Nature and Social Ethics

In the Qur'an we find different concepts of trust situated within different ethical discourses. A rather unambiguous ethico-religious discourse of the trust relationship between the believer and God can be seen embodied in conceptions of tawakkul. God is the absolute wakīl, the guardian, trustee or protector. Consequently He is the only holder of an all-encompassing trusteeship, and the normative claim upon the human being is to trust God unconditionally. There are however other, more polyvalent, conceptions of trust. The main discussion in this article evolves around the conceptions of trust as expressed in the polysemic notion of amāna, involving both trust relationships between God and man and inter-human trust relationships. This concept of trust involves both trusting and being trusted, although the strongest and most explicit normative claim put forward is on being trustworthy in terms of social ethics as well as in ethico-religious discourse. However, ‘trusting’ when it comes to fellow human beings is, as we shall see, framed in the Qur'an in less absolute terms, and conditioned by circumstantial factors; the Qur'anic antithesis to social trust is primarily betrayal, ‘khiyāna’, rather than mistrust.

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The Social Ethics of Self-Driving Cars: Public Perceptions and Predictions of Autonomous Vehicle Safety Risks

Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice ◽

10.22381/crlsj12120205 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 37

Keyword(s):

Autonomous Vehicle ◽

Social Ethics ◽

Public Perceptions ◽

Vehicle Safety ◽

Safety Risks ◽

The Social ◽

Self Driving Cars

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Lisa Sowle Cahill and the Search for a “Functionalist” Paradigm of Feminist Global Ethics

10.1093/oso/9780190851408.003.0008 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Mark S. Massa

Keyword(s):

Real World ◽

Natural Law ◽

Social Ethics ◽

Moral Theology ◽

Global Ethics ◽

New Paradigm ◽

The Real ◽

Boston College ◽

Moral Duties

This chapter presents an examination of the thoughts and writings of Lisa Sowle Cahill, a moral theologian at Boston College. Taking issue with both Germain Grisez and Jean Porter, Cahill seeks to construct a new paradigm of natural law that addresses feminist and poststructural scholars. Cahill believed that any paradigm of intercultural or interreligious ethics that purported to be describing moral duties in the real world must begin by exploring how ethical questions are intimately tied to the concrete experiences in specific (often religiously diverse) communities. Her paradigm addressed the concerns of feminist and postimperialist scholars in moving beyond the “false universalism” offered by paradigms like that of neo-scholasticism, while offering a “realist” understanding of social ethics that remained true to the realist impulses in Catholic moral theology.

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Contemporary Applications

10.1093/oso/9780198830221.003.0005 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Michael W. Austin

Keyword(s):

Family Life ◽

Religious Pluralism ◽

Social Ethics ◽

Spiritual Disciplines

This chapter examines how the Christian virtue of humility is applicable to issues in personal and social ethics. It demonstrates several ways in which humility can be robustly action-guiding. The chapter also explores some of the ways in which humility is relevant to many of the classic spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, fasting, solitude, silence, and service. Next, it considers humility’s relevance to issues concerning religious pluralism and tolerance. It concludes with a discussion of the variety of ways in which humility is essential for a flourishing family life and its status as a virtue in the context of sport.

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Humanism in East Asia

The Oxford Handbook of Humanism ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190921538.013.31 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Chun-chieh Huang

Keyword(s):

East Asia ◽

Social Ethics ◽

Zhu Xi ◽

Value Judgment ◽

Political Career ◽

History Of ◽

Core Value

This chapter discusses types of Confucian humanism in East Asia, their manifestations, functions, and shared core value. First of all, it differentiates two types of Confucian humanism: (a) ethno-historical humanism, and (b) culturo-philosophical humanism. The former was baptized in the spirit of temporality while the latter stressed a return to the spontaneity of one’s mind-heart, which was considered to be supra-temporal and supra-spatial. Both types of Confucian humanism took humanity or ren (仁) as their core value. Throughout the history of Confucian humanism, the meaning of ren fell into four categories, namely: (a) ren as the locale of physical and mental relief; (b) ren as the inner awareness of value judgment: (c) ren as social ethics; and (d) ren as political career. Confucius and Zhu Xi were the two major architects of Confucian humanistic thinking. The spirit of Confucian humanism manifested itself in beliefs in a (a) mind-body continuum, (b) self-other harmony, (c) homo-cosmic resonation, and (d) past-present fusion. Moreover, Confucian humanism functioned as (a) socio-cultural nostalgia, (b) political counter-factuality, and (c) day-to-day “practical learning.”

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