Abram John A. Limpin

Book: Contemporary Moral Problems

Library Reference: N/A

Amazon Reference: http://www.amazon.com/Contemporary-Moral-Problems-James-White/dp/0534584306/

Quote: “It seems wrong to conclude, automatically, that morality cannot rest on anything but religion. And it is also possible that morality doesn’t have any foundation or basis at all, so that its claims should be ignored in favor of whatever serves or own self-interest."

Learning Expectations:

• to understand how John Arthur defined religion, morality and conscience
• to be aware of philosophical terms
• to understand how important it is to view morality in different ways
• to determine how should morality inclined with ethics
• to learn new ideas about philosophers

Review:

          In this chapter, John Arthur, argued a major issue between religion, morality and conscience.  Arthur was able to contrast morality and religion by asking what would be the society look like if there's no presence of what we called as 'moral codes'. Perphaps, the concept of justice and 'being fair' would become a great issue to most people. John Arthur clearly defined what religion is all about. Religion is something essential for providing 'motivation' to morality. He also noted that religion serves as a 'guidance' to lead a person from what is right and what is wrong. Although religion doesn't really provides guidance straightforwardly, it reminds us that in every actions that we do or done in the past, we are responsible for it - people have their own convictions.

          This chapter also discussed something about the Divine Right Theory, which is quite relevant to what religion wants to portray. Without that 'someone' who will serve as the 'law-maker', things might be different from now. People commit themselves to follow these 'decrees' they have received from their respective religions. Without this 'higher authority' that will lead them, morality won't be something we have right now - understanding the difference from good to bad.

          Arthurs was able to discuss how morality became socially important. Morality can and will influence people to another people, and vice versa. One's morality affect other's - same goes to the other. In this chapter, he discussed four ways how morality is social: first, morality involves language. Second, morality involves in a group of people - a community should I say. Third, people criticize each other's morality - whether negative or positive feedback. And fourth, morality has something to do with 'conscience' - on how people react on it.

          What Arthur wants to point out to readers is that morality is something we should take seriously - and how we handle it in our own little way. As far as inviduality is concern, we are still different when it comes to dealing the 'social nature' of our morality. Everybody is still dependent on thinking what is morality for them.

What I’ve learned:

• Divine Right Theory
• How we should look into religion, morality, and conscience
• What are the issues we are facing right now in accordance to the chapter

Integrative Questions:

1. What is religion according to John Arthur?
2. What is morality according to John Arthur?
3. What is conscience according to John Arthur?
4. How do these three affect an individual perception in life?
5. What is moral knowledge?

Review Questions:

1. According to Arthur how are Morality and Religion different? 
   • Morality is "to tend to evaluate the behavior of others and to feel guilt at certain actions when we perform them.” and it “involves our attitudes toward various forms of behavior typically expressed using the notion of rules, rights, and obligation."
   • In religion, it “involves beliefs in supernatural power(s) that created and perhaps also control nature, the tendency to worship and pray to those supernatural forces or being, and the presence of organizational structures and authoritative texts.”
2. Why isn’t religion necessary for moral motivation?
   • "Religion is not necessary for moral motivation because people also consider other perspectives in relation to doing what is right."
3. Why isn’t religion necessary as a source of moral knowledge?
   • there are a lot of moral teachings about religion and revelation
   • people are having difficulty in interpreting the revelation
   • people are caught in a dilemma of which revelation is – the “word of God” or the Bible
4.  What is divine command theory? Why does Arthur reject this theory?
   • "The divine command theory, would mean that God has the same sort of relation to moral law as the legislature has to statutes it enacts: without God’s commands there would be no moral rules, just as without a legislature there would be no statutes.”
   • According to Arthur, " having to follow God’s command and just being right is not the same. The basis of what is right cannot be solely based by commanding it. Next, there is this confusion that only those that are commanded by God are right."
5. According to Arthur, how are morality and religion connected?
   • "The morality of people is more or less influenced by religion."
6. Dewey says that morality is social, what does this mean according to Arthur?
   • people have the sense to be social in their choices to think of the effect of their actions
   • morality is social
   • people are meant to give their opinions and reactions to the actions of the other people

Discussion Questions: 

1. Has Arthur refuted the divine command theory? If not, how can it be defended?
   • Yes.
2. 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 in footnote).
   • We treat them as their own. We only eat what we should only eat - spare the others. Help them reproduce and make everyone beneficial.
3. What does Dewey mean by moral education? Does a college ethics class count as a moral education?
   • “Thinking education, that listening to others, reading about what others think and do, and reflecting within ourselves about our actions and whether we could defend them to others”.
   • Yes. It counts. And it helps.