Ship of Theseus

Bible background and influence of the New TestamentOld Testament is Jewish scripture even so many Christians do hold great store by the Ten Commandments. As a code they dwell on service and attitude to God, relationship with one’s parents and basic rules of society, such as no murder, no stealing and no adultery.

Some specific commands from Jesus may well be rooted in the Old Testament, loving one’s neighbour as one loves oneself. Other commands from Jesus are original and not found in contemporary Judaism. “Love your enemies”, “Lust is as bad as adultery” and “anger is as bad a murder.” Many of these difficult principles are found in St Matthew’s version of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

St Paul Paul who tried to bring Christianity into line with the Roman world was responsible for many tried and tested ethical principles. He stressed the importance of life in the spirit as opposed to life in the flesh. He calls on Christians to imitate the virtues of Christ, which he described as fruits of the spirit.
Paul is also remembered for his emphasis on the importance of Christian love (1 Corinthians 13).

Some Christian denominations place emphasis on one ethical theory above the others.

Roman Catholic Church They value highly the work of Thomas Aquinas and his theory of Natural Law. For an authoritarian church of world-wide dimensions, Natural law, with its deontological approach to moral problems, seems to be well suited to the many different cultures where the church proliferates.

Anglican ChurchThe Church of England and the Anglican communion world-wide, find that the principle of agape, finding the most loving solution to an ethical problem is a way of being sensitive to contemporary needs. This teleological approach is felt by some Christians to be sensitive to circumstances, considering what is the best for everyone involved in an ethical dilemma.

Protestant Evangelical ChurchSome Christians feel that rules are rules and that rules from God should be obeyed. Many of these Christians have a fundamentalist approach to scripture, accepting that the Bible is literally the “word of God”. For these people the Divine Command Theory seems the best way round a moral problem. Philosophers such as Duns Scotus, William of Ockham and Rene Descartes followed this line of thinking.
This may also raise questions about the Euthyphro Dilemma.

1.Strong set of moral principles that prohibit acts that would commonly be considered as wrong. Eg Theft, murder, violence, sex abuse etc.
Kant does not base his theory upon existing laws of God and does not refer to a power beyond the universe as a source of authority.
His system judges the act itself – deontological. He believed that humans seek the summum bonum and this led them to act correctly They act out of a sense of duty.
Explain about what Kant called the Categorical imperative.

2.They show respect for lifeInto all this Kant constructed three checks to ensure that actions were well motivated. These he called the three formulations of the categorical imperative.
Say what they are and what they mean.
Kant considered that people were important in themselves and should not be used as means to ends.

3.He makes the distinction between duty and inclination. We may be inclined to do what benefits us individually. But for Kant, morality is more than personal preference.
Kant would not have known about Situation ethics and the concept of agape. But he would never have agreed to such a nebulous term being used as a means of determining right from wrong. Nor would he have been impressed by Bentham’s insistence on happiness.

4.He argues against consequentialism. He disliked the idea that some suffering might be all right if it promoted happiness for the majority. Kant would say that you cannot promote happiness by undermining someone else’s happiness. The moral value of an action comes from its intrinsic worth. In other words he is against any system which tries to predict the future from uncertain consequences.
The difference between Kan’t’s deontological system and that of Aquinas is that Aquinas’ ideas are very fixed and based upon an understanding of God. Kant does not believe that humans can know anything about God but he does trust his own inclinations and his own sense of duty.

5.Humans have intrinsic worth. Humans can only ever be treated as ends in themselves. They must never be a means to an end. In this respect he was against exploitation or slavery. Equally so he would be against prostitution or child labour.
On the other hand though there are those who feel he would have been against stem cell research of genetic engineering.

Subjective approach to morality which tries to predict the consequences of an action as a means of determining right and wrong.
In relativism there are no absolute rules.
Relativism clearly reflects opinion of the people concerned. If enough people think that a course of action is right and acceptable then it may well become the norm.

Example relationships Marriage versus living together.
50 years ago in the UK unmarried men and women would not have lived together
Today it is socially acceptable to have a partner of either sex.

Fixed ideas, definite principles such as the ten commandments or laws have no place in relativism.
Decisions about right and wrong may differ from one culture to another.
Example marriage in Europe is between one man and one woman, anything else is regarded as bigamy.
In Muslim countries one man may have up to three wives.
Under relativism, both of these decisions could be acceptable
This is an example of cultural relativism.

Ethical theories which reflect relativism

Utilitarianism
Bentham’s version of Utilitarianism is based in the principle of maximising happiness and avoiding pain.
Subject to certain safeguards now described as the Hedonic calculus. It is the assumed outcome of an action which determines whether the action is right or wrong

JS Mill had a variation of this which essentially is a relativist ethic. He felt that the outcome of some actions were more worthy than others and spoke of higher and lower principles. Even so these might be subject to change over a period of time.

Situation Ethics
Once again the outcome of the action is what determines whether something is right or wrong. Here the decision is based on agape and asks the question “What is the most loving thing to do?”
Situation Ethics was outlined by Joseph Fletcher an Anglican priest who was reacting against the rigid absolutist principles of Roman Catholicism.