What Makes a Good Person - Coursework Example

What makes a good person? Society is rife with tensions about ethic’s proper role in this juncture of vast social change. Hans Kung, Paul Knitter and John Hicks, branded liberal by conservatives, are among those who offer varying yet controversial propositions through an ethic formula that aim to resolve world’s crises now and beyond. Change and transformation should begin from within and given the multi-faceted pressures man face, will these palpably, uneven ethical musings give an oasis of thoughts on what make a good person? To help decipher some of the puzzling concerns of this ethical ideology, it will be of value to look into the discourses of these liberal theologians. This paper aims to answer the following: Where did the prospect for ethic that makes a person good derive? Compare Kung’s, Knitter’s and Hick’s perspectives on good person. After a discussion on these questions, this paper offers my thoughts on what makes a good person? Prospect on ethic that makes a person good, where derive To understand the concept that surrounds ethic that makes for a good person, it said that it is best to postpone any attempt to define it until one has inquired into its history. Global ethic then must be considered as timeless thing that is wanting of change and variety. Like all human artifacts global ethic has a history. Therefore, one's understanding of this moral statement must be sensitive to those changes. Relative to this discussion are the views of Max Weber and Friedrich Nietzsche, two of the most important thinkers during their time. Weber (1864-1920) said, "Definition can be attempted, if at all, only at the conclusion of the study." Meanwhile, Nietzsche (1844-1900) held that "only that which has no history can be defined.'' To understand then ethic and discover if the same may be used as model in determining what makes a good person, we look to some ethical histories. As to the questions this research sought to find answers, “What makes a good person?” It suggests an exploration of what made, what constitute or what sort of characteristics a good person has, rather than what makes a good action. Borrowing from one philosophical principle called virtue ethic, it is the likely approach for this study since it is an appropriate way to gauge and define the proper telos (goal or end) of the person. Being so, its main concern in soul-making is the interior orientation of man rather than the virtue that emphasize interpersonal relations. In Storiesnmore.blogspot.com, its author traced the origin of virtue ethic in ancient Greek philosophy, citing Plato’s Four Cardinal Virtues (of prudence, fortitude, justice and temperance) and Aristotle’s moral theory. When it was later incorporated into the Catholic theology practices, Thomas Aquinas was easily recognizable to have adopted this in his Summa Theologie and his Commentaries on the Nicomachean ethics. Most recently, the dominant approaches in ethical philosophy, such as the ones espoused by Kung and his contemporaries, focus on actions. Representing the landmark move by more than 250 religious leaders who approve Kung’s seminal work, the “Declaration of a Global Ethic” at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago on 4 September 1993, this ethical prescription offer to provide principles of action how a person will decide on the rightful behaviour in any particular situation. More specifically, his global ethic declaration prescribed a universal goal for all men and religions to exercise “global responsibility” as humanity grapples with the world’s crises now and in the future generations to come (Kung 1991). In the same vein also, Hicks has stressed that humanity’s survival at this point of history hinges at least to man’s articulation of ethical outlook and eventually a possible set of ethical principles, that will reflect the concurrence of all major human culture that can as well serve to influence behaviour. To wit, Hicks noted – “We need to uncover and cultivate the ground of human unity beneath the multiplicity of nations, cultures, social systems, religions and ideologies among which and between which conflicts occur.” Kung, Knitter and Hicks, compared The following are the similarities and difference among global ethics perspectives of Kung, Knitter and Hicks. Philosophical ethic raised by these ethicists are similarly only partly based, guided or caused by religion. These theologian-philosophers are catholic and Catholicism was very open that their doctrines and sometimes the study and exploration of philosophy is favored or encouraged among their ranks, even to the point that some philosopher-priests’ views run counter against the traditional or conventional order of dogmas (that may cause their censure or losing the trust of their administrators). Another similarity that these ethicists shared is about their view that global responsibility will move toward resolving the moral crises facing the world today. Kung and Knitter are in the views that “all peoples and religion must resolutely move together” if they are concerned about the future of the world and its moral crises. Hicks, on his part while not opposing the need for shared global responsibility, has enthused the need for man to articulate some set of at least basic ethical outlook and principles that will allow “all the major streams of human culture concur and which can be used to influence