Secular Ethics Research Articles

ОБЩЕСТВЕННЫЙ ДОГОВОР: PRO ET CONTRA М. БАКУНИНА

The article is about an evolution in the ideas of the social contract in such works by M.A. Bakunin, as “Confession” (1851), “Federalism, Socialism and Antitheologism” (1867), “Statehood and Anarchy” (1873). Based on primary sources, the author shows the intellectual evolution of the thinker from criticism of the idea of social contract to the idea of federalism. Bakunin considered the weak point of the theory of social contract to be the replacement of the concept of “society” with the concept of “state”, while the state not only puts itself above society, but also tries to absorb it. He highlighted those features of the state that do not allow concluding a social contract with it; the denial of the individual freedom; pressure on the free will of the individual by collective power; distortion of the natural relationship between good and evil; replacing religious morality with secular (atheistic) morality. The idea of a social contract by M.A. Bakunin contrasts the idea of federalism. The thinker’s views about the concept of “federalism” also changed: if until the mid-1860s. it was a form of state arrangement (“Slavic” or “European” federation), then by the end of the 1860s the concept of “federation” acquired the meaning of an alternative way of social organization, freed from power of any kind. Ultimately, he came to the conclusion of free organization, an ascending hierarchy representing a set of alliances for creating a universal world.

Between duty and contingency. On some figures of the humanistic tradition in Kant

One must distinguish between the Enlightenment concept and the humanistic concept of humanity. The former indicates a universal deontological ideal; the latter a selective set of personal and social virtues. Kant is a champion of Enlightenment but inherits various aspects of the humanistic tradition that began at the end of the fourteenth century. This tradition, which largely coincides with the so-calledHofliteratur, eclectically combines elements of ancient and Christian ethics and adds a strong pedagogical, aesthetic and socio-political trait to outline a secular morality of self-government. After briefly presenting the Enlightenment “humanist family”, the article examines some figures of the humanistic tradition present in Kantian ethics: theWeltbürger, self-improvement andhumanitas. Through them I show the substantial role of education, taste and social interplay. They converge in the sphere of pragmatic anthropology, the moment morals become involved in the dramatic theatre of the world with its dialectic and rhetoric of appearance. Here the ethics of the imperative intersect with ethics as prudence and the art of living. Rational freedom intersects with the contingency of reality and the inscrutability of the psyche. Morality becomes more impure, but also richer and more suited to take up the challenge of being human.

Values in Ethics Teaching in Grades 3 to 6 of Finnish Basic Education

The article begins with a review and analysis of the literature on educational reform in Finland, with particular reference to values education and secular ethics. The analysis of the curriculum began with a review of the literature on secular ethics in Finnish basic education. The next stage was to analyse the curriculum along with the curricular guidelines and support for primary schools in grades 3–6, especially with regard to what is applicable to all schools in Finland; this involved a review of the literature on educational reform in Finland, values in teaching and secular ethics. The article addresses a key issue in curriculum policy: ethics education in grades 3–6. The article explores what is embodied in this policy, especially the objectives of the subject of ethics.
 The problem method and critical discourse analysis were applied to the study of documents concerning educational reform and the study of discourses in political rhetoric. The problem method is based on an educational phenomenon related to time and society, so it was necessary to contrast the different views presented in contemporary Finnish education and to examine various consistent factors. Education here is thus an interaction between the various sets of teachers’ values and the ongoing construction of students’ values. This method of primary education encourages appropriate conditions for lifelong learning for each student. Suggested lessons may include discussions with students about values so that students perceive the variance in values and are able to think about them in a constructive and critical manner.

Etika i timotika u romanima Dostojevskog / Ethics and Thymos in Dostoevsky's Novels

The purpose of this paper is to comprehend the complex ethical picture of Dostoevsky through his great novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Notes from Underground, and The Brothers Karamazov. Along with the numerous topics that Dostoevsky tackles in his novels, which are directly related to the history of European ethics, his idea of absolute humanism – thymos – remains evident in his entire work. In that sense, this paper will try to provide answers as to how Dostoevsky’s work relates to some great philosophers and their ethical systems, what kind of relationship it has with Christian morality, and finally, how it relates to secular humanist ethics. In order to tackle different and conflicting ideas, this paper will show that Dostoevsky’s opus must be read with the awareness that two opposite views on the same subject do not imply reality decomposition, but a statement about its essence, and obvious truth.

