Phi 150 1st Edition Lecture 1Current Lecture:Ethics of Indian Philosophy-ethics are about action- about what to do and how to live-Four conceptions-Dharma: duty-Mukti (moksha): liberation or enlightenment; the distinct and highest value-Bhakti: love of or devotion to God-Karmah (Karma): action or habit. the teaching that virtue is its own reward. -the brhadaranyaka describes two wise men who questioned about life and death-even if you dont believe in life after death, you can still easily believe in karmic virtues providing moral incentive. -making a bad choice now, like being a thief, may set you up for a bad lifetime -even being a thief late in life is not good, due to reincarnation. -every major religion includes rules for living-some are universal-the rules constitute a practical test telling right from wrongWhat makes an act right or wrong?-the divine command theory holds that God distinguishes right from wrong-what God commands is obligatory, what God allows is permissible, and what God forbids is wrong.-we know God’s commands by means of our conscience, which is God’s law written on the heart. -Yoga (self-discipline) is introduced in the Upanishads, and a distinctively yogic variety of divine command theory is advanced -in the Song of God (Bhagavad Gita), the Gita is not identified as an Upanishad. It does not form part of vedic literature -the Gita expresses the mainstream Hindu view that God's commands, the Veda, are rihgt and should be followed-the Veda consists of commands whether or not uttered by God-the Gita is a small portion of a long epic poem, the Mahabarata-an enormous epic with 100,000+ verses-Gita = 900 verses, 18 chapters-main story line is about princely succession-at the beginning of the Gita, warrior Krishna joins the battlefront-in the poem, their conversation is reported by a blind holy man who has the power of being able to hear at a distance-by sacrificing our superficial self-interest and natural desires to act according to God’s will, webecome a part of God’s ongoing creative activity, and our conscousness mystically widens to unite with God’s. -self-sacrifice allows us to participate in God’s action-promotes our self-interest in a deeper senseDeontology-normative ethical theory which claims that actions are right insofar as they conform to duty. -one’s moral motivation should be moral duty, and not the outcome of one’s actionsArjund’s crisis is 2-fold1) a crisis is dharma- ajuna has a duty to his family and a duty as a warrior that are mutually exclusive2) grief/sorrow over the potential breakdown of the family/social