Horizons of Thought

Vol.1, No.1, Fall & Winter 2014-15

Mahmoud Namazi Esfahani / Assistant professor, IKI, Qum, Islamic Republic of Iran.

Received: 2014/07/01- Accepted: 2014/11/19                                             namazi@qabas.net

Abstract

The relationship between religion and ethics has been of special and long-standing concern to both philosophers and religious thinkers. Not only is there much overlap between the two areas, but also how their proper relationship can be understood is a question that has triggered much debate. Thinkers of both sides confront themselves to the question: is ethics independent of religion and has no relation to it or ethics has never been fulfilled without relation to religion? Is religion is a source of ethics or ethics a source of religion? If God is the one who commands and forbids, how are we to understand the ethics of his commands and forbiddances? Are there moral standards that even God must acknowledge? Or does the command of God make something morally binding? Can we imagine ethics without God? Will material worldview necessarily result in carelessness? If religion and ethics are complementary, what are the necessities of religion for ethics and what are the necessities of ethics for religion? Can we consider ethics to be a part of religion? Is the relation between ethics and religion contradictory,  complementary or one and the same?

Key Words: religion, ethics, moral standards, theologians, philosophers, realism's view, unrealism's view.