Only religious ethics can help achieve equal burden sharing of global environmental sustainability

ABSTRACT This paper develops an analytical framework for comparing religious ethics (Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam) and secular ethics (duties to nature and future generations, rights of future generations). The paper presents empirical results for OECD and non-OECD countries based on numerical simulations for current and maximum feasible parameter values and on panel data statistical analyses for marginal reliable changes of parameters. Secular ethics are beneficial, but unfeasible and unreliable in OECD countries; they are detrimental, unfeasible, and unreliable in non-OECD countries. Religious ethics were all beneficial and feasible in all countries; apart from Judaism, all religions were reliable in OECD countries. Apart from Buddhism, all religions were reliable in non-OECD countries.

How Do Theological and Secular Ethics Relate and Compare?

This article relates and compares some important features of Western religious and secular morality by way of surveying the debate over different answers to the question whether morality depends on religion in some significant way. The three main ways examined are whether morality depends on religion for an objective foundation, whether morality depends on religion for its content, and whether morality depends on religion for motivation. What emerges is that while religion can provide an objective foundation, a worthy content, and an admirable motivation for those who accept its distinctive theological claims, secularists can provide plausible, if debatable, alternatives to a theological foundation, as well as a moral content and motivation that can have interesting overlaps with those of religious ethics.

Cordocentrism of Ivan Prokopenka`s and Grigory Skovorody`s pedagogical outlook

The study of the unified basis of the pedagogical worldview of Ivan Prokopenko and Grigory Skovoroda is relevant in the conditions of martial law in Ukraine and is due to the tragic events that the entire civilized world lives. The article is aimed at revealing the cordocentric basis of the pedagogical worldview of these educators and teachers. To achieve the goal, comparative historical and systemically structural methods were used to characterize the pedagogical worldview of each educator, to reveal the basic concept of publication. Methods specifically search – analysis, synthesis of generalization of historical facts – used to characterize cordocentrism through the prism of the pedagogical work of Grigory Skovorolda and pedagogical achievements of Ivan Prokopenko. The retrospective method was used to creatively interpret the results of the research.
 In the article, the results of the study are presented in accordance with synergistic, systemic, axiological approaches. The authors emphasized n6a because cordocentrism can be a synthesizing feature of the pedagogical worldview of these enlighteners. They formed pedagogical views on the basis of the idea of the naturalness of work, understanding of gratitude as the basis of worldview ethics and quality, unity of secular and religious ethics, life practice of cordial attitude to a person, mental attitude to the interlocutor, sincerity even in the most intimate senses and search for oneself, self-knowledge.
 The authors highlighted the significance of the phenomenon, Skovorodinovsky person, Skovorodinovsky intelligentst.
 In demand, in the opinion of the authors, are the practices of deep knowledge of themselves for the restoration and establishment of peace in Ukraine, the development of the best mentality traits for the continuous civilizational progress of Ukrainians, axiological understanding of the will, recognition of self-worth and psycho-emotional dependence on the native land, preservation of the memory of generations, diligence as signs of spiritual harmony and sensual residence of all things.
 These cordocentric imperatives combine the pedagogical worldviews of the great enlightener Grigory Skovoroda and the outstanding academician Ivan Prokopenko.
 These cordocentric imperatives combine the pedagogical worldviews of the great enlightener Grigory Skovoroda and the outstanding academician Ivan Prokopenko.

Values Imposition and Ethical Pluralism: An Argument Against Standardized Ethical Directives for Healthcare Ethics Consultants

In the article "An Argument for Standardized Ethical Directives for Secular Healthcare Services," Abram L. Brummett and Jamie C. Watson argue that, parallel to the directives of the Roman Catholic Church, secular healthcare ethics consultants (HECs) need substantive standardized ethical guidelines (what they call SEGs) that would constitute a best practice across all HECs in the U.S. Brummett and Watson believe that the absence of such directives constitutes an important deficit in clinical ethics consultation (CEC) that needs to be rectified in order for consultation to achieve the professionalism and universality necessary for legitimacy. This is a bold argument worthy of consideration, perhaps most because it challenges the field to engage in a self-assessment about its current and future directions against the backdrop of both the concerning data on national CEC and the current intense values polarization in the U.S. As part of assessment, I will argue in this essay that such a consensus document is not only impossible in our current national climate, but undesirable given the way that it would impose liberal clinical ethics values on an extremely values-pluralistic populace and exacerbate the deep divisions that many of us fear could be our national undoing.

