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Ethics MATTERS ". . . dedicated to promoting the thoughtful discussion of difficult moral issues."
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Lawrence M. Hinman
University of San Diego

 



Religion and Ethics


MultiMedia Resources on Religion and Ethics

Lawrence M. Hinman

Huston Smith

Tu Weiming
   Professor of Chinese History and Philosophy, Harvard University;
   Director, Harvard-Yenching Institute

Arum Gandhi




Online Surveys


A Survey of Internet Resources on Religion and Ethics




Hugh LaFollette's "Ideas and Issues"

RealAudio

  • Interview with Robert Audi, Department of Philosophy, University of Nebraska. Religion in the State, March 29, 1998.
  • Interview with Jamal Elias, Religious Studies, Amherst College. Islam, February 28, 1999.
  • Interview with Michael Lerner, editor, Tikkun. Judaism, February, 21, 1999.
  • Interview with Barry Lynn, Executive Director, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. The Role of Religion in the Public Schools, November, 8, 1998. 
  • Interview with Gail Stenstad, Department of Philosophy, East Tennessee State University. Buddhism, March 7, 1999.



NPR's "Talk of the Nation"

"Belief and Reason" (14.4 | 28.8)  Host: Melinda Penkava.  Revolutions in science and industry, and wars on a massive scale this century led many in the West to question their faith. But despite continuing scientific advances and the persistence of man's inhumanity, recent polls indicate that belief in God is surprisingly prevalent—and that for most people, belief in God has more to do with reason than with faith.  October 4, 1999.

"Hell" (14.4 | 28.8)  Host:  Melinda Penkava.  Hell has many faces. There's the literal Hell of scripture, the literary Hell of Dante, and the goofy Hell of Far Side cartoons. The Catholic Church recently offered another version, declaring that Hell was not a place, but a state of being. Some speculate the Pope's recent statements are an attempt to modernize Hell's significance for a new millennium. Does Hell still hold any meaning for modern people, or is it an outdated concept? September 30, 1999.

"Confusious" (14.4 | 28.8)  Host:  Ray Suarez.  Confucius, who lived 500 years before Christ, is to Westerners the personification of Chinese thought. Since the enlightenment he has been revered in the West as one of the great moral teachers of the world. Some academics have recently argued that Confucianism is an 'invention' of Jesuit missionaries who entered China in the late l6th century. April 14, 1999.  

"Tibetan Buddhism "  Host:  Melinda Penkava.  Buddhism is now one of the fastest growing religions in the U.S. Tibetan Buddhism in particular has gained a foothold, with popular advocates ranging from Richard Gere to Steven Seagal. Younger Americans are attracted to the Buddhist emphasis on contemplative practice over dogma, and many doctors and hospice patients are turning to Tibetan teachings on the art of dying.August 4, 1998.

"Church and State "  Host:  Ray Suarez.  A provision in the 1996 welfare reform law requires states to fund churches that provide welfare services. This provision is called charitable choice and if you haven't heard of it, that's because not one state has implemented it -- yet. Critics fear it violates the separation of church and state and erodes first amendment freedoms. Advocates of charitable choice say it makes welfare reform more effective.  April 27, 1998.




A Bibliographical Survey of Religion and Ethics Hinman, Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory

Biliographical essays are drawn from Lawrence M. Hinman, Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory, 4th Edition [Wadsworth, 2008] © 2008

Navajo Ethics

For an introduction to Navajo ethics, see especially James Kale McNeley, Holy Wind in Navajo Philosophy (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1981); John R. Farella, The Main Stalk: A Synthesis of Navajo Philosophy (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1984); and Leland C. Wyman, Blessingway (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1970). For a classic and insightful introduction to Navajo culture, see Clyde Kluckhohn and Dorothea Leighton, The Navaho (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1946). There are several excellent essays on Navajo culture, language, worldviews, religion, and culture in the Handbook of North American Indians, edited by William C. Sturtevant (Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1983), Vol. 10: Southwest, edited by Alfonso Ortiz; unfortunately, none of the essays deals directly with morality or ethics. Gladys A. Reichard’s Navajo Religion: A Study of Symbolism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977) contains a helpful chapter on Navajo ethics. John Ladd’s The Structure of a Moral Code (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1957), which is a study of Navajo ethics, is one of the few studies of Native American ethics by an American philosopher; Richard Brandt’s Hopi Ethics: A Theoretical Analysis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954) is the only other such book-length work that I have been able to find. Much more recently, see Barbara E. Wall, "Navajo Conceptions of Justice in the Peacemaker Court," Journal of Social Philosophy, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Winter 2001), 532-5466. One of the principal sources for information about the Navajo is the manuscripts of Fr. Berard Haile, many of which are available at the superb Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Also, mention should be made of the mystery novels of Tony Hillerman, which have done much to bring an appreciation of Navajo culture to a wider audience; see especially The Blessing Way. For an eloquent statement of the plight of contemporary native Americans, see especially Peter Matthiessen, Indian Country (New York: Penguin Books, 1979), and his In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (New York: Penguin Books, 1992). Mourning Dove’s Coyote Stories (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990) is an excellent collection of stories about the coyote figure.

