مجله تاملات فلسفی
پیاپی 6 (تابستان 1389)

If we divide ethical issues and theories into three subdivisions of descriptive, normative and analytical (meta-) ethics, surely we have to place the consequentialist and deontological theories under the rubric of normative ethics, since these theories discuss about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ conducts and concepts like ‘ought’ and ‘ought not’. One of the most important schools within the consequentialist normative ethics is utilitarianism, about which the present essay is concerned. In the majority of Persian works, both original and translated, utilitarianism has been taken as a synonym with hedonism, and hedonism has been construed as seeking bodily pleasure and happiness. In fact, the distinction between hedonism and utilitarianism in these works has become blurred. Utilitarianism, in essence, says that the result of every action of man is to be evaluated on the basis of the principle of utility. The goodness of an action thus depends on the average of benefit or usefulness which can be attributed to its consequences, which the latter ones in their turn can be measured on the basis of pleasure and enjoyment. The badness of an action, likewise, depends on the average of pain or suffering which can be attributed to its consequences. The present paper, in the first place, will investigate the history and development of various kinds of utilitarianism. It also explains and clarifies the characteristics of the views of Jeremy Bentham (1748- 1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) and then compares these two. Secondly, the papers will investigate the manner in which Mill and Bentham's theories, on the basis of the principle of utility, take particular actions as ethical or unethical. Finally, the paper also argues that pleasure and enjoyment as discussed in these theories, both at the individual and social level, are not undesirable and have nothing to do with indecency or being heinous.

One of the ethical problems in the mystical systems which are based on Unity of Being is how to explain the nature of moral responsibility. Ibn Arabi believes that there exists no reality except God, and that every action – whether good or bad – is Divine act. The seeming consequence of this belief can only be “absolute determinism” and the removal of human responsibility in his actions. Nevertheless – by ascribing a certain kind of freedom of choice to human beings – mystics consider humans responsible for their actions. To solve this outward contradiction, special attention should be paid to the notions of “unity of being” and “Divine manifestation in the form of human”. Man is the perfect manifestation of Divine attributes – and since God evidently has power and freedom – man is also compelled to have freedom. God is the actual agent of human actions, because God’s being and human’s being are the same: Divine essence is the stage of undifferentiation, while cosmos essence is the stage of differentiation. Therefore, if we consider the case from the "unity of being" point of view, there will not exist anything but God; consequently, every action will be God’s action. But if we look at the case from "the plurality of being" point of view, human being will possess a kind of being and consequently will be the agent of his own actions. In mysticism, human soul – which is considered as his reality – is responsible for his organs and faculties, as well as God and others. The above-mentioned cases have been acknowledged by Mulla Sadra and the majority of his followers, persuading them to advance intellectual arguments to it by philosophical discourse.

The existing manuscripts in Iran's libraries are regarded as an indispensible cultural heritage. This old heritage has been preserved across the ages, thanks to devotion and endless efforts of many scholars. The Manuscripts Section of Shahid Motahhari Supreme School includes four thousand, one hundred and eighty three books and pamphlets in various fields. Among these, dozens of scripts and pamphlets in Ethics seem to be of considerable significance. In this regard, a thorough analysis and presentation of the characteristic features of these manuscripts seems imperative. In this article, the key information regarding the Ethics Collection of this library, including the Title, Author, Scripter, the language, the year of composition, the year of scripting, the page numbers, and the catalogue number are given in an alphabetical order. Moreover, other manuscripts in the field as existing in other collections in the country are also included. I hope such information will assist researchers in editing, surveying, and carrying out fundamental research work needed in order to preserve and highlight the cultural legacy of Iranian history.

