Are there universal ethics

Now back to the right to freedom to self determination, the right to live lives of our own choosing. This includes: - the freedom to stay with or leave our families, - the right to love as is right for us, - the freedom to choose our love partners, - the freedom to have birth control, - the freedom to choose our religion or to not belong to any religion, - the freedom to choose the work we do within the limits of our abilities and of what is available in our society.

Such freedom means there can be no barriers based on things like gender, race, sexual orientation, caste, etc. Such barriers block our right to flourish. There's something crucial I haven't mentioned yet: the right to safety.

It's only in safety that we can really flourish - feel and express our emotions, explore the ideas of others and our own, go further. My childhood heroines all had a place of special safety - a strongly supportive and encouraging family. Helen Keller, Clara Barton, Elizabeth Blackwell - all three had parents who gave them tremendous support and encouragement.

My childhood heroines bring me to something else important - role models, heroes and heroines - sometimes from family, teachers, friends, sometimes from stories. A safe enough larger environment is also vital to the majority of people. Nor is an environment which teaches us to fear questioning what we are taught - punishment by hellfire or here-and-now punishment, for instance.

Financial safety is also important - that savings are not wiped out, for instance. Some people will make it despite a lack of safety. But most people lack that resilience - and flourishing is not meant to be just for the most resilient. We also need limits, boundaries, in order to flourish. Others do not have the right to harm us. And if we want to harm, we need to be stopped as well. I'm remembering seeing a four-year-old who had hit his two-year-old sister with a small stick. His mother took his sister in her arms, took the stick and broke it, and then spent the next half hour comforting the little girl and talking with her son.

So he was stopped, and it was clear he was not to do again what he had done. I could go on. But this isn't intended to be a full exploration of reality-based ethics. It is enough to give you a good idea of where I stand, and why I hold this position.

I've left out so much, in fact - such as that, personally, many of my actions come from an ethics of care, rather than from any principle that someone has the right to flourish. It often viscerally hurts me - because I care - when I see harm happening. A general stance: I hold that there is a universal ethics, a universally valid ethical standard. This is what he is encouraging.

Ethics are human actions done with conscience and which lead to greater harmony, peace and happiness within the individual and within society at large. Whether one undergoes happiness or misery, we can see it as the result of our actions, which are concomitant in nature with what we seek. All actions are driven by our thoughts and emotions.

Unethical thoughts give rise to actions which, in turn, result in the undesirable results that we see in this world today. This is due to our failure to understand the proper causal relationship among these three:. We might have the aspiration to seek happiness, but driven by a set of thoughts, we dive into actions that only give rise to pain and misery. Therefore, we need proper knowledge of what consciousness is, what thoughts and emotions are, and finally what the mechanisms are by which these thoughts and types of consciousness govern our actions to give rise to a specific result.

We would then be wise to nurture those mindsets that facilitate the actions that give rise to the desired results and abandon the class of minds that degrade our actions. This is ethics; and what underscores all principles of ethics is compassion. What gives rise to happiness and unhappiness, then, is our minds. Emotions drive our thoughts, and our thoughts drive our actions.

We have to speak in a very universal way. This is true, in general terms, for instance, for much of Eastern thought. While traditionally in the West, at least since the 17th Century age of enlightenment, the concepts of freedom and individuality have been emphasized, in the East, the notions of responsibility and community have prevailed.

The fact that a Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted instead of a Universal Declaration of Human Duties undoubtedly reflects the philosophical and cultural background of the document's drafters who, as is known, represented the Western powers who emerged victorious from the Second World War. The concept of human obligations also serves to balance the notions of freedom and responsibility: while rights relate more to freedom, obligations are associated with responsibility.

Despite this distinction, freedom and responsibility are interdependent. Responsibility, as a moral quality, serves as a natural, voluntary check for freedom. In any society, freedom can never be exercised without limits. Thus, the more freedom we enjoy, the greater the responsibility we bear, toward others as well as ourselves.

The more talents we possess, the bigger the responsibility we have to develop them to their fullest capacity. We must move away from the freedom of indifference towards the freedom of involvement.

The opposite is also true: as we develop our sense of responsibility, we increase our internal freedom by fortifying our moral character.

When freedom presents us with different possibilities for action, including the choice to do right or wrong, a responsible moral character will ensure that the former will prevail. Sadly, this relationship between freedom and responsibility is not always understood clearly.

Some ideologies have placed greater importance on the concept of individual freedom, while others concentrate on an unquestioning commitment to the social group. Without a proper balance, unrestricted freedom is as dangerous as imposed social responsibility. Some examples include communicating new ideas, feelings or even an update on your project.

Communication skills involve listening, speaking , observing and empathising. Communication skills include: in a way that others grasp. Respecting others' points of view through engagement and interest. Using relevant knowledge, know-how, and skills to explain and clarify thoughts and ideas. Listening to others when they communicate , asking questions to better understand. I speak specifically and personally, instead of generally and abstractly.

My body language corresponds with my words and my tone. I check my tone especially in written communication to make sure it corresponds with my message. Main page Questions categories Philosophy and history Common philosophy Philosophy in education Philosophy and sociology Philosophy edu Students info Common articles Best philosophy topics.

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