Good and evil. These two concepts accompany a person throughout his life. From the moment of realizing oneself as an individual, a person comes to understand what a moral choice is. This is what accompanies a person at virtually every stage of his life’s journey and shows the level of his moral development.
Choice is part of human life
Every day a person faces a choice. We can say that every day we solve many problems related to the problem of choice. Philosophers believe that this problem is an integral part of any human activity. Of course, we do not make fateful decisions every minute, but it is from these small steps that the long road of life is formed. Therefore, we can say that every second of our existence we choose our future. Well, this theory has a right to exist. However, like many others. After all, the question of choice is very acute in philosophy and ethics. This especially applies to such a concept as moral choice. This is the fundamental point of morality and the value system of human society. I would like to consider this topic in more detail.
Moral choice - what is it?
Any choice presupposes the activity of the subject of the situation. But a moral choice is an assessment of a value system and making a decision in favor of one of them in certain situations. In a broader sense, this concept is perceived as the problem of the struggle between good and evil, a decision in favor of the dark or light side.
The moral choice of people in favor of one side or another is not always a constant value; in repeated similar situations, the subject can make a completely different decision. This is due to his moral values and experience gained. In addition, it is worth considering the conditions in which the individual was raised. After all, every society has its own boundaries of good and evil. That is, in the case when two subjects of a situation make a choice in the direction of good, these can be completely different directions in the system of moral and ethical norms.
Responsibility of moral choice
Moral choice is the responsibility that an individual will bear after making his decision. This responsibility is an unbearable burden for many representatives of society, so they try to avoid making one decision or another. But in any case, every person at least once in his life faces a moral choice that reveals all his ethical and psychological deformations. Indeed, in such situations, the individual must identify himself with any social group, and with its most vivid and characteristic part.
If we take into account the fact that moral choice is a responsibility, then we can confidently say that, getting into a given situation, its subject must advance in his moral development to a certain level.
The moral component of the individual
To understand what moral choice is, you need to understand what exactly motivates a person to make a certain decision. In philosophy, the moral component of a person is considered decisive. It can be presented in the form of a scan of his soul, which displays all the goals, ways to achieve them, priorities and the meaning of life for this particular individual. It is the moral component that gives an assessment of the actions of other people and one’s own, including. It characterizes a personality as positive or negative in the prism of certain actions. It is worth understanding that in the case of an individual person this assessment is very subjective, but in other situations it can show the moral consciousness of the entire society as a whole.
Moral consciousness of the individual
Social consciousness has many forms. But one of the most important is the moral component of public consciousness. It represents a kind of cement that consolidates the rules of morality and ethics in a particular society and determines the evaluative criteria for people’s behavior. It is worth noting that moral consciousness is a static value and includes the principles and set of ethical standards accepted in society.
Objects of moral choice
You should not consider the problem of choice without noting the objects of this process. They can be represented as follows:
- individual;
- a separate group of people;
- social structure;
- numerous stratum of society or class.
In any case, the individual must make a decision in favor of someone. This may be a choice between the subject and the group, or a decision that does not affect the interests of the subject at all and concerns a group of other people.
Faced with a moral choice, a person finds himself in a situation of moral choice. It can only exist in the case of several decision options. Moreover, each of the options must be understandable to the individual and amenable to a reasonable explanation.
The situation of moral choice does not imply an unlimited number of decision options; they cannot go beyond the understanding of good and evil. This is an indispensable condition for the current situation, otherwise the choice cannot be considered moral.
Freedom of moral choice
It is worth noting that the problem of choice has a number of features and specified conditions, outside of which the situation completely ceases to exist. Moral freedom of choice is an indispensable condition of the situation. An individual should make a decision based only on his own ideas and taking into account the scale of values, no one should put pressure on him or create a special framework.
Freedom of choice consists of the received opportunity to make a decision and the real ability to take one or another action in order to indicate one’s position.
Conditions for moral choice
The choice between good and evil requires strict adherence to conditions; they are the basis of the proposed situation and make it static, despite the mass of solution options:
1. Range of possibilities.
Each individual must be aware of and evaluate all choices and their consequences. If for various reasons he is not able to conduct an objective analysis, then the choice will not fully reflect the moral values and foundations of the individual.
2. Social conditions.
Each person always makes a choice within his social class, where certain norms of behavior and values are accepted. This allows you to make a decision rationally, assigning yourself to a certain group.
