Term
| What are two qualities that distinguish moral action guides from other action guides? |
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Definition
1. Universal
2. Affects the core dignity of humans |
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Term
| What are the four primary sources of religious morality? |
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Definition
Scripture
Traditions
Reason
Experience |
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Term
| List the two types of suffering in the world according to the DL. |
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Definition
1. The avoidable forms which rise as a consequence of such phenomena as war, poverty, violence, crime, (and things like illiteracy and certain diseases)
2. The unavoidable forms which include problems of sickness, old age and death |
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Term
| List four things the Dalai Lama sees as wrong with western society. |
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Definition
1. Modern living leads to alienation and loneliness
2. Economic Development leads to competition and envy
3. Urbanization leads to disharmony
Relativism leads to chaos
-A new absolute has taken hold: science
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Term
| Dalai Lama's definition of Spirituality: |
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Definition
| Concerned with those qualities of the human spirit- such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, and a sense of harmony- which brings happiness to both self and others |
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Term
| Dalai Lama's definition of religion: |
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Definition
| Concerned with faith in the claims to salvation of one faith tradition or another, an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of metaphysical or supernatural reality, including an idea of heaven or nirvana; connected with these ideas are the ideas of dogma, ritual and prayer. |
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Term
| What is kun long? What role does it play in the DL's ethics? |
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Definition
| the Tibetan term for what is considered to be of the greatest significance in determining the ethical value of a given action. Literally kun means "thoroughly" or "from the depths". It is understood as that which drives or inspires our actions- both those we intend and those which are in a sense involuntary. It therefore denotes the individuals overall state of heart and mind. It can simply be put as "ones motivation." This means that the individuals overall state of heart and mind, or motivation, in the moment of action, is the key to determining ethical content. When the driving force of out actions is wholesome, our actions will tend automatically to contribute to others will being, thus we will automatically be ethical. |
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Term
What does the DL mean by dependent origination?
Describe its three levels. |
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Definition
Dependent Origination (ten del) is the Dalai Lama's definition of the nature of reality.
1. A principle of cause and effect: all things and events arise in dependence on a complex web of interrelated causes and conditions, suggests that no thing can be construed as capable of coming into, or remaining in, existence by itself.
2. The mutual dependence that exists between parts and whole: without parts, there can be no whole; without whole, the concept of parts makes no sense.
3. All phenomena can be understood to be dependently originated because they lack independent identity |
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Term
| What is the supreme emotion and what are its qualities? |
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Definition
Supreme Emotion: compassion- it connotes love, affection, kindness, gentleness, generosity of spirit and warm heartedness.
The more we develop compassion, the more genuinely ethical our conduct will be. We also find that when we act out of concern for others, the peace this creates in our own hearts brings peace to everyone we associate with. |
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Term
| What are afflictive emotions and how do we avoid them? |
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Definition
Known as nyong mong, "that which afflicts from within" afflictive emotions are those thoughts, emotions, and mental events which reflect a negative or uncompassionate state of mind and inevitably undermine our experience of inner peace. These thoughts lead to unethical actions, and prevent us from being happy and avoiding suffering.
Avoid: a) avoid situations and activities that normally give rise to them
b) avoid actual conditions that lead to these strong thoughts and emotions (you must cultivate positive and ethical emotions) |
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Term
| What are the consequences of afflictive emotions? |
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Definition
| Negative emotions undermine our health, destroy our capacity for discriminative awareness, deceive us (seem to offer satisfaction but do not provide it), lead to regret, causes anger and thus suffering, and when we indulge in negative thoughts, we become accustomed to them. |
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Term
| What is so pa? How is it cultivated? |
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Definition
So pa means "patience," literally it means "able to bear" or "able to withstand." It carries a notion of resolution and denotes a deliberate response to the strong negative thoughts and emotions that tend to arise when we encounter harm. So pa is what provides us with the strength to resist suffering and protects us from losing compassion even for those who would harm us. It enables us to refrain from physical reactions when we are provoked and to let go of our negative thoughts and emotions.
