Analysis Of Iris Murdoch 's ' Morality And Religion

· A personal experience to explain the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts as they relate to one of the three theories

Philosophers have studied and analyzed divergent implications and answers to ethical problems and the morality construction in which is the correct way of going about life upon many years. Philosophers have begun to narrow down the cases that provide the best support to answer ethical questions which we encounter. That being, divine command theory, utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics all provide adequate insight to everyday morality. There are flaws and strengths to each and every one of these concepts. However, divine command theory proves to provide the most requisite intellect with minute disfigurement. Divine command theory offers a chance at a purposeful reason to undertake morality with the right

These individuals are known to be experts of morality. The chapter proposes two reasons as to why these individuals are called upon so frequently. One, for those who believe and have some sort of religious back round, and second, for those who believe in what is called a “scientific view” of the world. This chapter presents the idea that there is some popular belief that religion and morality go hand in hand and that in order to understand morality, you must understand religion. It is explained that when we view morality from a religious perspective, we give meaning to morality in a way that a “good man” made this world that we currently live in and that we are his children. While the book proposes the question that people who believe in God, or a higher power, base their values on what those religions state is right or wrong, whereas for an atheist the question still remains; how do these individuals weigh their moral compass and place their values?

pg. 733, para 1: Murdoch’s purpose is to question the relationship of morality to religion, and

Morals are set standards of right and wrong for society as a whole. One ’s self image of morals are what the individual thinks is right and wrong according to what he or she learns; however, this “Internal compass” can be influenced because society controls most of what they learn. One’s self image of morals allows an individual to provide compelling arguments, provides emotional stability and allows for an individual to have predetermined views of right and wrong; on account of the fact that said individuals choose to follow the revolutionary figures who provide a strong base for the creation of one’s self image of morals. In most cases, religion plays a major role in the creation of this aspect of identity; made evident in Martin Luther

Utilitarianism, deontological, and virtue theory ethics are three normative approaches to ethics. This paper will go over the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological principles. It will include information of the variations in how each concept details ethics, morality, and it will also discuss a personal experience to describe the correlation between virtue, values, and moral perceptions as they relate to one of the three theories.

Moral and ethics defines the nature of our society and culture today. They are both complimentary in nature but different in some ways. Moral determines person’s character when an individual interacts in social and personal relationship and Ethics are the philosophical study of morality or moral standards. Utilitarian theory, Virtue ethics, and Deontological are some of the examples of major ethical theories that covered in this essay. Collaboration on personal experiences added as well by explaining the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts.

Think about your personal definition of morality. Is it a set of independent morals or are they applicable to the community as a whole? Virtue refers to high moral standards. In the pre-revolutionary American colonies, the idea of virtue was central to the idea of the “quintessential American”. Benjamin Franklin and John Winthrop created their own set of virtues to live by. Both of the prominent colonists drew from their past experiences, religious beliefs, and their beliefs about the foundation of human nature. Because he took an individualistic approach motivated by divine reward, Benjamin Franklin changed Boston’s idea of virtue from the Puritanical, community based morals set by John Winthrop decades previously.

A few months ago, I received the opportunity to listen to the fourteenth Dalai Lama speak of a considerable amount of morals encoded into one’s conscious. Such lessons corresponded with Gregory Boyle’s experience and ethics illustrated in Tattoos on the Heart, despite the difference of beliefs. The Dalai Lama spoke of a world encompassed in peace, where all cultures and religions are connected by integrity and abundant compassion. This is often referred to as secular ethics, which can be defined as people following an ethical code, regardless of religion, in order to attain human happiness. Boyle’s stories of universal empathy shared a very similar lesson, and yet Catholicism and Scripture are mentioned periodically. Regardless of religion,

“Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

Virtue Ethics is neither deontological nor teleological, since it is concerned with neither duty nor consequences, but rather the state of the person acting. Aristotle believed that once you are good, good actions will necessarily follow, and this belief is at the centre of Virtue Ethics. Rather than defining good actions, Virtue Ethics looks at good people and the qualities that make them good. The non-normative theory, although very effective in determining the morality of individuals, is particularly flawed when applied to whole societies. This weakness is largely due to its imprecision and abstraction; however, before these weaknesses can be considered, it is necessary to give an account of the theory itself.

One of the reasons being that, apart from the western cultures, If considerations are made on the diversity thesis of other cultures, and their different moral requirements, could lead individuals into making moral decisions based on the intended outcome, or even experience and not by some unknown moral duty. To support this, Mangena’s PhD titled towards a hunhu/ubuntu dialogical moral theory, argues that normative theories centralise their main

To many individuals, morality and religion are two related but distinct ideas. To be specific, morality consists of principles set by societal norms concerning the distinction between right and wrong and good and bad behaviour among persons. Alternatively, religion involves the relationship between human beings and a transcendent reality or a superhuman controlling power, God. In many societies in the past and present, the idea of God is used to help reinforce moral codes as valuable and vital through rituals and methods of presenting the teachings of God. By many, religion is used to instil fear

An advantage of virtue ethics is that it brings in all the qualities of being human such as reason, responsibility and emotion to influence a person’s ethical consideration. This can be applied in situations where a person asks what sort of person he or she should be. However, our text book clarifies that “determining what the specific virtues are, and what the appropriate balance among those virtues should be, can be difficult” (Mosser, 2011).

Any beneficial conversations about morality that occur between those who practice religion and those who do not, or those with different religions, must incorporate a common set of ethical concepts and a shared procedure for resolving issues and making judgments, all of which ethics provides. It is also understood that in these conversations moral positions on the issues