value and moral reasoning

• Value


  Something of worth or something that is highly regarded
• Reasoning


  The use of abstract thought processes to think creatively, to answer questions, to solve problems, and to formulate strategies for one's actions and desired ways of being
• Moral Reasoning


  Reasoning focused on moral or ethical issues
• Periods of Moral Reasoning in Western History

  • Ancient Greece
  • The Middle Ages
  • Age of Enlightenment
  • Postmodern Era
• Ancient Greece


  • Much of what is known about formal moral reasoning generally began with the ancient Greeks, especially with the philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
• Socrates: '"The unexamined life is not worth living."'
• Socratic method


  A method of reasoning developed by Socrates which is still used today
• Plato


  • His reasoning was based on his belief that there are two realms of reality: realm of Forms and world of Appearances
  • The realm of Forms transcends time and space and contains eternal, perfect, and unchanging ideal copies (Forms) of all phenomena
  • The world of Appearances is the everyday world of imperfect, decaying, and changing phenomena
• Aristotle


  • He was guided in his reasoning by his belief in the importance of empirical inquiry
  • He believed that all things have a purpose or end goal (telos) similar to Plato's proposition that the goal of all things is to strive to be like their perfect Form
• The Middle Ages


  • Christianity became the dominant religion in Western Europe as the Catholic Church took on the powerful role of educating the European people
  • Christianity is a monotheistic, revelatory religion, whereas ancient Greek philosophy was based on the use of reason and polytheism
• St. Augustine


  • His belief in a heavenly place of unchanging moral truths is similar to Plato's belief in the realm of ideal Forms
  • People who live according to the spirit live in the City of God (world of perfection/Forms), while people who live according to the flesh live in the City of Man (world of imperfection/Appearances)
  • To move away from evil, one must have the grace of God
• St. Thomas Aquinas


  • Like Aristotle, he believed that people have a desirable end goal or purpose and that developing excellences of character (virtues) leads to human happiness and good moral reasoning
  • He expanded Aristotle's conception of the end goal of perfect happiness and grounded the requirements for happiness in the knowledge and love of God and Christian virtues
  • He replaced Aristotle's emphasis on the virtue of pride with an emphasis on the virtue of humility
  • Natural law theory of ethics
• Modern Philosophy and the Age of Enlightenment

  • The period of modern philosophy began when the Catholic Church began to have a diminishing influence within society, while the influence of science began to increase
  • This new freedom in human moral reasoning was based on people being autonomous, rational-thinking creatures rather than primarily being influenced and controlled by Church dogma and rules
• Postmodern Era


  • Postmodernism often is considered to have begun around 1950, after the end of World War II
  • Postmodernism rejects the optimistic view that science and reason will improve humanity and the notion of sustained progress through reason and the scientific method
  • Postmodernism recognizes a pluralistic view, or a diversity of intellectual and cultural influences
• The varied historical influences that have affected moral reasoning have formed a pattern of rich and interesting values, perspectives, and practices that are evident in the globally connected world that people live in today.