3. Understanding the need for choice
The individual must clearly realize that he follows his principles and moral standards, and does not make a decision because everyone does it, or no one does it.
If all these nuances are observed, the individual becomes the subject of the situation.
Moral conflict
There are situations when a moral choice arises from certain circumstances that do not lead to a clear victory of good over evil. This problem is called moral conflict. An individual falls into it when, in the proposed circumstances, the decision made becomes evil in another scale of moral and ethical norms and values. In such a situation, a person cannot decide on one option or another.
The choice in a moral conflict can only be determined by the individual’s purely personal moral values. In this situation, the norms accepted in society fade into the background, and the individual is left alone with his principles. Quite often, with such a problem, we can talk about the maturity of the individual as a whole; the life experience gained and the set of established norms will become what will serve as motivation for making a decision.
Good and evil - basic concepts of ethics
Moral choice
Response Plan:
Ethics is a theory of morality.
The concept of good and evil.
Human moral choice.
Ethics is a philosophical science, the object of study of which is morality, morality as one of the most important aspects of human life, a specific phenomenon of socio-historical life.
Ethics explains:
the place of morality in the system of other social relations;
analyzes its nature and internal structure;
studies the origin and historical development of morality;
theoretically substantiates one or another of its systems;
analyzes its basic principles and norms of human activity from the point of view of the concepts of good and evil.
Good and evil:
positive, i.e. good;
negative, reprehensible;
in the actions and motives of people, in the phenomena of social life.
2 points of view on the causes of good and evil:
these concepts were associated with human needs and interests, desires, with pleasure and suffering, happiness and unhappiness of a person ------ good - everything that brought the pleasure of happiness, satisfied desires;
evil - that which gave rise to misfortune and suffering.
the second interpretation derived the concepts of good and evil from divine command or reason and deviations from them:
good is the command of God;
evil - the devil.
Good is something that can serve as an object for satisfying human needs, the aspirations of his sensuality or spirit.
By good we understand everything that contributes to the improvement of life, the elevation of a person’s personality, and the improvement of society.
These are relationships of trust, justice, mercy, love for one's neighbor; this is also a movement for a democratic society, a rule of law state, for the rights and freedoms of every citizen, for the moral revival of man himself, for his true happiness.
Evil is everything that arouses displeasure or disgust in us, or is generally assessed by us negatively and is opposed to good.
This is immoral, inhumane, unkind.
Evil is found where a person is humiliated, insulted, where he is treated as a thing with which one can profit.
The concept of evil covers all negative phenomena: violence, deception, meanness, theft, cruelty, betrayal, denunciation...
Types of evil:
physical evil is anything that causes a person suffering (disease);
moral evil is a violation of the dictates of the moral law, causing our condemnation;
social evil - inconsistency of social and state organization with the idea of justice (unequal distribution of benefits between social groups);
metaphysical evil is an imperfection that necessarily follows from the nature of being in general and the nature of man in particular.
A person constantly encounters them in everyday life, constantly making moral choices, which are determined by many reasons, both objective and subjective.
It is important from childhood to form strong moral principles, ideas about good and bad, good and evil. These principles will help a person preserve himself and not cause harm to both individuals and society as a whole.
A moral person organizes his activities in such a way as to increase good and reduce evil.
When evaluating any phenomenon, action, deed, we express our moral assessment in different ways:
we praise, agree, approve;
we blame, criticize, disapprove.
By assessing the world around us, we change something in it and, above all, ourselves, our position, behavior, worldview - this is the moral choice.
Detailed solution paragraph § 9 on social studies School 2100 for 6th grade students, authors D.D. Danilov, E.V. Sizova, S.M. Davydova, A.A. Nikolaeva, L.N. Korpacheva 2015
DETERMINING THE MAIN QUESTION OF THE LESSON
What keeps animals of the same species from destroying each other in fights for territory or a place in the group?
Instinct for preserving the species.
Do people have a restraining mechanism that forces them to do the right thing to keep their fellow humans alive and healthy?
Moral standards and law.
What contradiction is observed?
Man, unlike animals, does not follow natural instincts, preserving the life and health of his own kind. He is guided by moral standards and the law.
Formulate a question that can be asked based on this contradiction. Compare your formulation with the author’s (p. 201).
What makes a person do the right thing, preserving the life and health of his own kind?
