Ethics in religion
involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply satisfying, which is held by many philosophers to be more important than traditional moral conduct.
Most religions have an ethical component, often derived from purported supernatural revelation or guidance. Some assert that religion is necessary to live ethically. Simon Blackburn states that there are those who "would say that we can only flourish under the umbrella of a strong social order, cemented by common adherence to a particular religious tradition".
Buddhist ethics
Ethics in Buddhism are traditionally based on the enlightened perspective of the Buddha, or other enlightened beings who followed him. Moral instructions are included in Buddhist scriptures or handed down through tradition. Most scholars of Buddhist ethics thus rely on the examination of Buddhist scriptures, and the use of anthropological evidence from traditional Buddhist societies, to justify claims about the nature of Buddhist ethics.According to traditional Buddhism, the foundation of Buddhist ethics for laypeople is the Pancasila: no killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct, or intoxicants. In becoming a Buddhist, or affirming one's commitment to Buddhism, a layperson is encouraged to vow to abstain from these negative actions. Buddhist monks and nuns take hundreds more such vows.
This approach avoids basing Buddhist ethics solely on faith in the Buddha's enlightenment or Buddhist tradition, and may allow more universal non-Buddhist access to the insights offered by Buddhist ethics.
The Buddha provided some basic guidelines for acceptable behavior that are part of the Noble Eightfold Path. The initial percept is non-injury or non-violence to all living creatures from the lowest insect to humans. This precept defines a non-violent attitude toward every living thing. The Buddhist practice of this does not extend to the extremes exhibited by Jainism, but from both the Buddhist and Jain perspectives, non-violence suggests an intimate involvement with, and relationship to, all living things.
Theravada monk Bhikkhu Bodhi has observed:
Buddhist ethics, as formulated in the five precepts, is sometimes charged with being entirely negative.... t has to be pointed out that the five precepts, or even the longer codes of precepts promulgated by the Buddha, do not exhaust the full range of Buddhist ethics. The precepts are only the most rudimentary code of moral training, but the Buddha also proposes other ethical codes inculcating definite positive virtues. The Mangala Sutta, for example, commends reverence, humility, contentment, gratitude, patience, generosity, etc. Other discourses prescribe numerous family, social, and political duties establishing the well being of society. And behind all these duties lie the four attitudes called the "immeasurables" – loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.
Christian ethics
Christian virtues are often divided into four cardinal virtues and three theological virtues. Christian ethics includes questions regarding how the rich should act toward the poor, how women are to be treated, and the morality of war. Christian ethicists, like other ethicists, approach ethics from different frameworks and perspectives.There are several different schema of vice and virtue. Aquinas adopted the four cardinal virtues of Aristotle, and added to them the Christian virtues of faith, hope and charity. Other schema include the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven virtues.
Bernhard Häring, a Catholic Redemptorist priest and scholar, opened up moral theology in 1954 with his three-volume work, The Law of Christ. ''He based Christian ethics on the moral theology of Jesus in the Scriptures, rather than "a legalistic system of precepts and sanctions."
The approach of virtue ethics has become popular in recent decades, largely due to the work of Alasdair MacIntyre who, in his 1981 book After Virtue, refers to the ethical virtues of Aristotle to develop practical reasoning and human agency. Stanley Hauerwas, in his work Vision and Virtue,'' believes that virtues and principles are shorthand reminders for moral education and guidance found in stories. They are not universalizing principles, but contextual and depend on the moral development of the agent in question.
Confucian ethics
and Neo-Confucianism emphasize the maintenance and propriety of relationships as the most important consideration in ethics. To be ethical is to do what one's relationships require. Notably, though, what you owe to another person is inversely proportional to their distance from you. In other words, you owe your parents everything, but you are not in any way obligated towards strangers. This can be seen as a recognition of the fact that it is impossible to love the entire world equally and simultaneously. This is called relational ethics, or situational ethics. The Confucian system differs very strongly from Kantian ethics in that there are rarely laws or principles which can be said to be true absolutely or universally.This is not to say that there has never been any consideration given to universalist ethics. In fact, in Zhou dynasty China, the Confucians' main opponents, the followers of Mozi argued for universal love. The Confucian view eventually held sway, however, and continues to dominate many aspects of Chinese thought. Many have argued, for example, that Mao Zedong was more Confucian than Communist. Confucianism, especially of the type argued for by Mencius, argued that the ideal ruler is the one who "acts like the North Star, staying in place while the other stars orbit around it". In other words, the ideal ruler does not go out and force the people to become good, but instead leads by example. The ideal ruler fosters harmony rather than laws.
