نشریه معرفت اخلاقی
پیاپی 4 (پاییز 1389)

The issue of good and evil was a case in point in ancient Greece, and developed among Islamic Theologians afterwards. Among them, the famous legal theoretician, Mulla Muhammad Kazem Akhund Khurasani, has presented the theory of consistency or inconsistency with rational faculty regarding the rational good and evil. In this view, in the section on semantics, the difference in existential wideness or narrowness leads to good or evil effects which, in turn, cause consistency or inconsistency with rational faculty which prepares the ground for praising or blaming the actor. The ontological approach is very strong in this regard, because it considers the perfection or imperfection of the actions as involved in perception of ease or harshness. It is also completely consistent with absolutism in moral propositions. From the epistemological aspect, based on realism in moral propositions, identifying good and evil by the reason has been regarded a possibility, because it is through consistency or inconsistency with reason that rationality of values is proved, and good or evil is perceived, which necessarily leads to praising and blaming the given actor. This is in contrast to publicity of moral propositions, which regards no reality for good and evil other than publicity and their being according to the wise's opinions.

Secular ethics draws upon ontological and anthropological basics as well as some epistemological basics. Ideas like skepticism, relativism, rationalism, scientism, and epistemic pluralism are all regarded as epistemological bases of secular ethics. The modern Western man's affliction with skepticism and relativism in knowledge on the one hand, and his scientist, rational, epistemic and moral pluralist leanings on the other hand, have led to his shrinking from religious ethics, preparing the ground for secular ethics.All these result from the extreme weaknesses of the existing Christianity and the Church's improper action in dealing with scientific and philosophical thoughts. The present article deals with an explanation of these bases and criticizing and reviewing them, trying to prove the efficiency of religious ethics.

Marxist moral philosophy, for Marx and Lenin in general and for Iranian Marxists in particular, has not been studied much by Iranian researchers. The present article is seeking to deal with theoretical thoughts of that school in its Marxian and Leninian version and its Iranian version for Arani, Tabari, and Khameie in particular. In a general look, then, it will put forward-with some considerations-a general review of those thoughts, as well as the difficulties and challenges they face.

Dissimulation means hiding one's main intention by using words with meanings seemingly different from those intended by the speaker. Some consider dissimulation the same as lying. They, then, regard it permissible only where lying is permissible. Some others consider dissimulation as absolutely permitted. This disagreement originates from disagreement on the criterion for what lying is: what is said is untrue, or what the speaker means is untrue. Since the speaker – in using dissimulation – has not meant any untrue meaning by what he says, and what he says cannot be considered a lie without considering his intention, dissimulation is not the same as lying. As to the prescript regarding dissimulation, we must consider various types of dissimulation in terms of the speaker's intention. If by dissimulation we mean hiding one's intention in saying something, without deceiving the audience through special words or deceptive signs, then the dissimulation is permissible; this is because hiding one's main intention is not by itself an immoral action, except under other secondary rupics. But if by dissimulation we mean deceiving the audience and the speaker is to make the audience understand something untrue, then the dissimulation is an instance of deception and not permissible, except for those cases where deception is permitted.

Benevolence is one of the teachings revealed in the Quran and one of the basic and wide-range concepts therein. Most of the definitions of benevolence are not comprehensive ones due to the extensiveness of its instances and its semantic parameters as well as the overlapping meanings. The present study uses a descriptive-analytical method, in the form of interpreting the Quran through itself, aiming at careful identification of one of the key concepts of the Quran. It is seeking to investigate the concept and the various instances of benevolence, its relation to other Quranic concepts such as piety, faith, and virtuous action, goodness, infidelity, denial of Divine signs, oppression, and peaching Divine limits. An investigation of the Quranic verses shows that the Holy Quran, in view of the full familiarity of Arabs of that time with the concept of benevolence, pings 'benevolence'-which was mostly used in the realm of human relations-to a relatively new semantic domain. Although this concept is of a dominantly moral flavor, its Quranic semantic domain has depicted-in addition to a whole doctrinal framework with a system of Islamic values interwoven and inseparable-the emotional, behavioral, and verbal structure of the believers in different spheres of relationship with God, self, others, religion, and the strangers.

The present article deals with the role of contentment in one's life. The following topics have been discussed herein: the meaning of contentment, the necessary conditions for it realization, the factors effective in creating and reinforcing it, the effects of contentment on one's life, and the techniques for achieving contentment in social life. The present study aims at finding suitable ways for avoiding greed, gaining peace and gaiety among family members, fulfilling needs in different levels, comfort and enjoying material and spiritual life, improving one's soul, finding self-respect, and achieving felicity and happiness. The research method here is descriptive-analytic based on religious and educative data. The main findings of the research are as follows: the necessity of paying attention to the importance of contentment, the factors creating and reinforcing contentment, the grounds for confronting greed, creating peace, and using skills and techniques for achieving healthy life.

One of the major concerns of the efficient managers in various levels is how to prepare a suitable ground for those involved in all professions so that they may deal with the social affairs and their own profession with a sense of duty and perfect commitment, and observe the moral principles governing their own profession. The present article is dealing with the concept of professional ethics, its importance and various aspects, and the needs of the modern society. In addition, the characteristics of those with professional ethics have been mentioned; these are sense of duty, seeking prominence and competition, truthfulness, respect for others, observing social values and norms, justice and fairness, sympathy towards others, and loyalty. The writer goes on to mention basic factors of professional ethics, stating how it should be disseminated and diffused to promote organizational development.