LET'S REMEMBER WHAT IS USEFUL TO SOLVING THE PROBLEM
Explain the meaning of the words: biosocial nature of man, consciousness, personality, character, spiritual life of the individual, worldview. (Dictionary)
The biosocial nature of man is an inextricable unity in man of biological (anatomy, physiology, the course of various processes in the body) and social (teamwork, thinking, speech, creativity) nature.
Consciousness is the human ability to “reflect” the observed world in one’s inner world in the form of sensory and mental images; process these images through thinking and feeling; on the basis of this processing, through the efforts of the will, to direct and control one’s activities in the world.
Personality is a person who has consciousness, i.e. who, as a result of development in society, has acquired the ability to:
– comprehend yourself and the world;
– feel and experience your attitude to the world;
– direct and control one’s activities through an effort of will, based on a system of personal and social values.
Character is an individual combination of personality qualities (traits) that determines behavioral characteristics, a person’s attitude to society, work, himself, and the level of development of volitional qualities.
The spiritual life of society is the sphere of activity of man and society, which embraces the wealth of human feelings and achievements of the mind, unites both the assimilation of accumulated spiritual values and the creative creation of new ones.
Worldview is a system of views on the world and a person’s place in it (picture of the world), on the meaning and purpose of his life, as well as a system of values and ideals that determines a person’s morality and his attitude to the world around him.
Remember events from the history of different peoples and times, when different people assessed the same actions as “bad” and “good”. (Textbook “General History. History of the Ancient World”, 5th grade: The primitive world, Assyria, Ancient Rome, etc.)
In the ancient world, the laws for free people and slaves were different. For example, according to the laws of Hammurabi, if a slave insulted a free person, his ear was cut off.
In ancient China, according to the teachings of Confucius, it is better to set a guilty subject on the right path in a fatherly manner than to kill. However, the rulers of China took a different path and kept the population in fear through cruel punishments for minor offenses.
Which of the literary heroes you know and in what cases experienced pangs of conscience, difficulties in choosing between good and evil?
“The Tale of Tsar Soltan” by A. S. Pushkin. The choice is: get rid of your wife and child or find out everything first and then make a decision.
"Mu-Mu" by Turgenev. The episode when Gerasim went to drown the dog.
WE SOLVE THE PROBLEM, DISCOVER NEW KNOWLEDGE
1. Lessons from the sages.
Use the text to answer the questions.
What is the origin and meaning of the following concepts: ethics, morality, morality? (Check yourself in the dictionary)
Ethics (from ancient Greek - character, custom) is the doctrine of morality and morality, defining correct and worthy behavior, spiritual qualities necessary for a person in society, self-control.
Morality (from Russian “nrav” – character, temperament) – 1. Implementation of moral standards in life, everyday behavior of people and a specific person. 2. Internal, spiritual qualities and values of a person that determine the rules of his behavior.
Morality (from Latin moralis - moral) is a set of norms, rules of behavior of people in society, based on ideas about goodness, duty and conscience.
Does morality arise spontaneously in a person or does it need to be formed consciously?
Morality must be formed consciously. A person acquires simple moral virtues in the process of socialization. For example, what is good and what is evil.
What does a personal value system consist of?
From ideals, images and conscience.
How are conscience, ethics, morality related and how do they differ from each other?
Conscience is a personal value system. Morality is the implementation of moral standards in life in the behavior of a particular person. Morality regulates the behavior of society. Together they are manifested through a person’s activities in society and attitude towards other people.
2. Uneasy conscience.
Read the text and answer the questions.
Is a person born conscientious or does he become conscientious? How is conscience formed?
A person becomes conscientious. Conscience is formed in the process of upbringing, through constant instructions to the child about “what is good and what is bad,” etc. Initially, conscience is formed as the moral ability to critically evaluate oneself
Why didn’t the hero of the second dialogue, Lyosha, take the cheat sheet?
Because he is a conscientious person.
APPLYING NEW KNOWLEDGE
We complete training assignments.
Positive qualities:
accuracy, activity, altruism, artistry, unselfishness, nobility, fearlessness, politeness, generosity, loyalty, attentiveness, will, restraint, gallantry, hospitality, humanity, foresight, benevolence, conscientiousness, kindness, friendliness, naturalness, love of life, caring, cheerfulness, intelligence, sincerity, sociability, painstakingness, courtesy, wisdom, courage, observation, reliability, perseverance, commitment, neatness, courage, responsiveness, openness, understanding, constancy, punctuality, decisiveness, independence, restraint, cordiality, seriousness, composure, compassion, empathy, calmness, tact, creativity, tolerance, poise, compliance, determination, honesty, sensuality, sensitivity, sense of duty, self-esteem, generosity.
