DEFINITION AND CONCEPTS OF ETHICS,

RELIGION AND CULTURE

MODULE 2
 ETHICS
Ethics is said to be the science of morals or the study of determining right from wrong, the
good from the bad. T
he word “ethics” is connected intrinsically with questions of correct conduct within society.
Etymologically, “ethics” comes from the Greek “ethos” meaning “character” which indicates a
concern for virtuous people, reliable character, and proper conduct.
 “Morality” derives from “mores” or custom — the rules of conduct of a group or society. An
initial definition of ethics, then, is the analysis, evaluation, and promotion of correct conduct
and/or good character, according to the best available standards.
 RELIGION
 Religion is a set of organized beliefs, practices, and systems that most often relate to the
belief and worship of a controlling force, such as a personal god or another supernatural being.
While this is a basic definition, there are many different understandings of what religion is. Not
all religions are centered on a belief in a god, gods, or supernatural forces.
The famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud described religion as a form of wish fulfillment.
However, modern psychology recognizes that religion can play an important role in an
individual's life and experiences and can even improve health and well-being.
In fact, studies have shown that religion can help people develop healthy habits, regulate their
behaviors, and understand their emotions—all factors that can affect your health.
Often, 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.
 Of course, not all religions are the same, some are more liberal than others and some more
conservative, but in general, all religious traditions believe that their faith represents a path to
enlightenment and salvation.
 Culture
Culture on the other hand is a more complex matter.
Culture, from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate", generally refers to
patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and
importance.
Cultures can be "understood as systems of symbols and meanings that even their creators contest,
that lack fixed boundaries, that are constantly in flux, and that interact and compete with one
another."
Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs, and institutions of a population
that are passed down from generation to generation.
 Culture has been called "the way of life for an entire society."
As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, art. norms of behavior,
such as law and morality, and systems of belief.
 Culture and religion
The relationship between culture and religion is an old and still ongoing debate.
Ever since Aristotle used the term ethnos to identify the groups of people living outside of the Greek polis,
indicating them as primitive, people belonging to different cultures and religions could be labeled as “outsiders,
uncultured and irreligious”.
 During the Enlightenment period, Europeans took over this notion of Aristotle to label all non-Europeans as
“uncivilized”. The Enlightenment implication that all reality can be classified resulted in nations and people being
hierarchically categorized.
This classification was based on perceived natural mental, physical and spiritual abilities.
The result was according to MacKay (2000:98) that 'group identity was essentially defined in terms of race'.
Belonging to a particular religion implies belonging to a particular culture.
From this position follows a crude generalization that to belong to a particular culture implies belonging to a
particular religion.
It is clear that religion and culture cannot be separated.
 Differences are viewed from a value perspective.
Differences are now viewed either as good or bad.
The differences in relation to the own identity are perceived to be based on being different,
being 'bad'.
The ethical evaluation of the other increases in content and is perceived as a growing threat
requiring protection of the self, which is now polarized as being good as opposed to the other
which is now perceived as bad.
This illustrates that the other is necessary to maintain the identity of the self.
The other as evil is necessary to legitimize the self as good, pure, and correct.
The absence of the other is dysfunctional.
SIGNIFICANCE OF MORAL AND
SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE OF
LEARNERS
 It’s easy to think of moral education as a process of helping students to think through ethical
dilemmas about doing the right thing in the world.
In field-based research in several public and private non-sectarian and faith-based schools,
teachers work through dilemmas and case studies related to prejudice and principles of justice.
As much as moral education encompasses questions about behavior and ethical action, it
encompasses several other areas as well, including questions about dignity and civil rights,
questions about things unknown, and questions about universal existential concerns and
principles.
 Moral education can be a spiritual process and a part of a student’s spiritual formation if we
see spirituality as an expression of religious yearning and as an expression of an individual’s
deepest sense of self.
Even in public and non-sectarian private settings, where questions about religion often are
forbidden, teachers nevertheless have a unique opportunity to nurture a student’s spiritual
development through music and writing, and through other vehicles that lead students to
consider their place in the world.
As students cultivate the talents they wish to develop to express themselves, they undertake a
spiritual process in school and at home that may lead them to see themselves as spiritual beings
as adults at work and again at home.
In faith-based schools and in other settings that permit a full range of spiritual expression,
teachers are in a position to nurture a wide range of personal expression through the arts,
personal prayer, meaningful common gathering times, and academic work that touches on
soulful questions.
Spiritual development is not limited to traditional religious or academic expression. The arts
and athletics provide arenas for young people to stretch their personal boundaries, try out new
identities, and then come to terms with their own physical and personal limitations.
THE ROLE OF EDUCATION AND RELIGION IN
MAKING ONE’S DREAM POSSIBLE

 In able to discuss this lesson, the article below written by Martin Luther King, Sr. should
provide the proper context.
Writing in the campus newspaper, the Maroon Tiger, King argues that education has both a
utilitarian and moral function.
Citing the example of Gorgia’s former governor Eugene Talmadge, he asserts that reasoning
ability is not enough.
He insists that character and moral development are necessary to give the critical intellect
humane purposes.
King, Sr. later recalled that his son told him, “Talmadge has a Phi Beta Kappa key, can you
believe that? What did he use all that precious knowledge for? To accomplish what?”
"The Purpose of Education"