-So pa is cultivated by self discipline and practice. |
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Term
| Why does the DL reject partial loves? |
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Definition
He rejects it because it is an unreliable source of moral action and would lead to bad decisions.
It causes you to love the people you are around most often more than others. |
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Term
| What role does the DL think that religion plays in morality? |
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Definition
| The DL believes that while religion can play a role in morality, it does not have to. Thus he believes that one can be moral without being religious. However, he does believe that if one is religious they can achieve a higher form of morality than one who is not religious. It is an effective instrument in happiness. |
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Term
What sources does the Pope appeal to in his encyclicals?
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Definition
He appeals to the Bible (New Testament), Churches' Pastors, the Second Vatican Council
He appeals to traditions of writings from previous Popes and reason through natural law. |
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Term
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Definition
| Natural law is the law that God inscribed in the heart of people, it is the light of understanding infused in people by God, which allows people to understand what must be done and what must be avoided. The Pope believes that God gave this light to man at creation. |
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Term
| How is the moral life described in the encyclical Veritatis Splendor? |
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Definition
| The moral life is human response to God's gracious love and the following of ten commandments and Jesus. |
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Term
| How does the Pope interpret the role of the Commandments in Jesus' morality? |
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Definition
| The Pope says that Jesus shows that the commandments must not be understood as a minimum limit not to be gone beyond, but rather as a path involving a moral and spiritual journey towards perfection, at the heart of which is love. |
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Term
| What Bible story does the Pope use to make his point? |
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Definition
The Pope uses the story of the young rich man who asks Jesus, "Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?" This story comes from a chapter in Saint Matthew's Gospel, the Bible.
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Term
| What is the good for the Pope? |
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Definition
| The Pope believes that God is good. |
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Term
| What is the purpose of the Encyclical Veritatis Splendor? |
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Definition
Purpose is to remind people what the true doctrine of Catholicism is- truth throughout history.
To set forth the principles of a moral teaching based upon Sacred Scripture and the living Apostolic Tradition and to shed light on the presuppositions and consequences of the dissent which that teaching has met. (To get people back to their basic morals according to the Church)
**written in 1993 to answer the pressuring issue at that time of skepticism and relativism inside the Catholic church**
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Term
| Why do people need the Church for morality, acc., to the Pope? |
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Definition
| The Pope believes that following Christ is the essential and primordial foundation of Christian morality. |
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Term
| What does Jacobs mean by autonomous ethic? |
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Definition
| By autonomous ethic, Jacobs is saying that for the believer, religion provides life with an extra dimension. He is saying that religion has the power to transform the believer and that ethical concerns thus become past of one's relationship with God. |
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Term
| What does Jacobs think the Bible tells Jews about the relationship of religion and morality? |
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Definition
| Due to the fact that systematic philosophers did not write the Bible, it would be hard to look at the Bible for a direct relationship between religion and ethics. He states that there are many ethical scenarios within the Bible, but no where is there any consideration for the actual nature of ethics. However, he says that indirectly the Bible does show a clear relationship between the two. |
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Term
| How does Jacobs think that the Isaac/ Abraham story in the Hebrew Bible serves to affirm interconnection between religion and morality? |
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Definition