Policing the Sublime: The Metaphysical Harms of Irreligious Clinical Ethics

Abstract Janet Malek has recently argued that the religious worldview of the clinical ethics consultant should play no normative role in clinical ethics consultation. What are the theological implications of a normatively secular clinical ethics? I argue that Malek’s proposal constitutes an irreligious clinical ethics, which commits multiple metaphysical harms. First, I summarize Malek’s key claims for a secular clinical ethics. Second, I explicate both John Milbank’s notion of ontological violence and Timothy Murphy’s irreligious bioethics to show how they apply to Malek’s secular clinical ethics, resulting in an irreligious clinical ethics. Third, I then show how an irreligious clinical ethics commits metaphysical harms to patients, clinical ethics consultants, and the institution of clinical ethics consultation. I conclude that Malek’s proposal for an irreligious clinical ethics must be rejected to maintain the metaphysical integrity of clinical ethics consultants, patients, and the institution of clinical ethics consultation.

Why Does Buddhism Support International Humanitarian Law? – A Humanistic Perspective

ABSTRACT The core teaching of Buddhism revolves around understanding and alleviating suffering. Since the purpose of international humanitarian law (IHL) is to minimise suffering during armed conflict, by protecting the innocent and restricting the means and methods of warfare, Buddhists should support IHL. In this paper, I try not to utilise the Buddha’s well-known teachings such as karma, impermanence, non-self, emptiness, compassion and so on, to explain why Buddhists should support IHL. Instead, I present how and why Buddhism underlines the importance of secular ethics, indicating that humanity comes first for Buddhism, which would be the main reason for Buddhists to support IHL. Buddhist monks such as Yinshun and the 14th Dalai Lama view common humanity, conventional morality and inner values as the grounds for Buddhism. An enhancement of humanity and the promotion of morality are also part of the way of Buddhist practice. Viewed from a humanistic perspective, Buddhism may endorse all laws, rules, and regulations that are in the best interest of the public and align with values such as peace, freedom, equality, justice, benevolence, and more, regardless of whether they are applied internationally or domestically. Buddhism upholds IHL for similar reasons.

Проблемное поле развития преподавания православной культуры в российской школе: подходы к исследованию

The article discusses approaches to the study of the problem of the development of teaching Orthodox culture (the Basics of Orthodox culture) in the Russian general education state and municipal school as an independent academic subject (course, module) at the choice of the family, parents (legal representatives) of underage schoolchildren. The formation of this practice, which began in the late 1990s in the education system of the Russian Federation, in the regions, in schools, has stagnated in the last decade, has not developed to the extent and quality necessary to achieve its goals. The study of this problem is relevant, the search for possible ways to solve it. The initial marking of the problem field is carried out in the article, the main aspects of the problem consideration are highlighted: socio-cultural, pedagogical, socio-psychological. Within their framework, issues of modern legal support for this practice and opportunities for its improvement, the relations of participants in this education, including the organizations of the Russian Orthodox Church, the state of the pedagogical base (state and church educational documents and materials, school teachers teaching Orthodox culture, their status and training, textbooks and manuals on Orthodox culture, educational and methodological support, etc.). In the pedagogical aspect, the most important issue of understanding the goals of teaching Orthodox culture in the general education of children, their upbringing and training, the expected educational results (personal and subject) and the reflection of this understanding in the main educational documents on Orthodox culture, in the subject areas "Fundamentals of religious cultures and secular ethics", "Fundamentals of spiritual and moral culture of peoples" is highlighted Russia" in the education system.

