Summary
Modern popularist teaching presents ethics as situational and relativistic. Rather than using this current approach a more classical and reactionary methodology that calls for the reevaluation of some of the elder philosophies that regarded right and wrong in the context of absolutism is required. Confusion between the concepts of beliefs, values, morals, laws, and ethics has increased to the point where many people today consider these related ideas as synonymous. It is essential to discuss these related concepts outside of any single religious or ethnically based belief system. To do otherwise would inject individualistic religious or ethnic beliefs and values into the discussion, thereby negating the universality of the argument. Both modern and traditional approaches to ethics have attempted either to manage the effects of unethical behavior after it occurs, or to give specific guidance and examples in order to prevent future similar occurrences. Unfortunately, both of these popular approaches are reactive at best. The optimal strategy is to take a proactive approach that can discern the root causes of unethical behavior so that this knowledge could be used as a preventative countermeasure to the ever-increasing amounts of unethical behavior. Axiology, the study of ethics, is not a new field; but many modern authors and ethicists have avoided and continue to avoid the issue of ethical absolutism. Contrary to much modern thought, there is no reason to avoid the discussion of absolutism, as the concept of universal and immutable ethics can be reconciled fully with other contemporary schools of thought such as physical sciences, social sciences, and rationalism.
See the full content of this document
Extract
Immutable Ethics: A Non-Theistic Treatise in Defense of the Universality and Unchangeability of Right and Wrong
PROLOGUE
"In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes." (Judges 21:25)INTRODUCTIONThis treatise has a three-fold purpose, The first purpose is to convince the reader of the immutability of ethical standards. Part I of this paper will define and discuss five related yet distinct concepts: beliefs, values, morals, laws, and ethics. These definitions followed in Part Il by a comparison of these defined concepts in order to demonstrate the inadequacy of beliefs, values, morals, and laws to be universal and immutable vis-à-vis ethicsThe second purpose of this paper is to discover, define, and discuss root causes of unethical behavior. Although there has been considerable discussion on the subject of how to recognize unethical behaviors, and sometimes even dialogue on how to avoid them; there appears to be a dearth of information concerning the discovery of the actual root causes of unethical behavior itself, and realistic remedy. Part III of this paper delves into this question of the root causes of unethical behavior, identifies them, and offers preventative measures,The third purpose of this paper is to provide some example areas for further examination regarding the compatibility of ethics vis-à-vis different fields of scientific study. Included in Part IV are assessments of some thoughts regarding ethics from some great philosophers and scientists that have come before us.PART I -DEFINITIONSINFORMATION and IDEASMorris Massey's epic hypothesis, "What You Are is Where You Where When" posits that who one has become is based upon the unique synthesis of the distinctive cumulative stimuli of ideas and events that one has been subjected to throughout the course of his or her life. (Massey, 1976) Information incessantly bombards us and we continuously process it all. Some of this information we chose to reject and eliminate from our future use. Other information, we elect to keep. This retained information becomes each individual's personalized idea base for future use.Information is constantly being presented to us from many differing points. These methods of presentation include both formal and informal venues, with one of the earliest methods of acquiring information being from parental interaction. Even in today's modern world of public education, parents still influence their children's moral compass in t...See the full content of this document
