What are Ethics?

The Pagan Experience - This month the focus is on ETHICS… As a member of the human species we are faced with choices everyday. The responses we make are most often guided by our definition of values, standards and what we consider to be just and ethical behavior.

Add the complexity of walking a spiritual path and he topic of Ethics becomes one that reaches deeply into the fabric of who we wish to be and who we believe ourselves to be. So, use this month’s writing to share, listen and explore your ethical landscape…

Ethics is a timely topic in my life. The Universe has its inscrutable sense of humor, as always...and its timing is impeccable. But what are ethics? I've written here about honor, about justice, and about arete, but not specifically about ethics. As a philosophy major and a person committed to living an honorable life, this topic is near and dear to my heart.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, ethics are defined as:

"Moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior."

I have discussed honor, which is essentially a system of personal decision making based on ethics and obligation. I have discussed justice, which is a system of applying ethics to governance. I have discussed excellence (arete), which is a tangentially related concept. Possibly one could argue that the good and true nature of actions containing arete are inherently ethical. But maybe not. Ethics are not only virtuous in and of themselves, but also in how they impact others.

In keeping with my post about justice, I think that ethical principles grow and change as we evolve as human beings. That means that study is important. We must understand ourselves, not only as individuals, but also in relation to our place in the world. We must understand something of world history, of other cultures, of ideas broader than what we may have been taught by our biological families and birth religions.

A broad knowledge base matters if you want to be a well-developed human being. It's easy to simply believe what you were told, and many people do. This unfortunately often leads to provincial, us vs. them systems of thought. Which is a big part of the reason why the US has problems, but that's a separate post. Suffice it to say that considering the highest good of all is a good filter to use when evaluating ethical principles, and knowledge is essential to that process.

So then. Ethics are moral principles, the foundational concepts that guide our behavior. Ethics are the things we consider to be right as opposed to wrong. Ethics are the values that we hold. But what is a value?

Back to the Oxford Dictionary:

"(values) A person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life."

Now we're getting to the root of things. Morality is a discussion that involves both ethics and values. The things that we think are right as well as the things that we think are important. Both of these things, ethics and values, guide our behavior in life. Both are relational - they are important in evaluating actions that relate to others. I propose that values also include concepts that are not relational. There are qualities that help us to be good human beings that are also just for us, or that support us in ways that then allow us to have good relationships. But that too is a separate post.

You could say that ethics and values added together are what make an ideal human. Oh, but what, what is ideal?

Back to the Oxford Dictionary:

"A standard of perfection; a principle to be aimed at."

So you could say that ethics are principles that guide us in our goal of becoming ideal human beings.

That's a useful definition, but it's important here to note that human beings are already perfect. We are learning creatures. We are experiments, if you will, experiencers of this cosmic dance we call life. Some say our purpose here is to learn. Perhaps that's true, but it's learning with no test at the end. There is no goal, not really. We are perfectly imperfect. No matter what we do, we are performing our purpose, which I propose is simply to exist and experience. The ideal human being is one that grows and changes throughout its life.

Me being me, I also think that we ought to be good to each other along the way. But on a universal level, we need all kinds of experiences to grow, even the painful ones. Even the awful ones. That means somebody has to volunteer to be the villain, at least some of the time. If we were all perfect paragons of love and light, what would ever happen? Change, growth, and evolution are impossible in a state of perfect bliss. Chaos, negativity, disruption, destruction, and randomness are essential to a growing and evolving Universe. But I digress.

What does all this mean to us as Pagans? Obviously, I don't speak for everyone, but I post this here as a sort of impetus to deeper thought. What law do you live by? Are there built-in rules of ethical behavior in your belief system? Do you follow them as is, or do you add in values of your own? What are they based on? Have they changed over time? Do they still fit you now, at this time in your journey?

If you follow the Wiccan Rede, there is an awful lot of room for interpretation. What and who does "do no harm" apply to? How far do you take it? Does it apply to every situation? What do you do in situations where harm is not at issue? What qualities are important to you? I propose that a set of ethical principles and values is helpful in addition to the Rede. In my next post, I'll discuss my own ethical system.