Rationality is a distinguished feature of human being and a desirable characteristic. Apparently other-regarding and altruistic behaviors, also, seem to form salient aspects of human life. The immediate question, then, would be: is altruism rational? Assuming that altruism constitutes an essential part of a morally good life, further questions emerge: Is living a morally good life consistent with being rational? Is it possible to find a rational ground for ethics? Can one be genuinely altruistic? Is it possible to act morally and rationally, not considering one’s self-interests? If altruism can be rationally justified, do we need a specific model of rationality? This survey has been constructed around Thomas Nagel’s views on the above issues, their pros and cons, possible interpretations, various problems and ways out of them. However, before doing this I will address and clarify some general principles and presuppositions hidden under these issues. This will be done in the first chapter. The opponents of the possibility of (genuine) altruism and its rationality, sometimes called ‘egoists’, have formulated their views in different forms and defended them by various arguments. Knowing that I cannot fully investigate egoism, I will try to briefly explain these claims and arguments and subsequently evaluate them in the second chapter. This will set the scene for the study of Nagel who finds (genuine) altruism possible and rational. Based on his understanding of practical reason and the kind of perspective each person should have of oneself, Nagel defends the possibility and rationality of altruism. In his analysis of (human) act, in general, and moral act, in particular, Nagel gives way to reason, rather than desire. He parallels the form of reason and objective considerations regarding altruism with the form of timeless reason in prudence and considerations concerning longterm interests. Such reasons are 'objective' or 'agent-neutral' since they contain a kind of objective reference which does not rely on any specific person, reasons like "that acting would relieve someone's pain". If it is possible for an agent to be rationally motivated in prudence by considering long-term interests, it would also be possible for the agent to be rationally motivated in the case of altruistic considerations by taking an impersonal, external, perspective-less, or agent-neutral point of view amongst others who are as real as the person – otherwise, as Nagel claims, a kind of solipsism is unavoidable. From this position, he would not find any specific characterization placing him in a privileged point.

Abu Yusef Yaqub Ibn Ishaq Kendi (185-252 Hejira), who is known as an Arab philosopher & the first philosopher in Islam, has written a distinctive book on various approaches to deal with sadness and sorrow. This book is regarded as a literaryphilosophical text and is written from a psychologicalphilosophical perspective which is rooted in Kendi’s philosophical & religious point of view about the material world and the human situation in the universe. He believes that before any solution, the causes of sadness must be found in order to encourage hope in human soul. In his point of view, the loss of the favorite and desirable things on the one hand, and the failure to achieve desires and wishes on the other are the two main factors of creating sadness (sensual grief). In this book, he recommends ten solutions to repulse sadness & sensual grief. Addressing such matters seemsto be of great significance in a world where human beings are overwhelmed by the stress and anxiety characteristic of the modern world.

This article aims to examine the postmodern element of Levinas's ethics. At first, the nature of postmodern ethics is described in order to provide a background about this kind of ethics and also reveal similarities and differences between postmodern ethics and Levinas's ethics. Levinas critiques western autonomous ethics and founds it upon concepts such as "other", "responsibility", "freedom", "face", etc. He also interprets his ethics as irrational and concrete. Levinas regards his ethics as "first philosophy", but one that is not in any way first philosophy like Platonic and Kantian philosophy; it is a philosophy in which there is no ontological aspect or abstract concepts. Levinas defends ethical subjectivity in his ethics. This article tries to show whether or not Levinas's ethics move towards postmodern ethics.

The professional ethics is a set of accepted and sensible actions and reactions that are established by professional organizations so as to utilize social relations among members and employees, implementing professional duties and responsibilities. Nowadays, ethics and the professional conduct based on it is so important that even large business-industry companies adhere to professional ethics and its celebration in the form of professional conduct or the Code of Ethics, as a guide for managers and employees in their relations on the one hand, and the important strategy of organization issue in relationship with customers on the other. Trades and businesses are viable and thriving only with their customers – and this can be obtained by honesty and effective communication. The survival and success of any business follows professional ethics in the business. In recent decades the investments based on ethical principles has become one of the most important topics in the field of business. The roots of this tendency in society and also among the investors are very different. Using analysis-descriptive method, this paper seeks to explain the importance of ethics in business, the effects of applying the principles of the thriving and increasing business and the challenges ahead in this field. Also in this paper, the addition to explaining the principles of ethics to business professionals, we will discuss the pathology of non-compliance with these principles. The principals of professional ethics are fairness, commitment, keeping secrets, competence and professional care. Professional ethics can be examined from four aspects: society, interest groups behavior of individuals within the organization, together with the other people outside the organization. Ethical issues should be considered in different parts of the business such as finance, human resources management, marketing and sales promotion activities, manufacturing operations, intellectual property, knowledge and skills management, and international trade.