Islamic Ethics

On Islamic ethics, see John L. Esposito, Islam: The Straight Path, 3rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 19881998), and also Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s works, especially his Ideals and Realities of IslamHistory of Islamic Philosophy (London: Unwin Hyman, Ltd., 1985New York: Routledge, 2001). Cyril GlasséT’s The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam (New York: HarperCollins, 1991) is an excellent reference work. Azim Nanji’s "Islamic Ethics," A Companion to Ethics, edited by Peter Singer (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991), pp. 106-û20, discusses Islamic ethics specifically within the context of Western thought. Also see G. Hourani, Reason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985); Michael A. Cook, Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong in Islamic Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001); Majid Khadduri, The Islamic Conception of Justice (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984); I. Lapidus, "Knowledge, Virtue and Action: The Classical Muslim Conception of Adab and the Nature of Religious Fulfillment in Islam," Moral Conduct and Authority, edited by B. Metcalf (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984); and the essays in Ethics in Islam, edited by R. Houvannisian (Malibu, Calif.: Undena Publications, 1985). For a short survey of recent developments in Islam, see John L. Esposito, Islam and Politics, 3rd 4th ed. (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 19911998); Nazih Ayubi, Political Islam (New York: Routledge, 1991), and Emmanuel Sivan, Radical Islam, 2nd ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991); and Bernard Lewis, What Went Wrong: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001).. For Islamic resources on the Web, see the listings at Vademecum (http://re-xs.ucsm.ac.uk/vademecm/reres/islam/); this includes links to on-line translations of the Qur’an. For a comparison of just war and jihad, see John Kelsay and James Turner Johnson, eds., Just War and Jihad (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1991) and Hilmi Zawati, Is Jihad a Just War? War, Peace, and Human Rights Under Islamic and Public International Law (Studies in Religion and Society (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2002); Kahled Abou El Fadl, Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001) and John L. Esposito, Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002). On the issue of Islam and tolerance, see the exchange in the Boston Review of Books, beginning with Khaled Abou El Fadl’s "The Place of Tolerance in Islam," Boston Review, Vol. 26, No. 6 (December 2001/Janujary 2002) and the replies by Sohail H. Hashmi, Amina Wadud, and John L. Esposito, plus the rejoinder by El Fadl in Vol. 27, No. 1 (February-March 2002); these are available on-line at http://bostonreview.mit.edu/archives.html. For Islamic resources on the Web, see the listings at the Islamic Texts and Resources MetaPage ( http://wings.buffalo.edu/student-life/sa/muslim/isl/isl.html) this includes links to on-line translations of the Qur’an; also see Islamic Ethics.com (http://islamic-finance.net/islamic-ethics/ethindex.html), which emphasizes business ethics, and Islamset (http://www.islamset.com/introd.html), which also contains a section on Islamic bioethics.

