KEY TERMS FOR ETHICAL ANALYSIS

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KEY TERMS FORETHICAL ANALYSIS

• New Testament Ethics
• Summer 3, 2007
• Sheila E. McGinn, Ph.D.

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Religious Praxis

• Beliefs
• Symbolic expressions of faith experience
• Figurative language of metaphor, analogy
• Rituals
• Symbolic enactments of faith experience
• Aesthetic language of music, art, movement
• Lifestyle (morality/ethics)

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Morality

• A style of living based on right principles
• Standards of conduct
• How a person ought to feel, think, and behave
• Christian morality
• The behavioral routinization of faith-filled
  vision

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Mores

• Normally accepted patterns of behavior in a
  society/culture
• Social customs (even including such things as
  table manners)
• For R. Taylor, virtually indistinct from morality

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Morality ? Ethics

• Moral reflection is a primary-level activity
• Operates at the intersection of the person and
  the world
• Focuses on specific choices in concrete
  situations
• E.g., Joseph Cardinal Bernardins Seamless
  Garment

• Ethical reflection is a secondary-level activity
• Involves a reflective analysis of morality
• Raises critical questions about the principles
  enunciated in moral discourse (i.e., their
  meaning, validity, implications)
• E.g., Joseph Cardinal Bernardins Consistent
  Ethic of Human Life

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Moral Imperative

• What gives authority to a particular kind of
  moral action
• What creates a demand for a particular kind of
  moral action
• The basis for the particular actions resulting
  from a moral demand

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Ethics

• In popular contemporary use
• The systematic and conscious process of
  understanding, evaluating, and interpreting
  morality (Hall, et al., Introduction to
  Religion, 125)

• In religious terms
• A philosophical vision of the relational
  implications of the faith experience

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Ethical Reflection
OR

• Can focus on the question of what to do (i.e., an
  ethic of action)

• Can focus on the question of who to be/become
  (i.e., an ethic of virtue)

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Action Ethics

• Deontological ethic
• Divine command
• Natural law

• Teleological ethic
• Ethical egoism
• Utilitarianism

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Virtue Ethics

• Who should I be/become?
• E.g., Aristotles striving for excellence
• E.g., Thomas à Kempis Imitatio Christi

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Moral Demands in Action Ethics

• Action Ethics Involves Two Poles of Moral
  Demands
• External pole
• The wisdom of a tradition its fundamental
  beliefs stories
• Specific commands or precepts transmitted by the
  tradition1
• Mitzvoth (Commandments) of Judaism
• Ten Commandments and Beatitudes of Christianity
• The Precepts of the Church for Roman Catholics
• Internal pole
• Direct, unmediated religious experience2
• Note that this refers to the quality of the
  experience, not its expression
• E.g., ones experience of selflessness may lead
  one to behave with compassion toward others. The
  compassion flows from the experience, and in some
  ways is its expression, but it is not part of the
  religious experience itself
• ------
• 1 Cf. Varna, asrama, dharma system (caste,
  life-stage, duty) of Hinduism decorum of
  Confucianism Sharia of Islam.
• 2 Cf. Bodhi-dharma as the basis for all
  behavior in Buddhism the enlightenment
  experience as leading to the imperative of love
  for all beings.

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Moral Demands in Action Ethics

• Connection
• These two poles are not in opposition but rather
  in dialectical relationship to one another.
• Both are essential to moral decisions both are
  present in moral action.
• Cf. Paul's notion of conscience (e.g., 1 Cor 10),
  that one must have full conviction in order to be
  engaging in moral action
• Cf. Rabbinic Jewish conviction that intention
  (kavanah) is key to whether or not one is acting
  in accordance with Torah.

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Integrity in Virtue Ethics

• An Ethic of Virtue does not focus on moral
  demands
• Focuses on identity
• Who do you choose to be?
• What kind of person do you choose to become?

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Resources for Virtue Ethics

• Two sets of resources for responding to these
  questions
• The Action Ethics external pole for moral
  demands may still function in the sense of
  raising areas of concern for personal development
• The internal pole continues to function for a
  religious ethic of virtue, since religious
  experience shapes ones view of oneself and the
  world in which s/he lives

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Enacting an Ethic of Virtue

• Conscience is key
• How others evaluate you is insignificant in
  comparison to how you evaluate yourself
• Cf. Paul's law of the Spirit of life which is
  written on the heart (Rom 21229 Rom 8)
• Above all, to thine own self be true.

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• What is of ultimate value to you?
• How could someone else tell this about you?
• What are the key values that you derive from this
  Ultimate Value?
• How should one apply these values/ethics?
• What are the sources of your moral demands, i.e.,
  where do your oughts arise?
• What are your resources for ethical reflection?
• Scripture?
• Tradition?
• Community?
• Experience?