Negative qualities:
apathy, lack of will, irresponsibility, indifference, lack of initiative, grumpiness, harmfulness, short temper, rudeness, greed, envy, malice, bloodthirstiness, laziness, deceit, hypocrisy, pettiness, impudence, negligence, impoliteness, inattention, lack of restraint, ill will, hatred, indecisiveness, intolerance, uncertainty, resentment, narrow-mindedness, embitterment, passivity, indifference, wastefulness, stinginess, weakness, fear, cowardice, vanity, stubbornness, selfishness, egocentrism
2. Read the statements and match them with examples from your life or from the life of society.
A. “I see good things, I praise them, but I am drawn to evil things.” (Roman poet Ovid (43 BC - c. 18 AD) I praise others for their efficiency and consider this an excellent quality, but I myself am lazy.
B. “Looking at people with a broken conscience is even more terrible than looking at people who have been beaten.” (Czechoslovak journalist Julius Fucik (1903–1943) She skipped school and did not complete her homework. As a result, her conscience tormented her. She corrected everything, but the unpleasant feeling remained. Guided by the dictates of conscience, a person takes responsibility for his understanding of good and evil, duty, justice , humanity, he himself sets the criteria for moral assessment from within and evaluates his own behavior.
B. “A person’s virtues are determined only by his actions.” (French proverb) Two classmates were vying for the post of class leader. One told how responsive he would be, how much good he would do for his classmates. The other one was already doing all this. The second boy was chosen as headman.
G. “I don’t believe in your speed,
And I trust my conscience more,
You can't run away from her,
And, summing up in old age,
You will return to the original state,
To the beginning of your eternal.” (L.I. Boleslavsky) A conscientious person will remember for a long time that he did something bad (for example, he greatly offended his parents).
We solve life problems.
New kid in the yard
Situation. There is a new boy in the yard who stutters badly. The guys you knew started teasing him and calling him names.
Role. A boy or girl from the same yard.
Result. Your actions that will help a newcomer find new friends.
1. Invite the new boy to play with you.
2. Find out from him about his interests and what he is interested in.
Communication with you will gradually help the new boy make friends with the other children.
We carry out projects.
1. Conduct a research paper on one of the topics.
Ethical teaching of Confucius: “Ritual is the basis of life.” Ethical teaching of Socrates: “Virtue is knowledge.” The ethical teaching of Christ: “And whatever you want people to do to you, do so to them.”
Ethical teaching of Cofucius: “Ritual is the basis of life.”
Confucianism is the spiritual basis of Chinese society, since it formulates the foundations of social order and substantiates the ideal of a perfect person
Its founder was the Chinese thinker Confucius (Kung Tzu, Kung Fu Tzu, Kung Qiu, Kung Zhongni), who lived during 551-479 BC. According to Confucius, the behavior, social status of people, their moral standards depend on heaven, the highest spiritual force that acts consciously, is the creator and at the same time a part of nature. The heavenly command is a destiny to which both people and states obey: “For life and death there is fate; wealth and nobility depend on heaven, and Heaven gave birth to moral qualities in me.” A person should unquestioningly fulfill the will of heaven, since it punishes for wrongdoing and punishes for wrongdoing.
The main idea of Confucianism is the inviolability of the orders established by heaven in the Celestial Empire (China). The ethics of Confucianism proclaims the supremacy of good over evil, the basic concepts of which the peculiar moral law is “zhen” - humanity, philanthropy, humanity. According to Confucian ethics, a person who sincerely adheres to the principle of humanity will not commit evil; it is capable of displaying respect, politeness, truthfulness, intelligence, and kindness. People must be treated as dear guests, one must restrain oneself in order to lead according to the ritual, and what does not meet its requirements should not be looked at, it can be listened to.
Stipulating the relationships of people in society and family, the moral principle of zhen is in an organic connection with the principle of xiao - reverence for relatives and elders: “Young people should show respect for their parents at home, and respect for elders outside the home,” “During the life of their parents, serve them ", following the ritual. When they die, bury them according to the ritual and make sacrifices to them, guided by the ritual." Ceremonies are outward manifestations of respect, filial love, and devotion.