| Jacobs shows two different interpretations of the story. First he looks at Kierkegaard's interpretation, which says that God suspends ethics for this moment in the story. Kierkegaard says that although Abraham knew that what he was about to do was wrong, he went into it with "fear and trembling," ready to preform the act of murder. However Jacobs also looks at the view of Steinburg who says that ethics is never suspended for any circumstance, not even for God. Jacobs appears to agree with the view of Kierkegaard. |
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Term
| What role does religion play in Jewish eithics, acc., to Jacobs? |
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Definition
| Jacobs believes that "Man is to live both horizontally and vertically, open to earthly needs to responding to them as any other ethical man would do, but with his religious beliefs to add to the scene of infinite glories of heaven." He believes thats humans are able to look at good separate from God's commands. |
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Term
| Preston's two basic issues in Xian ethics: |
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Definition
1. right motive- peoples internal formation
2. right action- what we decide to do in specific situations |
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Term
| What is radica about Jesus' ethic, acc., to Preston? |
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Definition
| Preston says that one distinctive feature of Jesus' ethical teaching is the way he radicalizes common morality. He says that there are to be no limit to the forgiveness for injuries due to the fact that it corresponds to God's forgiveness of us. Also he says that love of enemies is enjoined because God loves his enemies, and there is no restriction on neighbor love. He says that anxiety is a sign of lack of trust in God, and that bad people were not nearly as bad as the good people thought they were. Preston says that Jesus was a man of trust. Also, he warns against loving only those who love you. |
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Term
| How does Preston respond to accusation that Xian ethics is too focused on rewards? |
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Definition
| In response, Preston says that "donations are bequests have often been made with the motive of securing God's favor now and after death, and not as a joyful response to a graciousness of God already known." |
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Term
| What is agape? How is it different from eros and philia? |
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Definition
eros- a yearning for satisfaction at any level up to the heights of beauty, truth and goodness
philia- friendship
agape- neighbor |
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Term
| What are the four criticisms leveled against Xian ethics, acc., to Preston? |
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Definition
a. Christian ethics is intolerant and breeds intolerance
b. Christian ethics is immoral because it works on a system of rewards (heaven) for good behavior and threats (hell) for bad; and not on doing what is right simply because it is right and for no other reason
c. Instead of leading to self-fulfillment Christian ethics is repressive. Think it leads to defensive and restrictive behavior and to a static social conformism.
d. Christian ethics keeps people at an immature level, because it leads to stock moral value reactions regardless of circumstances. (Prevents people from learning from experience) |
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Term
| Two foundational sources of Islamic Ethics: |
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Definition
1. Scriptures: embodying the message revealed by God to the profit Muhammad
2. The Sunnah: contains stories and actions by Prophets, regarded as the historical projection |
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Term
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Definition
Islamic Law
Actual living tradition; interpretation of morals, "the way" |
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Term
| Define the arabic word Taqwa: |
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Definition
| Human quality that encompasses the concept of the ideal ethical value in the Quran. On one hand it represents the moral grounding that underlies human action, while on the other, it signifies the ethical conscience which makes human beings aware of their responsibilities to God and society. |
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Term
| How does Islam balance material and spiritual concerns? |
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Definition
| The Quran affirms the dual dimension of human and social life- material and spiritual. There concerns are balanced because they are not seen in conflictual terms, nor is it assumed that spiritual goals should be predominate in a way that devalues material aspects of life. The Quran recognizes that these two aspects compliment each other and asserts that human conduct and aspirations have relevance as acts of faith within the wider human, social and cultural contexts. |
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Term
| Define the Jewish term halakhah: |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the difference between epistemological and moral truth? |
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Definition
-Epistemological truth: knowledge, the truth of something general.