their behaviour.” On the universality of Christian rule that says, “Do unto others what you would want others do unto you” – which for Hicks is also present in the teachings of all the great religions, the two other theologians do share the belief that this is presupposed by all other ethical theories existent. Hicks underscored – “The moral philosophies from Kant to Mill to Rawls to today … are all trying to spell out the logical structure of an insight of feeling that is already there and is shared by us all.” The differences in the ethical principles by Kung, Knitter and Hicks include their views on pluralism and religion’s role. On pluralism. Kung and Hicks believed that there must be an open-ended, pluralistic dialogue among all bodies of faith and ideologies or the unification of faith, and Hicks partly agree on this. Knitter, however, believe that it is not unity of religions that is more important but diversity. According to him, religious diversity must be welcomed and celebrated to enrich the moral sought to celebrate religious diversity. Hicks, meanwhile still find this approach to be lacking and one that requires further inquiry and consultation among other concerned nations to arrive at a consensus. On the role of religion. Kung, who holds the belief that ethics is more than rights, has attempted that global ethics to be palatable and effective must neither be too religious based nor less on account that any of the two might result in ethics that will be too superfluous or excessive but he accepted the fact that man should then commit to the precepts and practices of the world’s religions – “a minimal fundamental consensus concerning binding values, irrevocable standards, and fundamental moral attitudes.” This is in response to Kung’s purview that minus a consensus, any community may soon be threatened by chaos or dictatorship. Hicks, however, warned and alarm the need to further review the role religion should play in proscribing an ethical system that the world will follow. He said that much needs to be unravelled or scrutinized in order to come up with a more definitive ethic. Knitter, meanwhile, said that clear recognition of the dangers must be addressed to the success of the articulation of such edict. My perspective on what makes a good person It is a hard fact and reality that no matter how idealistic and noble the commitments and intentions of these theologians are, some parts of the ethic principles they espouse will not hold true and withstand the test of time. The ethic principles they espouse (Kung’s global responsibility and tolerance, Hick’s benevolence system and Knitter’s religious diversity) if not too superfluous are unrealistic. Virtue ethicists believe that man must aim to reach eudaimonia or the ‘flourishing’ or ‘success’ in terms of leading a good, happy and fulfilling life. In order to achieve such, man must live by what he considered virtues such as “charity, stoicism, honesty, friendliness, fairness, and more.” It is only through constant practice to be virtuous that a person will gradually achieve eudaimonia. I believe on this, however, this still begs for more principles to be considered valid and irrefutable by any circumstances. For man to be good, he will first and foremost, need to possess a wilful appreciation of God’s Word in the Bible. Before anything that ethicists and philosophers are anything, it begs to be understood and validated using the proven and authentic reference which is the Bible. It is where man can find the best moral and ethical principles that will make him good once again. Others may dismiss this as missing the whole point but it isn’t. Eli Soriano, a preacher from the largely-populous Catholic nation Philippines, who wrote that: “God is not the author of confusion, but a God of order and truth” has a very insightful and intelligent point. Soriano, easily regarded by some citizen journalists as the most queried evangelist living today, said in his blog – “God’s word and wisdom written in the Bible are straightforward declaration of the absolute truth. There is no contradiction whatsoever. God guarantees it; but it will appear to be clear and concise only to an understanding mind of someone favored by the grace of the Holy Spirit.” Being the God of truth, He is faithful. In Greek, ‘pistos’ meaning trustworthy. Soriano also elucidated that there are absolute truths in the Bible that work out to be the guiding principle in understanding the written word of God. He said, “They are our guide to discern the absolute truth about everything that exists, and within the capacity of our awareness,” adding that “Our awareness is limited compared to God’s. The absolute truth is: God is a God of truth!” Among the absolute truths that we can find in the Bible concerning our quest about what makes a good person is that man is incapable of being good by all by him alone. In the King James Version of the Bible, Jeremiah, one of the leading prophets of the early Church, and King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said that it is God who directs man’s ways or steps. This truth is directly contrary to the dilatory claim by Hicks that there is logical impossibility in the statement that “God could create wholly good persons.” The rich tapestry of virtues, moral and ethical principles contained in the Bible are hard to ignore, much so dismissed as they cannot be claimed or proved to be contradictory however. This