committed to sound principles and to apply them in daily life. Morals are reflected in actions. There are praiseworthy habits and reprehensible habits. A few are neither. Positive beliefs and acts reinforce the preservation and well-being of persons and communities. Bad habits have reverse effects. Praiseworthy habits should be pursued while reprehensible ones should be avoided. (7 pages)

Journal of Ecumenical Studies

Human beings are persons, that is, beings who can know endlessly, choose freely, and love. Hence, when we speak of ethics we are talking about the principles of behavior of free beings, of humans. We do not speak of our animal pets having ethics, or complain that trees do not follow their ethics-because only we humans have freedom; only we can choose whether or not to act in a certain way, and as a consequence are responsible. This is what we mean when we talk about ethics: The principles by which free beings, humans, choose to act one way or another. A clarifying word here about the use of the terms "ethics" and "morals": "Ethics" comes from the Greek term ethos and means "custom"; "morals comes from the Latin term moris and likewise means "custom." Some writers project separate meanings for the two terms. However, they are simply synonyms, and can be used interchangeability. Nevertheless, there is a tendency to use the term "morality" when speaking of sexual and private matters and the term "ethics" when speaking of business and public behavior. When we speak of knowing something we are talking about our cognitive faculties. Their purpose is to "unite" us with reality about us in a variety of ways. For example, through the cognitive faculty of sight, we are united with myriad objects via light waves, whereas we are united with certain other realities via sound waves, or through the sense of smell, taste, touch. We humans also have related appetitive faculties whereby we also desire and move to become "united" with various realities. For example, we want to be one with ice cream by eating, one with Mozart's music by listening to it, one with our friend by being physically near, writing, telephoning…. These are the fundamental ways that we encounter the world and ourselves. When we speak of ethics/morals, then, we intend to say that certain actions are good or its opposite, bad-or right or wrong. What precisely is meant by the term "good"?

New English review , 2017

There is an interplay between belief and behavior such that people act in the world on their beliefs, and as a result, the world, consisting of multiple factors and layers of environment, gives feedback in context. Understanding this interplay can help us understand the nature of morality as a subjective construct, and ethics as an objective concept, and ultimately lead to evaluating ideas, separating the good from the bad.

The article discusses how theory and practice in global ethics affect each other. First, the author explores how the study of ethics has changed in the era of globalization and ponders what the role of the field of study of global ethics is in this context. Second, she wants to show how the logical fallacies in widening study field of ethics produce false polarizations between facts and value judgements in social ethics made in various cultural contexts. She further elaborates how these false polarizations prevent constructive cross-cultural and transnational discussions on ethical guidelines and principles that are needed to produce joint action (plans) to deal with serious ethical issues globally and nationally. Finally, the paper argues that in order to find a way to solve our shared complex ethical problems in global context, we need to get back to basics by focusing on the method of ethics, that is, self-critical and logical analysis of sound argumentation and justification of our values and moral principles.

In this paper we discuss that ethical values change with society and time. Ethical values are societal customs which take the shape of values with the passage of time. Utilitarianism theory of ethics says that actions should be judged on the basis of their results. In this paper we also discuss that there is no absolute standard about conscience, right or wrong and conscience of one person is not applicable to another person. Decision of conscience is not an authority for another person and vice versa. All ethical theories are based on doing what is right or wrong for a good society. Two foundations of ethics are discussed in this paper: one is based upon religion and the other one without religion. Whether ethics is based on religion or not, its focus is on humanity and to do something good for society

Fundamental Concepts in Ethics Jollie N. Alson, JD, DEM, PhD The Role of Religion Ethics transcends religion, particularly when religion is defined as a fundamental belief in a Supreme Being commonly characterized as divine, powerful and manifested in various ways understandable in a socio-cultural context of a society. The latter explains why many experience contradictions in religious beliefs. We see religion’s Supreme Bring, like Bathala, God, Allah, Jehovah, El Shaddai, Elohim, Christ, among others, in many dimension of truth as we believe they manifest in a way understandable in our limited sense of perception. Ethics is a science and has dependence in the rational investigation of truth in contrast to religion which is a system of belief and practices inferred from faith and revelation. Religious beliefs as overt manifestations of doctrines of a religion may affect application and implications of ethical norms and principles but should not substantially alter them. Religion contributes to the teaching of Ethics and continually enriches it with moral insights, as it provides direction and motivation for our moral life. This implies existence of: a). Universal ethical principles, and b). Specific ethical principles. These two should complement each other. In case of contradiction, it is prudent to decide in favor of the universally accepted principles. Ethics should be a unifying factor of all religions and should fortify religious specific beliefs. It is true that one cannot dichotomize Ethical principles from religious doctrines and Ethical standards from Religious beliefs for in the realities of life they are intertwined and only trained mind and sensitive heart can differentiate. The fact remains: one should have an anchor on religion in order to appreciate the essence of ethical principles and practices.