Moral Philosophy: Morality & Religion

2.  What is the difference between Morality and
Religion?
 Is there a relationship between Morality &
Religion?
 No Morality without Religion?
 Why people need these/ this?

6.  Religare
 Latin root
 Re plus ligare
 ‘again’ combined with ‘to
bind’ meaning ‘to tie fast’
 Religia
 Latin – ‘obligation’ or ‘bond’
 Religion deals with the big
issues in life – good and evil
– important to people.
- Ex. Some believers cling to
their faith and even prepared
to die for it.

7.  Religion is “to join again,” “to reconnect.”
 The Latin roots of the word religion are thought to be re
and lig
 Re means “again”
 Lig means “join” or “connect” (as in “ligament”)
 The word religion suggests the joining of our natural,
human world to the sacred world.

8.  In narrow sense:
 Teaching, advice, and command of a respectfully
recognized teacher (may be considered as a God)
 In broad sense:
 Set of belief recognized and followed by the followers
as the influence of the super/hero man
 The belief in supernatural influences
 Belief in the holy teaching and command (doctrine) of
the God man…
 Teaching people to be moral
 The aspects of ritual, morality, theology, and mystical
experience

9.  Religion of Animism / Super-Naturalism
 Belief in super nature (natural influence)
 Ex: belief in mountains, sea, lakes, trees,…
 Religion of God Existence
 Belief in God/ gods
 Ex: God creates everything and destroy it,…
 Religion of Non-God Existence/ Religion of truth
Philosophy
 Philosophy of life, reality, rationality, logics,…
 Ex: Life is suffering,…

13. 1. It serves many human needs. One primary need is
having a means to deal with our mortality.
• Religion can help us cope with death, and
religious rituals can offer us comfort.
2. It helps us to respond to our natural wonder about
ourselves and the cosmos
3. It’s a human attempt to feel more secure in an
unfeeling universe.
4. It grows out of psychological needs
5. It is a way of life founded upon the apprehension of
sacredness in existence

14.  Religion is simply defined as belief system which consists of
7 features:
 Doctrine (basic principles & teachings)
 Mythology (stories of gods & history of RGL)
 Concept of religious experiences (consciousness)
 Institutions (Church, Buddhist monastery...)
 Ethical content (practical instructions)
 Rituals (ceremony, sacrifice)
 Sacred objects & places (inanimate items...)
(Ninian Smart, British Philosopher & theologian)

15.  The written body of teachings of a religious group that
are generally accepted by that group
 The basic principles of any religion are known as
doctrine – believers are taught to understand and accept.
 Some religions open to interpret then leads faith to
change and diversify, but some do not.
 Sources of doctrines: scriptures; sacred texts; and
continual process of reading & interpreting texts

16.  A mythology is a collection of stories about God/
gods, covering particularly the origins of the cosmos
and humanity, and the role of divine.
 A religion’s mythology underpins its beliefs,
explains the way of the world is, and provides moral
lessons to guide the followers

17.  Common to all religions is the idea that worshippers
, in some way or another, can experience the
absolute, or God. This experience is most obviously
recognizable as a kind of heightened state of being –
ecstasy, trance, exaltation, or calm – reaches beyond
the everyday.

18.  Religious Institutions are the groups of people who
come together to lead a faith.
 A religion may have a single, central leader, who
presides over a highly organized administration; or
it may have a less formal governance, or consist of
several churches with local leaders.

19.  Common to all the world’s religions is the idea that we
should try to live better lives.
 Sacred texts and later teachings brim with the moral
instructions of early leaders, of prophets, and of God
himself.
 The result is a rich framework of ethical values for all
followers to live

20.  1. To abstain from taking life
 2. To abstain from taking what is not given
 3. To abstain from sensuous misconduct
 4. To abstain from false speech
 5. To abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud
the mind

21.  A common theme runs through practice of rituals in
all the world’s religions: rituals that resonate with
the regular of human life give believers chances to
connect with the absolute – at specific stages of
development, at particular times of years, or as part
of regular worship.

22.  Held in special reverence, sacred places and objects
are often linked with specific deities, religious
leaders, or specific times in a faith’s history. Places
may be marked with grand temples or monuments,
but even a wayside shrine used for spiritual
contemplation can be sacred.

24.  Are Religious Ethics essentially different from secular
ethics?
 Kant argues that there is no difference- both God and
humanity have to obey the same rational principles and
reason is sufficient to guide us to these principles.
What is good is good will- acting according to
principles- Categorical Imperative.
 God and immorality are necessary postulates of ethics-
ought implies can (if morally obliged to perform a
certain action, must logically be able to perform it –
must follow). God provides universal justice.

25.  Bertrand Russell- humans are free to think, evaluate,
create, and live committed to ideals. Life has the
meaning we give it, and morality will be part of any
meaningful life.
 James Rachels: In worshipping, God believers
relinquish their autonomy – one gives up their reason.
 Rachels and Nowell-Smith contend that religious
morality is infantile because it is based on authority.

26.  An act is morally required (right) just in case God
commands us to do it.
 An act is morally wrong just in case God forbids us to
do it.
 An act is permissible just in case God neither
commands nor forbids it.
 Moral rightness= willed by God.

27.  Morality is logically independent of God’s Will: God is
perfectly good and unlimited knowledge – permit
morally right and prohibit morally wrong
 Morality is logically dependent on God’s Will: God is
perfectly good and unlimited knowledge – if stealing is
wrong, it is only God forbids it but if God did not, it
would not be wrong

28.  Bible, Qoran, Tribitaka, Torah.......
 What mentions in the holy book (s) of a religion to
allow or forbid
 God’s commands/ guideline to follow
 God imposes the set principles as authority to be
accepted whether morality or immorality (good or
evil)

29.  Moral Principles refer to a set of belief in doing
good or bad (right or wrong) – avoiding all evil acts,
social norms, values, and self-interest
 God’s Laws refer to the God’s commands
 belief in God’s will and plan
 God’s reward or punishment

30.  God created nature and the laws of nature are in
accord with God’s plan.
 Natural law is universal and the same for all human
beings at all times.
 These moral laws of nature can be discovered by
human beings.
 Thus, these are guides to human moral action.

31.  Religion encourages people to do good acts
 Religion blames and punishes/ forbid those who do
morally wrong
 Moral Motivation refers to possibility of reward when
people conform moral norms
 A self-interest binding in doing good and avoiding bad
 Religion tells a way to HEAVEN and HELL