Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Young Age ◽  
Good Person ◽  
The Universe

Truth occupies a central, yet elusive, role in our lives. From a young age we are told to tell the truth, and that a good person seeks the truth. We are all familiar with the oath taken in court to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Many people spend their lives in pursuit of truth, from the deep to the mundane: an astrophysicist tries to discover truths about nature of the universe; Hercule Poirot tries to find the truth about who committed the crime; and probably every day you try to discover the truth about where your keys are. Given that truth is so familiar, it is natural for a philosopher to ask what truth itself is. This is where the elusiveness of truth comes in, as answering this question is notoriously difficult....

scholarly journals Perspectives of Hinduism and Zoroastrianism on abortion: a comparative study between two pro-life ancient sisters

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiarash Aramesh
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Dead Body ◽  
Good Person ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Abrahamic Religions ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Holy Book ◽  
Pro Life

Hinduism and Zoroastrianism have strong historical bonds and share similar value-systems. As an instance, both of these religions are pro-life. Abortion has been explicitly mentioned in Zoroastrian Holy Scriptures including Avesta, Shayast-Nashayast and Arda Viraf Nameh. According to Zoroastrian moral teachings, abortion is evil for two reasons: killing an innocent and intrinsically good person, and the contamination caused by the dead body (Nashu). In Hinduism, the key concepts involving moral deliberations on abortion are Ahimsa, Karma and reincarnation. Accordingly, abortion deliberately disrupts the process of reincarnation, and killing an innocent human being is not only in contrast with the concept of Ahimsa, but also places a serious karmic burden on its agent. The most noteworthy similarity between Zoroastrianism and Hinduism is their pro-life approach. The concept of Asha in Zoroastrianism is like the concept of Dharma in Hinduism, referring to a superior law of the universe and the bright path of life for the believers. In terms of differences, Zoroastrianism is a religion boasting a God, a prophet, and a Holy book, while Hinduism lacks all these features. Instead of reincarnation and rebirth, Zoroastrianism, like Abrahamic religions, believes in the afterlife. Also, in contrast with the concept of Karma, in Zoroastrianism,  Ahura Mazda can either punish or forgive sins.

Picture me dead. Moral choices reimagined

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-96
Author(s):  
Silvia Tomášková
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Intended Meaning ◽  
Good Person ◽  
Kin Relations ◽  
Moral World ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Will ◽  
Moral Choices ◽  
The Universe

Shortly before her death, my grandmother expressed a strongly felt sentiment not to lie in the family tomb next to her sister-in-law. It was not quite clear what was to be done with the bones of the woman who by then had occupied the space next to her brother, my grandfather, for some five years. My mother resolved the issue by depositing the urn with my grandmother's ashes on the other side of my grandfather's coffin, stating matter-of-factly, ‘We are not about to toss the aunt out, and we will certainly not build a new tomb.’ Acting in a relational web of moral obligations and duties as a good daughter, my mother also proceeded as a rational modern individual in the universe of limited choices in Eastern Europe. Cremation replaced interment, therefore ‘lying next to’ was no longer an issue in a literal sense. At the same time, the filial duty of a proper burial in the family tomb was conducted with all the necessary ritual, wide kin in attendance. This incident came to my mind when reading about the archaeological dilemma of mortuary analysis described in Voutsaki's essay: to what extent do burials express the will, agency and station in life of the deceased as opposed to those of the wider kin relations responsible for burying them? Do the actions that archaeologists interpret on the basis of burials derive from choices by individual, cognizant agents, or do they represent a moral world in which adherence to certain practices defines a ‘good person’? I wish to address two issues from this presentation, one more philosophical and the other directly addressing the archaeological record of the Mycenaeans. First, I will consider whether the shift from agency to personhood (and back) proposed in this essay solves interpretive problems created by the recent embrace of agency. Second, I am intrigued by the question that Voutsaki poses about why images appear in this period, as it seems to me that a potential answer may lie in her detailed exposition of moral theory if one looks carefully, or extends it slightly beyond the intended meaning.

Structures in the Universe by Exact Methods

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Bolejko ◽  
Andrzej Krasinski ◽  
Charles Hellaby ◽  
Marie-Noelle Celerier
Keyword(s):  
Exact Methods ◽  
The Universe

The Riddle of the Universe at the Close of the Nineteenth Century

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel ◽  
Joseph McCabe
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
The Universe
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