The principle of li (rule, norm, ritual, ceremonial, etiquette) is based on the recognition of the importance of ceremonies, contrary to which one cannot look, listen, speak, or act. Without Li the power of rust cannot exist. It should be the basis of education, which is based on personal example, the requirement for strict observance of ceremonies and etiquette. This requirement has often been criticized because, as its opponents argued, a person who adheres to the precepts of Confucianism will never be virtuous and do good because he is busy with continuous ceremonies.
A noble husband is a member of the aristocracy and a perfect person. However, belonging to the aristocracy does not guarantee human perfection, since this requires hard work on oneself. Becoming a noble husband is extremely difficult (I didn’t even consider myself one), because this is an ideal, a guideline for those who care about self-improvement.
The main qualities of a noble husband are zhen (philanthropy, mercy, humanity), and (justice), zhi (knowledge), li (ritual, rite, etiquette, ceremony), wen (good manners)
To establish justice, the ruler must act as a ruler, and the subject as a subject, the father as a father, the son as a son. To implement the principle of fairness, one needs knowledge of what and how to do, as well as compliance with the rules of decency, which results in the measure and orderliness of behavior and activity.
Orderly relations between citizens and correct behavior require constant control and self-restraint, subordination to cultural norms, without which stability in society is impossible. The principle of justice is also aimed at self-restraint, limiting the influence of egoism on human behavior and activity. A noble husband must adhere to the standards and traditions created by the sage rulers, in which the experience of thousands of years has been accumulated.
When choosing friends, you should be guided by the fact that some of them are useful, others are harmful.
A noble husband, according to Confucius, always values justice. Even with ordinary people he behaves fairly.
Confucius attached great importance to the justice of the ruler: “When a ruler loves ritual, no one among the people dares to be disrespectful; when a ruler loves justice, no one among the people dares to be disobedient; when a ruler loves truth, no one among the people dares to be dishonest.”
According to him, throughout life you need to be guided by one word - “reciprocity”, and use the attitude: “Don’t do to people what you don’t want for yourself, and then the state and family will not treat you with hostility.
2. Hold a festival-competition at school, “Temper does not match temperament,” dedicated to the study of the character, customs, and traditions of different peoples.
Home > DocumentGood and evil - basic concepts of ethics
Moral choice
Response Plan:
Ethics is a theory of morality.
The concept of good and evil.
Human moral choice.
Ethics– a philosophical science, the object of study of which is morality, morality as one of the most important aspects of human life, a specific phenomenon of socio-historical life.
Ethics finds out:
the place of morality in the system of other social relations;
analyzes its nature and internal structure;
studies the origin and historical development of morality;
theoretically substantiates one or another of its systems;
analyzes its basic principles and norms of human activity from the point of view of the concepts of good and evil.
Good and evil:
positive, i.e. good;
negative, reprehensible;
in the actions and motives of people, in the phenomena of social life.
2 points of view on the causes of good and evil:
these concepts were associated with human needs and interests, desires, with pleasure and suffering, happiness and unhappiness of a person ------ Kind - everything that brought the pleasure of happiness satisfied desires;
evil - that which gave rise to misfortune and suffering.
the second interpretation derived the concepts of good and evil from divine command or reason and deviations from them:
good is the command of God;
evil - the devil.
Good- this is something that can serve as an object for satisfying human needs, the aspirations of his sensuality or spirit.
By good we understand everything that contributes to the improvement of life, the elevation of a person’s personality, and the improvement of society.
These are relationships of trust, justice, mercy, love for one's neighbor; this is also a movement for a democratic society, a rule of law state, for the rights and freedoms of every citizen, for the moral revival of man himself, for his true happiness.
Evil- everything that arouses displeasure or disgust in us, or is generally assessed by us negatively and is opposed to good.
This is immoral, inhumane, unkind.
Evil is found where a person is humiliated, insulted, where he is treated as a thing with which one can profit.
The concept of evil covers all negative phenomena: violence, deception, meanness, theft, cruelty, betrayal, denunciation...
Types of evil:
physical evil – this is everything that causes a person suffering (disease);
moral evil - this is a violation of the dictates of the moral law, causing our condemnation;
social evil – inconsistency of public and state organization with the idea of justice (unequal distribution of benefits between social groups);
metaphysical evil - imperfection, necessarily arising from the nature of being in general and the nature of man in particular.
A person constantly encounters them in everyday life, constantly committing moral choice which is determined by many reasons, both objective and subjective.
