Dependence of Ethics on Religion from Adams and Tabatabaei' viewpoint

One of the most prominent aspects of most religions is their recommendations and emphasis on moral values in a way which is considered to be an intimate relation between religion and morality. In Christianity and Islam, dependence of ethics on religion was taken for granted.  In this article, we assess dependence of ethics on religion from Adams and Tabatabaei’s viewpoint. Adams, as a proponent of divine command theory, has circumvented the traditional objections against divine command theory by distinguishing the value from the obligation in morality, depending the obligation on divine commands and autonomy of value from divine command and finally, by separating the element of meaning from essence in moral propositions. In this essay, Adam’s understanding of the concept of goodness and its levels has been compared with the grades of existence from Tabatabaei’s viewpoint. Also, conscience from Adams point of view has been compared with innate (fitrah) and its role on ethics in accordance with Tabatabaei’s vantage point. Additionally, the obligation from Adam’s view point and ideality from Tabatabaei’s view have been comparatively studied. Finally, social construction of morality in Tabatabaei and Adam’s view regarding the role of “other” and community in forming the morality has been discussed.