“From the ethical point of view, no one can escape responsibility with the excuse that he is only an individual, on whom the fate of the world does not depend. Not only can this not be known objectively for certain, because it is always possible that it will depend precisely on the individual, but this kind of thinking is also made impossible by the very essence of ethics, by conscience and the sense of responsibility.” ThinkingWorldKindDoeMadeCertainIndividualViewsResponsibilityKnownFateImpossibleDependsEthicsConscienceEssenceExcusePoint Of ViewEthicalSense Of Responsibility Author:Gyorgy Lukacs
“It cannot be denied that Islam, regarded as an ethical ideal plus a certain kind of polity - by which expression I mean a social structure regulated by a legal system and animated by a specific ethical ideal - has been the chief formative factor in the life-history of the Muslims of India. It has furnished those basic emotions and loyalties which gradually unify scattered individuals and groups, and finally transform them into a well-defined people, possessing a moral consciousness of their own.” PeopleWellsKindMeanHas BeensCertainIndividualSocialEmotionConsciousnessMoralGroupsExpressionIdealsIndiaStructureIslamLoyaltyFactorsDefinedChiefsPlusEthicalDeniedAnimatedPossessingLegal SystemSocial Structure Book:Speeches, Writings, and Statements of Iqbal Source: Speeches, Writings, and Statements of Iqbal
“Confucius was not so much a philsopher as a proto-ideologist: what interested him was not metaphysical Truths but rather a harmonious social order within which individuals could lead happy and ethical lives. He was the first to outline clearly what one is tempted to call the elementary scene of ideology, its zero-level, which consists in asserting the (nameless) authority of some substantial Tradition.” FirstsOrderIndividualSocialLevelsSceneAuthorityTraditionIdeologyZeroEthicalMetaphysicalTemptedHarmoniousOutlinesNamelessSocial Order Author:Slavoj Žižek
“(Because) the notion of absolute truth is difficult to sustain outside the context of religion, ethical conduct is not something we engage in because it is somehow right in itself but because, like ourselves, all others desire to be happy and to avoid suffering. Given that this is a natural disposition, shared by all, it follows that each individual has a right to pursue this goal. Accordingly, I suggest that one of the things which determines whether an act is ethical or not is its effect on others' experience or expectation of happiness.” DesireSufferingIndividualGivenDifficultGoalNaturalEffectsTruth IsExpectationsEthicsAbsolutesNotionDeterminePursueEthicalDispositionAbsolute Truth Author:Dalai Lama
“Over the centuries, we've moved on from Scripture to accumulate precepts of ethical, legal and moral philosophy. We've evolved a liberal consensus of what we regard as underpinnings of decent society, such as the idea that we don't approve of slavery or discrimination on the grounds of race or sex, that we respect free speech and the rights of the individual. All of these things that have become second nature to our morals today owe very little to religion, and mostly have been won in opposition to the teeth of religion.” LittlesHas BeensIdeasPhilosophyTodayIndividualSexRaceMoralRightsAtheismCenturySpeechRegardSlaveryMovedPositive AtheismScriptureDiscriminationTeethDecentOppositionEthicalFree SpeechConsensusMoved OnMoral Philosophy Author:Richard Dawkins
“One of the interesting things about the ancient Greeks is that they really didn't have our conception of individual rights. They didn't have our conception of all lives matters. And it was really was true for them, that certain lives matter a lot more than others. It didn't dawn on them that all lives, although different, can be lives of equal mattering. And that is actually something a huge ethical lesson.” DifferentMatterCertainIndividualInterestingRightsHugeLessonsEqualAncientDawnGreekEthicalConceptionInteresting ThingsIndividual RightsAncient Greek Author:Rebecca Goldstein