(February 25, 2013 at 8:39 pm)justin Wrote: Hey y`all. i have a assignment that my philosophy teacher gave the class. i was wondering if anyone could help me out real quick.
the subject is on ethics. deontological and teleological. we are to find a event dealing with these issues and explain what the ethical issue is and what it falls under. well i want to rock the boat a little. i am looking for a current religious article that points out a problem with religion. there is a reason i am doing this. mainly because throughout the class she has slipped in comments implying religion is superior to science and is just as reasonable etc. two is to get everyone thinking about these things and that religion is far from ethically superior. i want to stick with the christian religion if possible because i live in good ole south carolina and this is the bible belt. i want to prob if you will my classmates to see where they stand and what they think and i think this will be a good way to do so. thanks in advance. i am looking by the way but everything is about this damn pope so far..
I don't have a specific article or dilemma to point to, but I can suggest a general direction you can take.
Simply put, teleological ethics is about "ends justify means" and deontological are about "means justify ends". One is result based - where the same action can be good or bad depending upon the context it takes place in and other is rule based - where an action is good or bad irrespective of what it results in.
My suggestion is to point out how the religious ethics fall into deontological category (which I find ironic, because ultimately it is all about getting into heaven) - and the many pitfalls and dangers of unthinking rule following. Start with the idea that deontological (sp. religious) ethics usually result in slavish deference to authority - whether it be your church, your imam or your priest - rather than any sort critical thinking on your own part. We often see a lot of "moral" rules devolve into blind rituals or traditions that have no applicability in our current life. Morality is about how you should live your life and actions which potentially have greater effect or significance to you or those around you are morally more significant, i.e. worthy of greater consideration. A lot of deontological religious rules, on the other hand, serve no significant purpose at all.
The second thing to be noted here is that accepting deontological ethical systems creates a schism in your life which makes it difficult to be at peace with yourself. For the largest portion of our lives - the portion that we somehow consider separate form morality - we tend to follow the teleological perspective. We consider what is good for us and for those around us and act accordingly - even when it goes against the moral imperatives. We lie to our parents about our sex-lives, we lie to our children about Santa and we lie in interviews to get jobs. We don't go around giving away our money to those in need. We don't "turn the other cheek" when someone attacks us. Basically, in our day to day life, we don't think about morality, we simply do what is best for ourselves. And somehow, we imagine that these actions are exempt from moral judgment. That is the reason why a lot of ethical dilemmas are presented as life or death situations. However, morality is applicable even in those situations and someday you may have to own up to the psychological contradiction this results in. Following deontological ethics often lead you into situations where your options are doing what is right and doing what is best. Either you do the "right" thing and feel bad about the harmful results of your actions or you do the "wrong" thing and feel guilty nonetheless. That sot of psychological self-mutilation cannot be good for a peaceful state of mind.
Finally, there is the effect of following deontological ethics to your capacity for rational thinking. And this applies primarily to religious ethics. While some deontological ethical theories might require you to work out those moral imperatives - those laws to be followed - by yourself using reason, religion does not give you that option. It requires you to accept those laws as given by your holy books or as interpreted by your religious leaders. Conscious and consistent application of those rules in your daily life would not be possible without suspension of your rational faculties.
I believe that this analysis (or, atleast parts of it) can be applied to any ethical issue of your choosing where religion has something to say. It can be applied to Islamic extremism - where anything deviating from absolute and total acceptance of deontological dictates is answered with violence. It can apply to most of the positions Christians take with regards to women's rights, abortion, gay marriage, contraception - positions which are based rules implied or interpreted from their holy books and supposed to be applied irrespective of their real-world applicability or even consequences.
