Moral Trends & Ethical Systems Edited

8/6/2019 Moral Trends & Ethical Systems Edited

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Different Moral Trends &

Ethical / Value Systems



2 KINDS OF ETHICAL SYSTEM (General

categories)

1. ATHEISTIC ± assumes that only matter

exists & that man is responsible only tohimself since there is no God.

Morality is an invention of man to suit hisrequirements & to preserve society.



³R eligion is an opium of the people´

Moral truths are therefore temporary,

mutable depending on the situation.

The concept of good and evil is always

relative and changeable.



2. THEISTIC ± believes that God is the

Supreme Lawgiver.

Everything must conform to God¶s eternal

plan.

Man must exercise his freedom inaccordance with God¶s will.

There are absolute principles of morality

which are not changeable.Man is accountable for his actions in this

life or in the next.



Despite being a ³Christian´ country wherein

most of our leaders are graduates of

Catholic colleges/universities, poverty andinjustices are prevalent, should we blame

³Christianity´ for this? Explain your

answer.



CHR ISTIAN FAITH AS THE FOR CE OF

MOR

AL TR

ANSFR

OMATIONFaith IS NOT an opium which blurs man¶s

vision with illusions that leads him to

coward escaping.

Genuine FAITH should be total & integral

versus practical atheism/split-level/ritualism



Different Ethical

Trends/Systems

Challenges to our Christian

moral living«



1. EthicalR

elativism, SubjectivismHolds the belief that there is no objective,

and absolute Truth.

What is true and good depends on theindividual.

All truths and moral principles are

subjective.



2. SecularismIt is an arrogant claim to self-sufficiency.

Denies the religious dimension to human

existence.

It is the false absolutization of the secular &

human means in the search for human

fulfillment.The God language is disparagingly regarded

as the language of a pious, naive, and

unscientific view of reality.



Unli e John Donne who wrote that no manis an island unto himself, Sartre claimed

that each person is radically alone and

separated from all others.Also called as ³INDIVIDUALISM´

It is man curved in on himself. Being the

norm unto himself, he interprets what isgood only in terms of what is useful,

convenient and profitable for himself.

A. ³I, Me, Myself´

3.A - Individualism



It may also be expressed in the :

B.³Tayo-tayo lang´ mentality.

Another form of individualistic attitude.

Family and bar ada centeredness pushed to

the extreme, that one¶s heart cannot expand beyond the circle of family/relatives and

friends.

3.B - Individualism



4. Hedonism

Sensual pleasure is the highest good.

Devotion to pleasure and self-gratification

as a way of life.

Corresponds to the playboy/playgirl theory

of life.This philosophy is espoused through

advertisements



Hedonism«³I am here for one purpose: to get as much

out of life as I can. ain and suffering are

evils that must be avoided at all costs. Themain thing in life is to always feel good.´

To avoid any forms of suffering in life. Even the

legitimate & heroic suffering. A hedonist wants tohave a pleasurable life. Would rather adhere to

euthanasia to escape the natural dying process.



5. Consumerism

Materialism

It plagues the human spirit and tyrannizes it

with the consuming need of the sensual and

material.

It is the constant need for the immediategratification of the senses, a grasping for

more & more to the point of satisfaction.



Consumerism«It turns values upside down, as it gives more

primacy to the things of the flesh, rather

than to the things of the spirit.It tends to subordinate everything to its end.

It is a false god which contemporary

men/women worship.



6. CONSEQ

UENTIALISM

The rightness or wrongness of an action is

solely dependent on the results the action

produces.It see s to justify objectively evil actions as

morally good based on the intention of the

person committing them & theconsequences of the actions.



7

.U

tilitarianismFrom ³utility´ which means useful.

An act is right/moral if it is useful in

bringing about a desirable good end (for themajority).

The greatest moral good is that which givesthe greatest happiness to the greatest

number of people.We should judge right or depending onwhether they cause more happiness or unhappiness.



8

. CommunismThe greatest good is absolute equality.

The State rules absolutely.

Does not respect the right to privateownership.



9

. FreemasonryConsiders all religions in the world as mere

competitive attempt to now God, who

remains un nowable.Christianity is not considered as a true

religion.

Human reason as the only source of nowledge.



Freemasonry«The truth about God and man isunattainable; whatever sounds dogmatic (inChristian faith & morals) is dismissed as bigotry and fanaticism.

See s the perfection of man only in thedevelopment of his natural virtues.

Grounds man¶s enlightenment & moral perfection on one¶s human effort alone.



Freemasonry is founded on«Deism

Naturalism

R elativism



DEISMTeaches that after God created man & theworld, he left man on his own such that manis no longer accountable to God in all thathe does in the world.

Man becomes the master of the world in anabsolute sense.

God is called ± ³Great Architect of theUniverse´ ± a non-personal God



Deism«repared the ground for the so called

³Enlightenment´, the cultural trend in

Europe in the 18th

century which promotedagnosticism and atheism.

In the Enlightenment, ³R eason´ was

deified; faith was condemned assuperstition.



NATUR

ALISMTeaches that man has no supernatural

destiny. Man¶s purpose is simply to

cultivate his natural powers, especially hisreason. Man is self-sufficient in his pursuit

of happiness; his perfection is not found in

his union with God.

Naturalism is the heart of Deism.



R

ELATIVISM No one can claim to possess the truth in anabsolute way.

Applied to man¶s religious life, this meansthat no one can say that he has the truereligion.

Applied to morality, this means this means

that objective & universal moral standardsdo not exist.



R

elativism«Man becomes the last arbiter of what is

right & wrong.

Falls to subjectivism.Does not accept the teaching authority of

the Church.



10. NEW AGE S IR

ITU

ALITYSelf-spirituality

No clergy, no holy text, no dogma

A free-flowing spiritual movement

Astrology, antheism (God exists in all),

R eincarnation«.

Moral Trends & Ethical Systems Edited

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