Оценка планируемых результатов обучения предмету «Основы религиозных культур и светской этики»

The publication provides an explanation regarding the construction by the teacher of a system for monitoring and evaluating the planned educational results of fourth-graders when they master the content of the subject “Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics” (FRCSE). The question of an elementary school teacher from Khabarovsk is answered by Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, professor N.F. Vinogradova. In accordance with the provisions of the Law "On Education in the Russian Federation", an educational organization has the right to independently choose a system for current monitoring of progress, intermediate certification, as well as the forms, frequency and procedure for its implementation. Recommendations for the organization of monitoring activities are contained in the updated Federal State Educational Standard for Primary General Education. The publication explains in detail the features of the teacher's assessment of subject, meta-subject and personal achievements of fourth grade students in connection with the originality of the subject of the FRCSE.

Reflective Practice and Faith Integration: An Example from Psychology That Can Be Applied Across Disciplines

Although faith integration has been part of Christian ministry and pastoral counseling, it has not been included as much in clinical research, training, and practice in psychology, secular counseling, or most health professions. Reasons for exclusion include secular ethics and licensing criteria, but Christian faith can inform research and professional practice--even in secular contexts. Previous authors have discussed the integration of faith with medical practice: in some settings, using providential intervention; and in eldercare, using religious coping. This article extends that work to consider faith integration with reflective practice. Sacrifice of one's own perspective to peer inside the worldview of another, for the sake of healing, not only provides pragmatic improvements to care, but also correlates with God's commandments to love one another. Relevant techniques of reflective practice increase the quality of care given by all healthcare professionals. Many faith-integration techniques presented in this article can be applied to disciplines across the arts, sciences, and humanities.

Bioethics: An International, Morally Diverse, and Often Political Endeavor.

Bioethicists often remind health care professionals to pay close attention to issues of diversity and inclusion. Approaches to ethics consultation, where the perspective of the bioethicist is taken to be more morally correct or necessarily authoritative, have been critiqued as inappropriately authoritarian. Despite such apparent recognition of the importance of respecting moral diversity and the inclusion of different viewpoints, authoritarianism is all too often the approach adopted, especially as bioethics has shifted evermore into concerns for public policy. Yet, secular values and philosophical principles are not morally neutral; nor are the private moral convictions of bioethicists. Such analysis is always grounded in particular understandings of the right and the good, the virtuous and the just. Critical examination of common treatments and new alternatives is essential for the careful scientific practice of medicine. The same is true with regard to bioethics. Stagnating in customary or accepted claims of a common secular morality or a standard set of bioethical principles out of an unwillingness to explore the real diversity of moral thought, including traditional religious and cultural worldviews, fails to tap the human capacity to find innovative solutions to the complex challenges facing medicine.

Islam and Veterinary Science: Rethinking Animal Suffering Through Islamic Animal Ethics and the Evolving Definition of Halal Slaughter

In the midst of recent European activism against religious slaughter, the idea that religious slaughter is cruel to animals is often seen as commonsense, and the mandatory pre-slaughter stunning is often portrayed as the moral technology that assures animal welfare. Nevertheless, this portrayal seems to blur the fact that the current notion of animal welfare itself is built upon a changing selection of value assumptions, which are not without problems or academic debates. It also ignores the fact that contemporary veterinary scientists and Muslim scholars have been working together for four decades to learn more about farm animals and their suffering. Despite stereotypes, the idea of animal ethics is not foreign to Islam. In Islam, animals represent God's wisdom and wonder, and humans are obliged to attend to their health and living conditions. When killing animals for food is conducted, the slaughter must be done in the name of God as a sacred ritual in order to assure that the life of the animal is not taken lightly and that the slaughter is not a sign of hostility toward the universe. Before the act of sacrifice, the animal must be healthy, and no harm should be forced upon it. Accordingly, the requirement of pre-slaughter stunning has posed a question to Muslim scholars: Does stunning kill the animal or cause harm? What defines harm, and whose definition counts? This paper reconstructs a socio-technological history of halal slaughter through scientific research on animal suffering since the 1980s. On the basis of archival research of New Zealand veterinary scientists' works and in-depth interviews with Malaysian veterinary scientists, this article outlines three phases of the evolution of halal slaughter that aims to fulfill multiple sets of moral obligations toward farm animals, and demonstrates how veterinary scientists establish common ground between secular and Islamic animal ethics. In this vein, I am envisioning a possibility of veterinary anthropology that recognizes the field's trans-cultural characteristics, and continues to challenge the rigid binaries between the West and the Rest, and between science and culture.