Buddhist Ethics

There are numerous collections of texts from, and articles about, Buddhism. For an excellent introduction to Bujddhism, see Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History, and Practices (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990) Chinese religions (including Buddhism and Taoism) The first place to start for contemporary Buddhist ethics is His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Ethics for the New Millenium (New York: Putnam, 2001). Also see the works of Damien Keown, especially The Nature of Buddhist Ethics (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2001) and Contempoary Buddhist Ethics (Copenhagen: Curzon Press, 2001) and Peter Harvey’s An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). , see the links at Chinascape (http://harmony.wit.com/chinascape/china/culture/religion/index.html ); also see the excellent index of resources on Buddhism at Vademecum (http://re-xs.ucsm.ac.uk/vademecm/reres/buddhism/). For a good collection of basic texts, see The Buddhist Tradition in India, China, and Japan, edited by William Theodore de Bary (New York: Modern Library, 1969), and Buddhist Texts through the Ages, edited by Edward Conze, I. B. Horner, B. Snellgrive, and Arthur Waley (New York: Harper Colophon, 1964); also see Conze’s own presentation of Buddhism in his Buddhism: Its Essence and Development (New York: Harper Colophon, 1975), and Peter Harvey’s An Introduction to Buddhism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990). For a discussion of Buddhist ethics that relates it to the categories of Western philosophy, see Padmasiri de Silva, "Buddhist Ethics," A Companion to Ethics, edited by Peter Singer (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991), pp. 58û-68, and Ninian Smart, Worldviews: Crosscultural Explorations of Human Beliefs (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1983), especially chapter 6, "The Ethical Dimension," which contains an excellent discussion of comparative religious ethics. Arthur Danto’s Mysticism and Morality (New York: Basic Books, 1972) is a philosophically sensitive discussion of the ethical implications of Buddhism. Additional works on Buddhist ethics include G. Dharmasiri, Fundamentals of Buddhist Ethics (Singapore: The Buddhist Research Society, 1986); K. N. Jayatilleke, Ethics in Buddhist Perspective (Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, 1972); H. Saddhatissa, Buddhist Ethics (Boston: Wisdom Press, 1997); Buddhist Ethics and Modern Society: An International Symposium, edited by Charles Wei-hsun Fu and Sandra A. Wawrytko (New York: Greenwood Press, 1991); and Charles S. Prebish, Buddhist Ethics: A Cross-Cultural Approach (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1992). See Lenore Friedman, Meetings with Remarkable Women: Buddhist Teachers in America (Boston and London: Shambhala Publications, 1987), and Bhik?su?si Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Sisters in Solitude: Two Traditions of Buddhist Monastic Ethics for Women (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996), for the distinctive and often-neglected voice of women in Buddhism. There is now an excellent on-line journal, The Journal of Buddhist Ethics (http://jbe.gold.ac.uk/), which contains both articles and book reviews relevant to this chapter. On the notion of Karma, see especially Wendy Doniger O. Flaherty, ed., Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980) and Christopher Chapple, Karma and Creativity (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1986). For web resources on Buddhism, see Buddhist Studies WWW Virtual Library, BuddhaNet and DharmaNet.

Divine Command Theory of Ethics

Much of the contemporary discussion of the divine command theory of ethics stems from the contemporary defense of this theory by Robert Merrihew Adams; see his The Virtue of Faith and Other Essays in Philosophical Theology (New York: Oxford, 1993) and Finite and Infinite Goods: A Framework for Ethics (New York: Oxford, 2002); also see Paul Rooney, Divine Command Morality (Aldershot: Avebury Press, 1996), "A Modified Divine Command Theory of Ethical Wrongness," Religion and Morality: A Collection of Essays, edited by G. Outka and J. P. Reeder Jr. (New York: Doubleday, 1973), pp. 318û34, and his "Divine Command Metaethics Modified Again," Journal of Religious Ethics, Vol. 7, No. 1 (spring 1979), pp. 71û79. On this same topic, see the essays in J. Idziak, Divine Command Morality: Historical and Contemporary Readings (Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1980); John Chandler, "Is the Divine Command Theory Defensible?" Religious Studies, Vol. 20, pp. 443û-52, and his "Divine Command Theories and the Appeal to Love," American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 3 (July 1985), pp. 231û-39. Also see Philip Quinn, Divine Commands and Moral Requirements (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978). Many of the most influential articles on this topic are gathered in Divine Commands and Morality, edited by Paul Helm (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981); and R. G. Swinburne, "Duty and the Will of God," Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Vol. IV, No. 2 (December 1974). For an insightful discussion of whether God’s omnipotence entails the claim that God is able to sin, see Nelson Pike, "Omnipotence and God’s Ability to Sin," American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 3 (July 1969), pp. 208û-16. On the relationship of divine command theories to utilitarianism, see Edward Wierenga, "Utilitarianism and the Divine Command Theory," American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 4 (October 1984), pp. 311-û18. For a discussion of Jewish divine command theory, see Tikva Frymer-Kensky, "Toward a Liberal Theory of Halakha," Tikkun ( http://www.panix.com/userdirs/tikkun/halat.html).

Morality without Religion

On the question of whether it is possible to have morality without religion, see William K. Frankena, "Is Morality Logically Dependent on Religion?" Religion and Morality: A Collection of Essays, edited by Gene Outka and J. P. Reeder Jr. (New York: Doubleday, 1973); E. D. Klemke, "On the Alleged Inseparability of Religion and Morality," Religious Studies (1975); Kai Nielsen, Ethics without God (Pemberton Books, 1973); Alasdair MacIntyre and Paul Ricoeur, The Religious Significance of Atheism (New York: Columbia University Press, 1969); George Mavrodes, "Religion and the Queerness of Morality," Rationality, Religious Belief and Moral Commitment: New Essays in the Philosophy of Religion, edited by Robert Audi and W. Wainwright (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1986); Patrick Nowell-Smith, "Religion and Morality," Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Paul Edwards (New York: Macmillan, 1967), pp. 150û-58; Robert Young, "Theism and Morality," Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Vol. VII, No. 2 (1977), pp. 341û-51. For an argument that worshipping God is incompatible with human dignity and autonomy, see James Rachels, "God and Human Attitudes," Religious Studies, Vol. 7 (1971), pp. 325û-37, and the reply by Philip Quinn, "Religious Obedience and Moral Autonomy," Religious Studies, Vol. 11 (1975), pp. 265û-81.