It is important from childhood to form strong moral principles, ideas about good and bad, good and evil. These principles will help a person preserve himself and not cause harm to both individuals and society as a whole.
A moral person organizes his activities in such a way as to increase good and reduce evil.
Evaluating We express our moral assessment of any phenomenon, action, deed in different ways:
we praise, agree, approve;
we blame, criticize, disapprove.
By assessing the world around us, we change something in it and, above all, ourselves, our position, behavior, worldview - this is the moral choice.
Topic: Ethics as a Science
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Question Cosmocentrism and the basic concepts of ancient philosophy (Cosmos, Nature, Logos, Eidos, Soul)
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Sections: History and social studies
Lesson objectives:
- 1. Bring students to an understanding of the need for moral choice for individuals and society;
- 2. Form the concepts of “good”, “evil”, “morality”, “moral choice”, “moral assessment”, “value guidelines”;
- 3.Develop skills and abilities:
Express an opinion about your own understanding of morality, moral choice, personal self-determination, value guidelines;
Develop the ability to conduct dialogue with other people;
Improve students' communication abilities.
NSO: multimedia projector, student workbooks, portraits depicting Socrates, R. Descartes, J-J. Rousseau, I. Kant, L. Tolstoy.
Lesson type: “creative laboratory”
Lesson progress:
Organizing time.
Communicating the goals and objectives of the lesson.
Introductory speech by the teacher.
Philosophy is akin to art: it helps a person find the answer to the question: how to live? How to live as a person in order to remain human, to preserve human dignity in search of a choice between good and evil. But unlike art, philosophy addresses itself primarily to reason, and not to feelings.
Philosophy is interested in questions: why is there goodness, goodness, love? Why is there evil? After all, there are no laws in nature that would force us to love or hate each other.
In the world, greed, stupidity, and evil are quite natural, but in it, neither honor, nor conscience, nor goodness are unnatural and have no natural basis. But they still exist!
Every day throughout our lives we encounter manifestations of good and evil, we have to choose every day. Therefore, the topic of the lesson is called "How to live? Moral choice: good and evil." You will probably be interested to know what the great teachers - philosophers, who influenced the education of the human in man, who taught to distinguish between good and evil, thought about the sources of good and evil in human life,
Man is a supernatural being, mysterious, incomprehensible, his qualities and abilities do not flow from his nature, are not born of nature.
You have prepared syncwines - the quintuples “good” and “evil”. Let's find out what you got:
Main stage of the lesson
Let's remember the greatest “teachers of mankind” and discuss what they saw as good and evil, and how they assessed them. The course is divided into 5 groups, each of which receives a text reflecting philosophers' ideas about good and evil. As a result of analyzing the text and completing tasks, the groups report on the work done and formulate conclusions.
Assignment for students of group 1: determine what, in Socrates’ opinion, can be considered good and what can be considered evil? How do these two materials from which a person is built coexist in a person?
The greatest sage of antiquity. I believed that man, from the very moment of his emergence, was surrounded by numerous prohibitions and could not help but take them into account, since this was the tradition. It’s one thing when you do something not because it is prohibited by law, but because you will stop respecting yourself if you do something evil. Socrates always lived as he taught; he made his life a philosophy.
Socrates taught his students to question everything. He asked: do you know what good and evil are? For example, is deception evil? Without a doubt! And if a mother deceives her child, saying that the medicine is sweet, is this evil? No! Still would! And if a person kills in defense of his family, children, homeland - is this evil? Don't know. Previously, it seemed that I knew well what there was good and evil, but now I doubt it.
Socrates: Previously, you did not think, but believed what others said. Only now may you begin to think. How do I know that I need to do the good that others expect from me - maybe this is not good? I have to doubt everything, I myself have to come to the conclusion of what good and evil, happiness and misfortune are. You cannot believe blindly without doubt. Socrates urged his students never to use someone else's untested thoughts or ideas. Wisdom is the ability that develops over the years to always do the right thing.
The image of Socrates proves to us that good and evil are the material from which a person is built, but more durable than his body as a whole.
When he was offered to run, he refused, so that everyone would not think that everything he preached was empty talk. This is the civic feat of Socrates.
