نشریه اخلاق پژوهی
پیاپی 13 (زمستان 1400)

War involves killings and the destruction of properties. So a strong reason is needed to justify the entrance into it. Rationality requires all to prevent war unless there is a good reason to establish the opposite. Three related theories are proposed in this paper: first, the theory of pacifism (or war avoidance) holds that since war generally leads to oppression and the infringement of others’ rights, it should be avoided, and that it is morally wrong to wage war in any case without exception. The second theory is political realism which holds that while the state is the most powerful factor in the relations among states, it is autonomous and shows its power to others through its military forces. There are no universal principles that can guide all states’ behavior. Realists employ two approaches: (a) individualism and (b) collectivism. According to individualism, states’ exclusive rights cannot exceed the proven collective rights of each individual who lives in the society. The state must follow people’s wants. According to collectivism, the state has an independent legal identity with a set of specific values which are different from individuals’ values. States fight in wars not only for individual’s lives but also for a kind of social life. The current paper discusses the problems with pacifism, individualism, and collectivism, and concludes by proposing another theory that takes into consideration the interests of both individuals and states.

Facing challenges and solving ethical problems, inductivism in applied ethics methodology, recognized as a model, puts emphasis on decision-making due to the specific conditions of each particular issue instead of appealing to general theories or principles. This model, also called “bottom-up model,” has various kinds. Although virtue ethics is regarded as an inductivist model by some approaches, it is not my concern here. This paper, rather, raises the question as to what role virtue ethics can play in applied ethics methodology. To answer this question, the analytic descriptive method is used, virtue ethics’ standards are given a new interpretation, and approaches of the kind appropriate to the issues of applied ethics methodology are analyzed. The result is that only the non-teleological approach in virtue ethics is compatible with the inductivist model, and this approach proves to be wrong. This approach aside, if virtue ethics is used in applied ethics methodology, it will produce great outcomes. It is more advantageous to use virtue ethics in applied ethics methodology than to use any other moral theories. In addition, the outcomes and advantages of this theory can be enriched and completed by an Islamic view.

Being one of the most important elements of government in many countries today, parliament possesses a wide range of duties and authorities. The primary duty of parliament is to legislate on different matters for government and people; that parliament does so in a good manner depends on the unique role it plays in the happiness or failure of a nation. In the course of legislation, the members of parliament encounter such complex situations that it would be extremely difficult to recognize and act upon their moral duties in some cases. The most serious moral challenge for a member of parliament to pass a law is to deal with cases in which the different kinds of conflicting interests arise. In this paper, we attempt to explain and examine the most serious moral challenges confronting the members of parliament in the process of legislation, and to develop some methods for solving these challenges. Moreover, new approaches are presented to avoid a number of these challenges.

The sociology of morality as an interdisciplinary study seeks to analyze moral life in terms of social and cultural contexts. Sociologists have recently made attempts to institutionalize this filed again. This study aims to promote this debate theoretically, and based on experimental research, seeks to construct a model that can be used in analyzing the sociology of moral life. The method of this research is descriptive and analytic, and its data is based on experimental findings. The study of many pieces of research shows that this model highlights the distinctive aspects of this field, and addresses the social and cultural changes which have an impact on moral life instead of focusing on a priori definitions of morality. This study uses the moral typologies to demonstrate the development of morality in the society, and thereby to improve the evaluation criteria for recognizing moral differences. It also analyzes a variety of moral concepts in terms of their social origin, and finally, considers how ethics can influence the strategies of actions, with respect to moral motives and cognitive schemes.

This study attempts to identify the problems arising from the relations between ethics and economics as they represent two branches of knowledge and two styles of life. In the introduction, I will examine an important historical starting point in investigations into the relations between ethics and economics and also address some significant views of one initiator of this research who believed in the inconsistency of traditional individual ethics (as an individual lifestyle) and economics (as a social/systematic lifestyle). The article follows three steps: in the first step, the common origin of the debate between ethics and economics is explored. In the second step, the concepts used in ethics and economics as two epistemic fields and as two human styles of life (theoretically and practically) are discussed. In the third step, the relations between ethics and economics are examined in terms of moral or economic motives, beliefs, and actions by raising certain central questions. The primary goal of this study is to map out the interdisciplinary crucial issues of ethics and economics for researchers and students. Each of these issues can be a subject matter for research papers or future dissertations. Accordingly, some research topics for future works are suggested.

The common currency is changing into a new form called “crypto-currency”. The government and bank systems have no access to this kind of money, and everyone can extract and exchange it in cyberspace. Although the modern technology of crypto-currency provides opportunities, it nevertheless creates challenges for nations. If these challenges are overcome, then this technology can turn into a lucky chance. In view of the growing use of crypto-currency, ethicists need to carefully identify its nature and moral positive function and clarify its moral challenges. While this study introduces the subject of crypto-currency, and examines its moral functions such as moderation, equality, justice, common goods, and the supplement of people’s needs, it considers some moral challenges like providing the ground for moral vices, damaging the environment, threatening the security of users and the country. Finally certain solutions and suggestions are put forward to reduce these challenges and to turn them into chances.