leads us to subscribe to the belief that ideas by Kung, Knitter and Hicks are lacking or wanting. Whereas they only choose a particular scriptural verse in the Bible which they call the Golden Rule, or the doctrine that man should only do what he wants others do unto him. As Hicks pointed out – “The Golden Rule seems to rest on a basic human moral sense which is presupposed by all ethical theories … the moral philosophers from Kant to Mill to Rawls to today, whether appealing to duties or to calculation of consequences or to virtues or to human nature, are all trying to spell out the logical structure of an insight or feeling that is already there and is shared by us all. One cannot prove such a fundamental principle. It is too basic to be derived from prior premises, but the whole of our moral discourse hinges upon it.” Moreover, in elucidating that the ethic that should be adopted need not be too or less religious, the theologians are manifested not in full grasp of the deep breath and understanding of the Holy writ. To wit, Kung pointed out that, “… there is no consensus on a definition of what "religion" is.” By not being religious, these philosophers missed the whole point since it is through being religious that a person will manifest goodness. It appears to the liberal theologians, being religious is an archetypal socio-psychological characteristics, not spiritual. The Scriptures, however, contain an exact definition of religion, contrary to Kung’s suggestion that there must first be consensus and agreement as to the definition of religion to be adopted. In the Book of James, the apostle define that pure religion and being undefiled before God means visiting the fatherless and widows in their afflictions, and to keep himself unspotted from the word (italics mine). So the very essence of religion is prescribing a method, an approach that man should thread. Being spotless or clean would thus entail man or a person to do good first within himself, by cleansing his inside of negative and impure thoughts, and next of showing compassion and love to his neighbour, friends, family and even the loving of enemies. So in essence, what makes a good person is that he must possess love and compassion to everything he do or undertake, and it will already envelop every other morale principles like having the fear for an Almighty Creator, being benevolent, pious, persevering, patient and honest, and many more. For man to determine whether he is indeed a good person, his next goal then is to have a guide or principle which can be used to make sound ethical decisions in any circumstances. Given this groundwork, a person or man should answer any of these few questions relative to this. These are – 1) what does a good person does or worth emulating that I must follow or imitate? As a child, we look for someone to imitate for behaving or acting. Sometimes we follow or imitate our parents and when we found their action good and ethical; 2) should I always follow the norms, the rules or limits imposed on me? It is always a good way to think over and weigh the rationales, whether following an order or heeding to a limitation will bring me good emotionally and psychologically; and, 3) have I considered what consequences my actions would bring or cause? By asking such question, as a person, one should rate whether the action has brought trouble, harm or little to no harm at all the same or his fellow men such as family, friends, co-workers, and other people concerned. Dr. Wilton Bunch, while an orthopaedic surgeon also holds a degree in divinity, noted that given the chance to think, people are able to come up with sound ethical decisions. To him, there can be no “black and white answers” in each case, yet he is interested to finding out people’s motives, their reasons and what would they do in any crucial and pressing situation. To conclude, the interpretations about what would make a god person in the praxis of several ethical systems continue to evolve, with some extolling it and some damning it; with some crediting it to a world of reality in restoring balance. Whatever interpretation we may finally have, the fact is that it came through beyond any one man’s control. It is a good sign that there is a healthy, continuous articulation to achieve a consensus on what will make man good, especially in having an ethically sound decision. End Notes Brownlee, Malcolm. “Is there saving grace for those who do not profess faith in Jesus Christ?” 30 March 2008 . Buse, Bob. “Xavier Theology Professor's Threefold Denial.” Aquinas-Multimedia.com. July- August 1998 31 March 2008 . Fairley, Miki. “Ethics: What Choices Do I Make?” 30 March 2008 . J.R. Censer. Amalgamating the social in the French Revolution. Journal of Social History. September 22, 2003. 30 March 2008 K. Marx, The Karl Marx Library, vol. 1, ed. Saul K. Padover (McGraw Hill: New York, 1972), \ 245–46. Knitter, Paul F. “Pitfalls and Promises for a Global Ethics.” Jstor.org. 30 March 2008 . Knitter, Paul. UN Presentation. United Nations. 30 March 2008 . O. Prokopyev. Conceptualizing electoral revolutions: challenges and promises. 30 March 2008, . Peace. "Virtue ethics". Blogspot. 2 April 2006. 31 March 2008 . Shafer, Ingrid. Explanatory Remarks concerning a "Declaration of the Religions for a Global Ethic." 25 March 1999. 30 March 2008 . Soriano, Eliseo. “God is not the Author of Confusion.” 21 October 2007. 30 March 2008. . Read More