The many metaphysical commitments of secular clinical ethics: Expanding the argument for a moral-metaphysical proceduralism.

The rich moral diversity of academic bioethics poses a paradox for the practice of giving moral recommendations in secular clinical ethics: How are ethicists to provide moral guidance in a pluralistic society? The field has responded to this challenge with a "procedural approach," but defining this term stirs debate. Some have championed a contentless proceduralism, where ethicists work only to help negotiate resolutions among stakeholders without making any moral recommendations. Others have defended a moral proceduralism by claiming that ethicists should make moral recommendations that are grounded in bioethical consensus (e.g., relevant law, policy, professional consensus statements, and bioethics literature), which is secured using moral principles such as respect for persons or justice. In contrast, we develop a moral-metaphysical proceduralism by identifying many metaphysical commitments in points of secular bioethical consensus. The moral-metaphysical view of secular clinical ethics is important because it challenges the discipline to accept the substantive philosophical foundations required to support giving moral recommendations in a pluralistic context, which may lead to further insights about the nature of the field.

A Values Perspective on Ethical Education for Grades 7 to 9 in Finland

The National Core Curriculum for Basic Education 2014 underlined the need to treat each child as unique and valuable, and as a result, students are encouraged to enhance their self-images, self- efficacy, and self-esteem, which contribute to improvement of their learning skills. There is highlighted the emphasis on the joy of learning and promotion of pupil welfare.The main part of the study is thus an analysis of the Finnish National Core Curriculum, based on a review of the literature on secular ethics across grades 7 to 9 and the presentation of values in Finnish basic education

Losing Freud

Losing Freud

Религиоведение в российской школе: мнение учителей по материалам интервью и анкетирования

The article publishes an analysis of opinions of teachers in the subject Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics in the secondary school in Russia. The relevance of the study is due to the necessity of empirical verifi cation of already proposed and existing worldview-related and methodological approaches in the sphere of religious education. The study included in-depth interviews with teachers, assessment of children’s knowledge, attendance of classes and workshops of teachers, interviews with teachers of further education courses, with university teachers specialising in religious studies and theology, as well as with researchers in theology. The project is region-specifi c; the article uses results of surveys and interviews carried out in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region. Several pieces of evidence ae compared with results of surveys in other Russian regions. The main fi ndings are as follows. The study refl ects the contemporary Russian teacher with typical social and demographic characteristics; the modules of the Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics are taught by primary school teachers; most of them are positive about the introduction of this school subject; according to studies in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Regions, most teachers prefer non-confessional general modules; study materials are usually evaluated positively, but it is mentioned that they may have drawbacks in terms of the contemporary means of presenting information and in terms of the perception and demands of present-day students; most teachers have attended additional courses in the subject and evaluated them as useful, but said that they still do not have enough knowledge in religious cultures; interaction with religious institutions when teching modules in specifi c religious cultures is rare, the most successful interaction of this kind is seen in confessional schools; parents can discuss and choose the module in Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics in parents’ meetings; the teachers say that in these meetings parents were off ered an opportunity to discuss and select the module of Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics, any coersion being absent, but the role of the teachers is decisive. The main conclusion is that the implementation of the Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics has gone through the formative stage and has gone over to the stage of discussing the content of the modules and accumulating the experience in teaching practices.

Educational potential of the course "Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics"

The authors explore the potential educational opportunities of the training course "Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics". The content of these meanings is directly and indirectly connected with the languages of ethics. The analysis is based on a universalist cultural approach, which allows using cultural universals and languages as a way of representing meanings. As cultural methods and techniques of analysis in the course of the study were: content analysis in the study of the content of educational literature in order to detect features of the representation of ethical concepts; method of conceptual analysis of the discovered ethical concepts; comparative-historical method in the analysis of the features of the formation of ethical ideas; structural-functional method in the analysis of the place and functions of education and upbringing in the system of culture. It is concluded that the development and appropriation of ethical concepts allows creating conditions for the education and socialization of students. A specific methodology is proposed for updating ethical concepts and their cultural meanings, which are explicated in the key texts of Russian culture (verbal and visual). In this regard, a system of tasks and exercises has been developed, reflecting the author's program of the course.