ETHICS & SPIRITUALITY

Dr. Jerry Fischer Professor, Counseling & School Psychology

Defining Spirituality
What is the role of spirituality in mainstream US culture today?

Religion & Spirituality

Spirituality Religion Religion Spirituality Spirituality Religion

Philosophy, Ethics, and Spirituality A Short Historical Overview

Africa, the Americas, Australia, and other places: family, kinship, communal life, no beginnings and ends, animism, nature is spiritual. Middle East
Judaism-monotheism, law, blame and responsibility Zarathustra-monotheism, fire, evil, and Satan

History Continued
India
Hinduism-faces of one God, Brahma (creator), Vishnu (sustainer), Shiva (destroyer), mysticism, yoga (spiritual self-discipline), and liberation from suffering. Buddism, life is suffering, suffering comes from selfish desire, desire can be eliminated, enlightenment and Nirvana, reality is a series of momentary existences, everything is linked through a causal chain.

History Continued
China
Confucianism-harmonious community, jen (social virtue) [virtue vs. law], li (observing ceremonial forms), disciplined exercise to achieve spiritual mastery over oneself, chi (energy). Taoism, tuning the inner person to the rhythms of nature, the Way of the universe, life and death are a part of the yin and yang.

History Continued
The Greeks
What is reality? Thales-water, Anaximanderearth, air, fire, and water, Pythagorasmathematics, Heraclitus-fire, Parmenides & Zeno-reality and appearance (no change), Democritus-atoms.

Socrates & Plato-innate goodness, idealism (world of forms & ideas), material world is a shadow.

History Continued
Aristotle-people have a purpose (and end) Happiness (virtuous activity in accordance with reason), virtue involves an optimum balance and measure in ones behavior (the mean between extremes), realism, substance and essence.

History Continued
Christianity-mercy and forgiveness, love God with ones whole heart and love ones neighbor as oneself, sacrifice of Jesus, redemption for mans sins, individual salvation.

History Continued
Islam-monotheism, Allah, justice (reward good and punish evil), jihad (war against evil), people have an inner jihad, Allah distributes justice in the afterlife. The Middle Ages-proof of Gods existence, ethics relies on Gods existence. Plotinus, the Great Chain of Being, all of reality is connected, from lower sense reality to the higher spiritual reality. World of Sense Soul Divine Mind The Absolute Source.

That Man Kant

Modern World-Galileo, Newton, Kepler, Bacon (our experienced universe obeys laws), Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, we experience (organize and constitute) reality through our minds, but we can sense objects in space and time and in causal relationships, Critique of Practical Reason, because we reason we can reach the same conclusions regarding universally obligatory laws. We are not controlled by the physical world because our minds are constructed with free will. Pure and Practical reason point to God but our minds cannot prove God. We have faith

Reactions to Modernism
Utilitarianism-(industrial revolution) greatest good for the greatest number. Romanticism-return to a more simple and integrated world. Existentialism-we create our own worldNietzsche (God is dead)-Kierkegaard(leap of faith). Marxism-dialectical materialism

More Reactions
Unconscious-Freud, irrationality Pragmatism-learn by doing, what works, Dewey Logic-mathematics (Russell, Husserl and Whitehead) Mysticism-transforming our consciousness to access higher orders of reality Unified Field Theory-Cosmos, Newtonian, Quantum Post Modernism-feminism (Gilligan) and social constructionism

What Can We Say?

Looking back on the historical developments of philosophy, spirituality, and ethics, what does it mean? Where have we come from? Where are we going? What does it mean for us as counselors? What does it mean for our clients?

Principle Ethics Revisited

Can we apply ethical principles without virtue or spirituality? What about cultural relativism? Is social constructionism the answer?