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Chapter 2: Religion, Morality, and Conscience by John Arthur

Page history last edited by Paul Ward 15 years, 1 month ago

 

Paul Maverick B. Ward                                                                                      

 

Contemporary Moral Problems by James E. White (7th Edition)

Library Reference: none

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Contemporary-Moral-Problems-James-White/dp/0495553204/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1233910528&sr=1-1

 

Quote: “We foreknow how others will act, and the foreknowledge is the beginning of judgment passed on action.”

 

 

Learning Expectations:

 

            I expect to learn what John Arthur thinks about religion, morality, and conscience and the relationship between the three (3). I also expect to learn the main difference and connection between religion and morality.

 

Review:

 

            On the second sub-chapter of Chapter 1 on the book Contemporary Moral Problems authored by James E. White, John Arthur, a professor of philosophy and director of the Program in Philosophy, Politics, and Law at Binghampton University, imparts to the readers the connection between religion and morality. He also shares knowledge about the conscience that people use to live their lives in accordance to their will.

            The information given by John Arthur makes other people think about morality and religion alike. The connection between the two is somehow true for me because my personal ethical views are influenced greatly by my religion. Being a Christian and growing up learning the ways of Christianity, I developed the ethical views or morality that I have nowadays. Personally, my grandmother was the one who introduced me to the world of Christianity. She was the one who bounded together our family to church every Sunday when I was a young lad. I think that God used her as an instrument for us to be united as a family and be centered with faith. The lessons that I learned was also fortified through the years of my studying in a Christian school. It was in Philippine Christian University (PCU) where my faith is further strengthened and reinforced with weekly mass, and faith and values subjects throughout the years.

As I got into college, it didn’t affect my faith at all even though on my college life, Catholic is the main religion in the school. Actually, it helped me in a way that in the Benildean Core Values, it was said that “Appreciative of one’s worth”. This message got into me and helped me respect those people who are in difficult times and to those who are less-fortunate than others. I also get to respect those who are having tough times in their lives. All in all, the ethics that I am following as of now is due to the ones I grew up with. I also got in my head to respect others whatever their beliefs may be, even if it contradicts to mine, as long as they keep it to themselves and not to threaten my own beliefs and faith.

            There are those people agrees with the saying that “Morality is Social”. Those are the people who neglect their religion and want to have freedom in all aspects of their lives. I’m not saying that these people are bad or something. Heck, they are free to do whatever they want. It’s their life and they can do whatever they want to do. Unfortunately, there are times when these kinds of people cause some harm to others due to their mindset. They sometimes neglect those things that people who have religion sacredly follows and obeys. With the way they are thinking, they believe that whatever they do is right.

            In a society, there are rules and regulations to be followed by those people who live within it. These restrictions are the things that keep the society in order and in balance. Without it, the society would be in chaos and disorder. An individual in a society can hinder the balance with different kinds of things from weapons to morality. This just shows that even one single person can destroy the balance with what that person believes in. If this single grain of a person in a society doesn’t obey or even respect a rule or regulation in the society, the balance in the society will certainly be obliterated. Imagine a group of people having the same beliefs that is directed to causing havoc to a society. This is surely a problem to the society but for them, they are doing what is right.

 

            Personally, I believe that religion is here to guide us on doing what is right. God’s divine command is present for peace and prosperity between all of mankind. Without it, those mentioned in the 10 Commandments would be done by many people all over the world such as killing one another, stealing every item that people possess, and the like. That is why for me, religion is here for a reason. Everything has its own reason and it is all directed to God’s plan for us. Our Kronos would be nothing compared to God’s Kairos for us.

 

 

Lessons Learned:

 

I have learned what John Arthur thinks about religion, morality, and conscience and what the difference the three (3) have. I have also learned that through religion, morality would be polished and filtered to produce an outcome that would benefit a lot of people.

 

 

Integrative Questions:

 

  1.  Who is James E. White?
  2.  Who is John Arthur?
  3.  What is the insight that John Arthur wanted to impart to the readers?
  4.  What is the difference between religion and morality?
  5.  How does religion affect the morality of a person?

 

 

Review Questions:

 

  1. According to Arthur, how are morality and religion different?

-       Morality focuses more on how people interact with others while religion focuses on the faith that people have to the one they worship.

  1. Why isn’t religion necessary for moral motivation?

-       It is because each person has their own instinct and whatever might the religion of the person be, the actions that they do will be based on their instincts.

  1. Why isn’t religion necessary as a source of moral knowledge?

-       As far as I know, religion gave me the moral knowledge I have as of now. It differs from one person to another.

  1. What is the divine command theory? Why does Arthur rejects this theory?

-       The divine command theory is the one who says that God is the only one who truly knows what’s right or wrong.

-       He rejects this theory because he implies that what if an action is not mentioned by God, it doesn’t mean it is wrong.

  1. According to Arthur, how are morality and religion connected?

-       Morality and Religion are connected by which both of these are used by people to interact with each other in a way that is acceptable by all.

  1. Dewey says that morality is social. What does this mean, according to Arthur?

-       It means that morality is passed on around through interaction by means of sharing to other people.

 

Discussion Questions:

 

  1. Has Arthur refuted the divine command theory? If not, how can it be defended?

-       Yes, he is questioning the authority of the divine command theory as a way to disagree with it.

  1. If morality is social, as Dewey says, then how can we have any obligations to nonhuman animals? (Arthur mentions this problem and some possible solutions to it in footnote 6)

-       Surely enough, no one in his right mind would socialize with animals to show morality. That is why there is religion which told people to have obligations over animals.

  1. What does Dewey mean by moral education? Does a college ethics class count as moral education?

-       In a way, yes, it can be counted as one because college ethics classes helps students understand more about morality.

 

 

 

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