Confucius stresses honesty above all. His concepts of lĭ, yì, and rén can be seen as deeper expressions of honesty and fidelity to the ones to whom one owes one's existence and survival. He codified traditional practice and actually changed the meaning of the prior concepts that those words had meant. His model of the Confucian family and Confucian ruler dominated Chinese life into the early 20th century. This had ossified by then into an Imperial hierarchy of rigid property rights, hard to distinguish from any other dictatorship. Traditional ethics had been perverted by legalism.
Buddhist influence
Buddhism, and specifically Mahayana Buddhism, brought a cohesive metaphysic to Chinese thought and a strong emphasis on universalism. Neo-Confucianism was largely a reaction to Buddhism's dominance in the Tang dynasty, and an attempt at developing a native Confucian metaphysical/analytical system.Germanic Neopagan ethics
, including followers of both Asatru and Theodism, try to emulate the ethical values of the ancient Germanic peoples.Hindu ethics
Ethics is called Nitisastra in ancient texts of Hinduism. Ethics and virtue are a much debated and an evolving concept in ancient scriptures of Hinduism. Virtue, right conduct, ethics and morality are part of the complex concept Hindus call Dharma – everything that is essential for people, the world and nature to exist and prosper together, in harmony. As P.V. Kane, the author of the History of Dharmasastra said, the term "Dharma" does not have a synonym in English language. While it is often interpreted as meaning "duty", it can mean justice, right, moral, good, and much more.Ethics are explained in Hindu philosophy as something that cannot be imposed, but something that is realized and voluntarily lived up to by each individual. For example, Apastamba explained it thus: "virtue and vice do not go about saying – here we are!; neither the Gods, Gandharvas, nor ancestors can convince us – this is right, this is wrong; virtue is an elusive concept, it demands careful and sustained reflection by every man and woman before it can become part of one's life.
Ethics that constitute a dharmic life – that is a moral, ethical, virtuous life – evolve in Vedas and Upanishads. Ethical subjects and questions are debated by various schools of Hinduism, quite extensively, in numerous texts on what is right conduct, when, how and why. Over time, new virtues were conceptualized and added by ancient Hindu scholars, some replaced, others merged. For example, Manusamhita initially listed ten virtues necessary for a human being to live a dharmic life: Dhriti, Kshama, Dama, Asteya, Saucha, Indriyani-graha, dhi, vidya, satyam, akrodha. In later verses, this list was reduced to five virtues by the same scholar, by merging and creating a more broader concept. The shorter list of virtues became: Ahimsa, Dama, Asteya, Saucha, Satyam.
The Persian historian Al Biruni who visited and lived in India for 16 years in the early 11th century, describes the concept of ethics and virtuous behavior among Hindus of his times. Of ethical mandates among Hindus, a literal translation of his Persian language manuscript includes A man shall not kill; nor lie; nor steal; nor whore; nor hoard up treasures. These correspond to five Yamas of ancient Hindu ethics: Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya, and Aparigraha. In addition to these five negative things to abstain from, Hindu ethics also recommends five positive things to strive for as Niyamas: Śauca, Santosha, Tapas, Swadhyaya and Pranidhan. An ethical life in Hinduism is essential for a liberated life, one without craving, one that is content, attained through knowledge and by abstaining from evil.
Hindu literature variously discuss ethics as one or more of four topics: Gunas that is inner tendencies of conduct found in every individual ; Purushartha that is proper aims of life for every individual for self-development and happiness ; Ashramas that is ethics for an individual in different periods of one's lifetime ; and Varnasramas that is ethics and conduct for every individual in relation to society. Ancient literature at the foundation of various Hindu traditions primarily discuss the first three, while the last has attracted greater attention since the 18th century. Some early 20th century literature wondered if ethics was ever a serious topic of study in Hinduism. Later studies have yielded the above four approaches to ethics in different schools of Hinduism, tied together with three common themes: ethics is an essential part of dharma concept, Ahimsa is the foundational premise without which – suggests Hinduism – ethics and any consistent ethical theory is impossible, and Ethics cannot always be dualistically or non-dualistically reduced from first principles, ethics is closely related to moksha with Vivekacudamani stating, "individuals with self knowledge and spiritual freedom are inherently self examining and ethical" and "ethics, freedom and knowledge require each other". In addition to the above four topics in Hindu ethics, scholars state that the karma doctrine of Hinduism is part of its ethical theory compendium.
The Bhagavad Gita – considered one of the epitomes of historic Hindu discussion of virtues and an allegorical debate on what is right and what is wrong – argues some virtues are not necessarily always absolute, but sometimes relational; for example, it explains a virtue such as Ahimsa must be re-examined when one is faced with war or violence from the aggressiveness, immaturity or ignorance of others.