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One
of the definitions of the word “ethics” is the study and evaluation of human
conduct. It is regarded as normative because it relates to certain basic ideals.
Ethics can also be described as a field of study that focuses on the knowledge
of good and evil, and the basis on which aspects of behavior should be
evaluated.
Ethics
and Life
Since
the start of creation man has never ceased to contemplate the moral question of
good and evil.
Nowadays
technological advancement is peoples’ main concern, but progress in the field
of ethics and morals is rarely considered. The relevance of morals to our daily
life is so great that a lot of our present social, economic, and political
problems are the result of our ethical problem.
This
ethical problem leads to the breaking down of the family institution, subjecting
it to problems such as, cohabitation (couples living together without legal or
religious sanctions) and generation gaps.
In
the name of “modernism,” some people have excluded morals from their
dealings. They claim that honesty is meaningless unless there is benefit derived
from it. Others stopped worshiping God in the name of “liberation,” and
instead they worship false gods like worshipping wealth, power or expediency.
This
disregard of the ethical problem led to many wars which caused a great deal of
human suffering. The philosopher Jeffery Burton Russell commented on this
problem, pointing out that it is unfair to say that man has descended to the
level of beasts, as beasts only kill for food while people kill each other
brutally and senselessly, which gives a clear indication of our dire need for
ethics and morals in life.
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The
more civilized we become the more incapable we are of maintaining
civilization. |
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In
Sayyid Abul A`la Maududi’s book The Ethical View Point of Islam, he
quoted some western scholars on the ethical problem. For example, Lewis Mumford
in his book The Conduct of Life, talks about the invisible breakdown of
civilization, the erosion of values, the dissipation of human purpose, the
demurral of distinction between right and wrong, and the diversion to subhuman
levels of conduct.
Harold Titus in his book Living Issues in Philosophy
says that man has devised several plans and organizations for gaining greater
security and comfort, yet he suffers from mental and emotional security as to
the meaning of life, the nature of the world in which he lives, and the kind of
life that he wants to live with his fellow men.
Another quotation given by F.S
Northrop in his book The Meeting of East and West says that it seems that
the more civilized we become, the more incapable of maintaining civilization.
The
Ultimate Good
Books
of philosophy have concentrated on four main ethical questions. The first, what
is the supreme good that a person really aspires to? One answer considers
happiness the ultimate good that a person aspires to. Anything that makes a
person happy is good and anything that causes disappointment is evil.
Another
answer is that the attainment of perfection is the ultimate good. This means
that a person should do his best to achieve perfection, and anything that helps
achieve it is good and anything preventing its achievement is evil.
Philosopher
Emmanuel Kant’s answer to this question is that the feeling of duty makes a
person moral, which is considered the ultimate good.
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Is
this happiness sensual, spiritual, or mental? |
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All
these answers, which are based in secular morality, are established on a moral
system that is independent of God and religious faiths. That is why these
answers are unclear in their definition. For example, if people aspire to
happiness, is this happiness sensual, spiritual, or mental? Also, is it the
individual or group happiness that should be fulfilled? And if the ultimate good
is perfection then, what are the standards of measuring perfection? And, is it
the individual or group perfection that people strive at? The answer that claims
that the ultimate good is the feeling of duty is ambiguous about who is
responsible for defining what duty is.
Knowledge
of Good and Evil
The
second question in books of philosophy is
what is the ultimate standard of judging whether a certain
behavior is good or evil? Again, the answer of secular morality is very
contradictory. This
deficiency in approach is due to the various explanations given for one
question.
Empiricists
answer this question by saying that human experience should be regarded as the
ultimate source of differentiating between good and evil. On the other hand,
intuitionists declare that humans have an insight for what is right and what is
wrong.
Many
famous philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Spinoza, and Hegel were of the
“rationalism” school, which says that people discover good and evil by using
reason and experience. This school was also not clear in defining whose
experience should be taken as a measure? If the measure is “universal”
experience then there has to be a full evaluation on human experience before
reaching a conclusion. This evaluation will need an ultimate and unbiased
interpretation, which is basically impossible due to the various interpretations
given by different experts
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This
evaluation would be a relative source of measuring good and evil because of the
long duration that would be taken in collecting this data, which would mean
leaving people without a distinction between good and evil for a very long time.
Sanctions
on Morality
The
third question is who has the power to sanction morality? According to secular
morality, one school claims that morality sanctions itself, meaning that if a
person does something right he feels content, and if he does something wrong he
feels guilty. Another school says that “law of practical reason” is a self
imposed law that sanctions morality.
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In
any society, there is a certain code for permissible and prohibited
actions. |
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Others
claim that by force, political power can sanction morality. In any society there
is a certain code for permissible and prohibited actions. An opinion says that
this informal social pressure is the sanction for morality.
Motives
of Moral Conduct
The
fourth question is what are the real motives behind people following a certain
moral law?
One
of the schools of secular morality claims that the motives of moral conduct are
the inherent respect for moral law.
Another says that the motive is the desire to
achieve perfection. A third school declares that
punishment and reward are the motives of moral conduct, and that people are
moral because they will be subjected to punishment or reward. They also varied
as to who gives that reward or punishment? And whose reward or punishment is
more important, is it the political power or society? For example, the reward or
punishment in society would either be, by being accepted and respected, or by
being ostracized and rejected by people.
Secular
Morality and Moral law
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The
most crucial problem of secular morality is that it attempts to establish
a moral system independent of God. |
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Ideas
presented by philosophers of secular morality on human thoughts throughout
history are not wholly devoid of truth. One of the problems facing secular
morality is that it is an incomplete and incomprehensive system. Although there
have been many attempts to answer these four questions, there has not been a
clear indication as to how these answers could be applied to the foundation of
morality. Also, how can these answers help in building an individual or a
society that is righteous without being too totalitarian or too free?
The
most crucial problem of secular morality is that it attempts to establish a
moral system independent of God, by divorcing morality from the belief in God
and the Hereafter.
* Adapted from a lecture in Dr. Jamal
Badawi’s Islamic
Teachings series.
**
Dr. Jamal Badawi
is a professor at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada where he
currently teaches in the areas of Management and Religious Studies. He is
the author of several works on various aspects of Islam.
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