نشریه اخلاق وحیانی
سال دوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 2، بهار و تابستان 1391)

This paper aims at assessing moral concepts and investigating scientific and practical approaches to measure moral concepts and values through comparative analysis and psychological & psychiatric approach. Various chapters on research literature, the possibility and necessity of assessing moral concepts, table of symptoms, categorization, scaling and some practical examples are presented in this article. Some of the findings are as follows: the assessing and measuring of moral concepts through experimental psychology & psychiatry models which is possible and attainable. By applying the approach used in etiology and symptomatology in a mental disorder, we can present a new categorization of the moral vices and virtues in this regard. The highest level in assessing moral concepts is defining scales and tests. Some of the Western examples are as follows: Forgiveness Scale, Christian Ethics Test, Distributive Justice Scale and some of the Iranian ones are: Modesty, Patience, Cheerfulness, Jealousy and Wisdom Scales. Based on the existing principles, methodologies & samples, we are able to assess the same methodology for moral concepts to measure other values and concepts as well.

The issue of the relationship between religious experience and ethical experience (monotheism, unity, distinction, divergence, and animosity, etc.) is related to the issue of the relationship between religion and ethics but it is not exactly the same. Therefore, we can consider ethics completely independent of religion and at the same time regard the religious experience and ethical experience as one concept. This article aims at investigating Martyr Motahari’s answer to this question by analyzing his viewpoints on issues like religion, faith, worship; moral values specially his selected moral theory (ethics as the act of worship). It is also shown that in his eye “every fine ethical experience is always a religious experience and is in unity of it at the same qualities neither separated nor distinguished from it.”

Research in the area of Islamic Ethics which is capable of having profound effects on individual behavior has not yet been surveyed carefully. We entitle this area of research ‘‘Criterion-Oriented Ethics’’, which in the history of our moral legacy has not been mentioned but some slight points. Criterion-oriented ethics is to provide one with their own record of practical ethics and identify some criteria to enable him to assess his soul. For example he can not only assess his soul on having high moral virtues such as honesty or not having spiritual vices such as envy, but also he will be informed of his general ethical status. Some of the Quranic verses and narrations have brought this perspective of ethical issues to human's notice. However the criterion-oriented ethics has not been considered as a separate field of study in ethics. This paper aims to express the status, features and challenges of research in the field of criterion-oriented ethics.

Despite the clear understandings on intention in common law and its ethical value in religious texts, its effect has rarely been investigated. This article is intended to analyze the concept of intention and its effect at two levels. At the first level, behavior has been limited to physical type and then it has been equated with intention and the final conclusion is drawn that intention plays a role in the actualization of a voluntary act and can determine the value of the voluntary act according to the perfection level achieved by the doer and his intention and its scope is determined by the behavior. At the second level, the voluntary act has been generalized to the verbal one, so the conclusion drawn is that the intention, as an internal and voluntary act is the external manifestation of the physical acts, and is the only thing which basically has non-ethical value.By applying the Islamic theology and philosophy, this article has proved its claim through logical approaches and in the end; some verses of Quran and narrations of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) have been quoted to support the conclusion.

The issue of virtue and evil of actions has been one of the most important and sect-creating issues in the history of scholastic and ethical thoughts. The numerous topics such as semantic description of virtue & evil of actions, ontological description of virtue & evil of actions and epistemological description of virtue & evil of actions have been discussed in the scholastic, philosophic and jurisprudence books of Muslim thinkers. Asharites as the most ardent deniers of the essential and rational virtue & evil of actions; and Adliyyah Sect as the most famous apologist for the essential and rational virtue & evil of actions have adduced reasons as proof for their claims and have rejected the opposite partys. Amidst all these discussions, due to the lack of separation of "semantics" of virtue & evil of actions from "criteriology" of virtue & evil of actions on the one hand, and also the lack of enough attention to distinguish between the ontological and epistemological debates in this regard at the other hand, have raised lots of confusions and misunderstandings. This paper tries not only to complete the way that scholars such as Abdul Razzaq Fayadh Lahiji and Mullah Hadi Sabziwari has paced to distinguish between the «intrinsic/divine values» and «intellectual/religious values» but also to analyze the other distinctions such as the ones between the «final/instrumental values» and «intrinsic/extrinsic values» because neglecting them has brought about some fallacies in this field of study.

This article attempts to compare the ethics and sagacity in Alpharabius and Confucian philosophical system and investigate the role and status of ethics in these two systems analytically. Each of the two systems with respect to their emphasis on certain ethical concepts and similarities and distinctions existing between them will be investigated in this article. Alpharabius philosophical system is based upon the ruling of the “First Ruler” whose intellectual perfection has been connected to the “Active Intellect” which enables him to get the facts upon which human's felicity based, in that way he can guide people toward it. The Ideal State (Utopia) is under the leadership of the First Ruler, in which the ruler is a prophet or a philosopher who has attained intellectual perfection, develops moral virtues in the society and gets his true felicity by the assistance and cooperation of its people. Confucian philosophical system is a system led by a sage man who has attained theoretical and practical perfection and can lead the human society to felicity. Both philosophical systems consider the training and perfection of human as their goal, both are community-oriented, and both integrate ethics and policy with each other. But Farabi holds that the final goal of human training in Utopia is attaining to other-worldly happiness, where as Confucius looking for terrestrial happiness. Alpharabius philosophical system is based on the union of philosophy and religion where as Confucian philosophical system is intellectual. In addition, these two systems have different view on the role of the wise ruler in the society. Farabi holds that the society in which there is no wise ruler is Ignorant State which cannot bring man to perfection but Confucius considers a wise ruler as having a positive role in the society not a key role.