Ability to know that truth exists
-Moral truth: has to do with the intention of the person. Behavior and intention. |
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Term
| How does Bok define a lie? |
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Definition
| Any intentionally deceptive message which is stated. She then redefines it as an intentionally deceptive message in the form of a statement. |
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Term
| What are three things that violence and deceit have in common? |
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Definition
1. they are both deliberate assault on humans
2. coercive and controlling towards people
3. Only justified when used for self defense |
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Term
| What is Bok's principle of veracity? |
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Definition
| You should only lie as a last resort. She says that in any situation where a lie is a possible choice, one must first seek truthful alternatives and only where a lie is the last resort can one even begin to consider whether or not it is morally justified. |
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Term
| How did St. Augustine define a lie? |
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Definition
| Having one thing in ones' heart and uttering another with the intention to deceive, thereby subverting the purpose of human speech as given by God. His definition leaves no room for justifiable falsehood. |
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Term
| Aquianas 3 types of lies: |
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Definition
1. Officious: helpful lies (can be forgiven)
2. Jocose lies: those told in just (can be forgiven)
3. Malicious lies: told to harm someone (unforgivable) |
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Term
| What is mental reservation? |
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Definition
| the idea that if you say something misleading to another and simply add a qualification to it in your own head so as to make it true, you cannot be responsible for the "misinterpretation" made by the listener. The concept of "mental reservation" came from Augustines definition of lying as having one thing in ones' heart and uttering another, but it left out the speakers intention to deceive as part of the definition. |
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Term
| Why did Kant think that lying is never justifiable? |
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Definition
| Kant believed that the duty of truthfulness is an unconditional duty which holds in all circumstances. He believed that a lie, even though it does not wrong a certain individual, always harms mankind as a whole because it vitiates the source of law. He said that it harms the liar himself by destroying his human dignity and making him more worthless even than a mere thing. |
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Term
| What is prima facie principle? |
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Definition
It is a principle that can be overridden with very few exceptional cases and only when certain circumstances are present. It is not an absolute stance but has only a small amount of times when things are considered exceptions.
Seek out moral alternatives- lie is a last resort. |
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Term
| What does Bok think we can learn about lying from the perspective of the liar? |
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Definition
| Bok believes that we can learn the reasons behind lying from looking at the perspective of the liar. The free- rider status- which allows them to believe that they have the ability to lie to others without others having to lie to them. Some liars believe that such a status excuses them from the harm of lying. On the other hand, sometimes liars lie due to the fact that other people lie. |
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Term
| Why does Bok find absolute prohibitions against lying inadequate? |
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Definition
| Bok believes that everyone who takes an absolute position against lying always finds away around it, whether is be by using only white lies, those lies considered forgivable or through the practice of mental reservation. |
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Term
| Why does Bok find consequentialist approaches to lying inadequate? |
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Definition
| Treats lies as something that is neutral. She feels that when someone decides to lie using this approach, they will think that they did something good because this will make them feel good about themselves and not guilty about lying. In Bok's view, if you have to lie, you should a least do so with a heavy heart because then you know that you did something wrong. |
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Term
| How does Bok define a white lie? |
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Definition
"a falsehood not meant to injure anyone, and of little moral import"
Bok does not approve of using white lies because she believes that one you tell one lie it's hard to not tell more (snowball effect). It's also hard to draw a line of what's acceptable and what's not. |
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Term
| What are placebos? 2 reasons Bok opposes them: |
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Definition
Placebos: any medical procedure (sugar pills, salt water injections) which have no affect on a patients condition but powerful psychological effects leading to relief from symptoms such as pain or depression.
1. ignoring possible harm
2. failing to see how gestures assumed to be trivial build in collectively undesirable practices. |
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Term
| What are the four principles that Bok thinks are usually invoked to justify lies? |
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Definition
1. avoiding harm (frequent)
2. producing benefits (frequent)
3. fairness
4. veracity |
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Term
| What are Bok's levels of justification? |
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Definition
1. internal justification to one's own conscious
2. asking friends, elders, or colleagues for advice, looking up to precedents, consulting with those who have knowledge in questions of religion or ethics (can only bring objectivity to moral choices)
3. Persons of all allegiances must be consulted, or at least not excluded (the more complex the decision, the more consultation necessary to judge it) |
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Term
| What does Bok mean by "test of publicity?" |
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Definition
| Test of publicity: asks which lies, if any, would survive the appeal for justification to reasonable persons. The test requires us to seek concrete and open performance of an exercise crucial to ethics: the Golden Rule. It is important to look at those affected by the choices we make and ask how we would react if the lie was actually being told to us. Then, one must create the excuses and the moral arguments that would be used to define the lie and ask how it would stand up under the public scrutiny of these reasonable persons. |
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