The Marxist Critique of Relgion

On the Marxist critique of religion, see the excellent anthology of Marx’s own writings in Karl Marx, On Religion, edited by Saul Kussiel Padover (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974). Robert B. Tucker’s Religion and Myth in the Philosophy of Karl Marx (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972) offers an insightful discussion of Marx’s views on religion; the best discussion of religious alienation is still the untranslated work by Jean-Yves Calvez, La penséTe de Karl Marx (Paris: É+ditions du Seuil, 1956). Also see Bertell Ollman, Alienation: Marx’s View of Man in Capitalist Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976). Nietzsche’s critique of religion is found throughout his writings, but especially his Genealogy of Morals and Beyond Good and Evil, both available in paperback translations by Walter Kaufmann.

Religion, Narrative, and Character

On the relationship between religion, narrative, and character, see especially Stanley Hauerwas, Vision and Virtue: Essays in Christian Ethical Reflection (Notre Dame: Notre Dame University Press, 1981), and Richard J. Regan, "Virtue, Religion, and Civic Culture," Midwest Studies in Philosophy-Ethical Theory: Character and Virtue, Vol. XIII (1988), pp. 342û-51. On the emotive dimension of religious experience, see especially Gareth Matthews, "Ritual and the Religious Feelings," Explaining Emotions, edited by AmTlie O. Rorty (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980), pp. 339û-54.

Citations

The Navajo descriptions of the person who lacks faults come from McNeley, Holy Wind in Navajo Philosophy, p. 42. The practical ethical guidelines are found in Kluckhohn and Leighton, The Navaho, pp. 304û-07. The quote by Benjamin Barber is found in "Jihad vs. MacWorld," The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 269, No. 3 (March 1991), p. 53. The quote from Pope Urban II is taken from Urban II, "Speech at Council of Clermont, 1095," according to Fulcher of Chartres From Bongars, Gesta Dei per Francos, 1, pp. 382 f., trans in Oliver J. Thatcher, and Edgar Holmes McNeal, eds., A Source Book for Medieval History (New York: Scribners, 1905), 513-17; on-line at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-fulcher.html.




Discussion Questions

  1. The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) often said "if God is dead, everything is permitted." What does this mean? How does it affect divine command morality? Would you live your own life any differently if you concluded that God is dead?
  2. Many cultures, such as ancient Greek culture, are polytheistic, that is, they believe in many different gods. How would a polytheist interpret a divine command? What problems would the polytheistic divine command theorists encounter that their monotheistic counterparts do not have to confront? Is the (alleged) existence of more than one god an argument for moral relativity?
  3. In Genesis, Chapter 22, God orders Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Should Abraham (or any father) obey such a command? Why or why not? In your own experience, have you ever encountered a conflict between your religious beliefs and your moral convictions? If so, how did you resolve the conflict? What does your way of resolving that conflict say about your position on the autonomy of ethics?
  4. Does religion provide believers with consolations not available to the non-theist? For example, is there a difference between the ways in which theists and non-theists deal with injustices and the suffering of the innocent? Is there a difference between the ways in which they experience guilt and forgiveness? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective?
  5. In the Amish and Mennonite sections of Pennsylvania, you can often see black horse-drawn buggies on the highways. Not only do their religious beliefs dictate using horse-drawn buggies instead of cars powered by mechanical engines, but their religious convictions also prohibit the Amish and Mennonites from displaying images—including the image of the red reflective triangle that the state requires that they put on the rear of their carriages to lessen the danger of collision with cars. How do you think we should resolve conflicts such as these? What does your answer reveal about your more general beliefs about the relationship between religious beliefs and moral standards?
  6. The movie The Mission presents a subtle and complex portrait of the relationship between religion and ethics. Which characters in the movie advocate the divine command theory of ethics? Which oppose it? What reasons do they have in both cases? One of the principal issues in divine command theories of ethics is the question of how one determines what God’s will is. Different characters in the movie deal with this in different ways. Which characters claim to know what God’s will is? Which don’t? What is the position of the character played by Jeremy Irons?
  7. In the movie Gandhi, Gandhi at one point says, "I am a Moslem; I am a Hindu; I am a Christian; I am a Jew." What did he mean by that? In what sense, if any, was it true? In what sense, if any, do you feel that it is true about you?
  8. We have seen the way in which some philosophers have argued that religion is harmful to the moral life while others have claimed that it is necessary to it. What view of the relationship between religion and ethics do you find in the movie Gandhi? Do you agree with this view? Why or why not?