Be the morality and the religion or are they interrelated? It is the question that the chapter written by Iris Murdoch about morality and the religion. The natural appears in the book of A world of Ideas Textbook, and it has precious information about the two concepts. The paper will not only rely on that book but will also seek information from other two sources which talk about the two idea. The combination of the three sources will result in a fascinating paper. Therefore, the paper will be a synthesis of combined of different sources to review and discuss the topic of morality band religion.
There are different ideas presented in the three courses. It id concerning the question of the existence of God. The question about the existence of God come in a discussion earlier in the 18th and 17th century. The evidence for the discovery of this specific date concerning time is found in the Book of Religion and Morality written by Professor William J Wainwright. The other gives the evidence for the existence of God which in some view is different from the main view of Murdoch on the same issue. He holds a different perspective on the question of the existence of God.
Murdoch suggests that the proof of the existence of God is based on the middle age, of which is different from the idea of various authors. The idea is purely based on assumption. The funny thing about his belief is that there is no good reason behind reasoning as he argues since we can imagine of a supreme God, he must exist. “we can imagine a perfect being God, and that because we can imagine it, it must exist.” (Iris 362). The reason the people feel guilt after the faulting is because God exists. If the mightier exists, there exists a pain accompanied by the quilt. This is not the same case on the side of the Wainwright.
The other article that shares some of the ideas which can be relevant to the study of morality and the religion can also be trace in the journal called Morality without religion written by Marc Hauser and Peter Singer. The articles claim that religion is not necessary for morality to occur. This one claims morality can exist in the absence of worship. It is because there are even atheists who do not follow any religion, and they lead a moral life. The people who are not associated with any religion can have rightful life “others; it represents the idea that only organized religion can teach us the difference between right and wrong” (Wainwright 3)
Reading the other two sources, they try to show the indifference. They use by seeking to show that the atheists and the believers handle the life issues the some way although the religion does not control them. The author of the “Morality without Religion” gives different examples of the situation which the believers and the non-believers handle situations similarly. The first and the only example we are going to review in relation this issue is the case where a driver sees one person, and he is carrying five people on the vehicle; the only option will be killing the person and saving the five people. The believers and the non-believers will act similarly in this case and religion will not control either of the people. What is important to the person in this matter is the psychological functioning of the mind although the religion can influence it. “ ..Like other mental facilities of mind we are endowed with a moral facility that guides our initiative judgments for right and wrong” (Hauser and Peter 34).
The other idea we can notice is about the writing of the Murdoch, which is different from the others authors we are discussing. The mode of writing is different because he employs long paragraphs. This style of in the applicable in this book because each and every idea is represented in a single paragraph. The long various sections used by the author explain how the religion and the morality are related. As opposed to different authors of the various subjects, Murdoch holds his rhetoric that there is a relationship between the morality and the religion. One of the ideas he purposes as the relationship between religion and morality is both have moral behavior which they both own (Hauser and Peter 20). The other type of writing present here is the use of a lot of references to the renowned philosophers such as Plato, Wittgenstein, Bethan and Kant. Most of his works are based on these recommendations.
According to the author the main bridge between morality and religion are is a virtue. He explains the meaning of the attribute and how it is practiced in both morality and religion is described. Different characteristics are present in both morality and the religion. The virtue bears various customs in both the concepts. Use of this fact of similarity, the other can confirm that they are related.
The work of Murdoch is high as seen in chapter 5 where he discusses the secular idealism about the religious belief. He questions whether one of these is likely to produce moral benefit compared to another. She asks whether morality can provide more of moral interest. “Is it morality, she continually asks” (Iris). However, at some point, he criticizes the religion by questioning of the man who regularly break the law and does evil thinks with full knowledge of the faith. Based on this scenario, she thinks that the religion does not yield morality.
Finally, the other important part of the author is a discussion of the prominent personalities who were philosophers. The first philosopher whom activities are reviewed is Kilvert, who was a minister. This priest is compared to the different cleric called Julian who was from Norwich. The author discusses Their philosophical activities. He went ahead and examined the activities of the religious philosopher who was called Soren Kierkegaard. Based on this philosopher, the author concludes that religion and the morality are very complicated and very hard entangled. His work was great because it employed different rhetoric devices which are important to the writer because it assists him to pass the information to the reader.
In conclusion, there is a difference between morality and the religion. According to the author, there are different virtues and one attribute cannot be used to show relationship otherwise to show the difference between morality and religion. The other important conclusion in the paper is that there is a difference between virtue and duty since duty has an obligation. However, there is a need for more work that will help in differentiating and comparing the two concepts better.
Works Cited
Hauser, Marc and Singer Peter. "Morality Without Religion." Secularhumanism (2006): 18-20. Print.
Iris, Murdoch. Morality and religion. Routledge, 2013. Print.
Wainwright, William J. Religion, and Morality. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, 2013. Print.