Socrates
(469-399 BC)
Working with the text “Socrates’ speech at the trial after the death sentence”
“You didn’t want to wait a little, oh, men of Athens, but this will give you a bad reputation among people who want to blaspheme our city, and they will accuse you of killing Socrates, the famous sage. Of course, whoever wants to blaspheme you will claim that I am a sage, even if this is not so. Now, if you had waited a little, then it would have happened for you by itself; think about my years, how much life has already been lived and how close death is. I say this not to all of you, but to those who condemned me to death. And here’s what I want to say to these very people: maybe you think, oh, men, that I am condemned because I did not have enough words with which I could win you over to my side if I considered it necessary to do and say everything to escape punishment. Not at all like that. I didn’t have enough, it’s true, I didn’t have enough, just not words, but audacity and shamelessness and the desire to tell you what you would most like to hear, crying and sobbing, doing and saying, I repeat to you, a lot more of me not worthy - everything that you are used to hearing from others. But even then, when danger threatened, I did not find it necessary to do anything slavish because of this, and now I do not repent of defending myself in this way, and would much rather die after such a defense than remain alive, defending myself differently. Because neither in court nor in war, neither I nor anyone else should avoid death by any means indiscriminately. Because in battles it is often obvious that you can sometimes escape from death, either by throwing away your weapon, or by starting to beg your pursuers; There are many other ways to avoid death in case of any danger for one who dares to do and say everything. It is not difficult to escape from death, O men, but what is much more difficult is to escape from moral corruption, because it comes faster than death. And so I, a quiet and old man, will be overtaken by what goes more quietly, and my accusers, strong and agile people, by what goes more quickly, by moral damage. And so I, condemned by you, go to death, and they, condemned by the truth, go to evil and unrighteousness; and I remain with my punishment, and they remain with theirs. This is probably how it should have happened, and I think it’s right. And now, oh my accusers, I wish to predict what will happen to you after this. After all, for me the time has already come when people are especially capable of prophesying - when they are about to die. And so I affirm, O men who killed me, that immediately after my death vengeance will come upon you, which will be much heavier than the death to which you condemned me. Now, by doing this, you thought to get rid of the need to give an account in your life, but what will happen to you, I say, is quite the opposite: you will have more accusers - those whom I have hitherto restrained and whom you did not notice, and they will be more unbearable the younger they are, and you will be even more indignant. In fact, if you think that by killing people you will keep them from blaming you for living wrongly, then you are mistaken. After all, this method of self-defense is neither entirely possible nor good, but here is the best and easiest way for you: do not shut the mouths of others, but try to be as good as possible yourself. Well, having predicted this to you, who condemned me, I am leaving you.”
(Plato. Apology of Socrates // Collected works in 4 volumes. T.1. M., 1990. P. 93-94)
Questions to the text:
1. Socrates argued that virtue is knowledge. Do you agree with Socrates on this, do you think that you can become a moral person by learning all the rules of behavior and knowing well what is good and what is bad?
2. What do Socrates’ words mean to you: “Death is not difficult to avoid, but it is much more difficult to escape moral corruption”?
Assignment for group 2: What are the rules formulated by the philosopher R. Descartes? Do you think they are relevant in modern conditions?
R. Descartes in his work “Discourse on Method” believed that a normally developed person, in order to be able to successfully carry out his activities - no matter what he does: art, philosophy or politics - must adhere to some mandatory rules of morality. He developed these rules for himself, keeping in mind, however, that they should be universal.
The first rule is to obey the laws and customs of your country. For example, religion, under the shadow of which God gave the grace to receive an education and, Descartes wrote, from a very early age he guided me in all matters in accordance with the most moderate views, far from any extremes.
Rene Descartes
(1596-1650)
It is better not to be touched by your own opinions, not to value them highly, but to follow the opinions of the most reasonable people. In this case, you need to pay more attention to how these prudent people act than to what they say. There are very few people in the world who say what they really think.
Descartes said that one should study philosophy for several hours a year, and also said that a person who works with his head should sleep a lot. He himself slept, according to contemporaries, until noon or more. One day, the Swedish Queen Christina invited Descartes to lecture her. Descartes agreed, and it ruined him. Christina got up at 5 am, and after breakfast Descartes was supposed to talk to her about philosophy. After several such conversations early in the morning, almost at night, in wintry Sweden, cold and dull at this time of year, Descartes fell ill with pneumonia and died a week later. His main philosophical works: “Discourses on Method”, “Metaphysical Reflections”, “Rules for Guiding the Mind”.
The second rule is firmness, determination and persistent adherence to chosen positions, even if they are in doubt. If you get lost in the forest, you should not rush from side to side, but walk firmly and steadily in one direction. Even if you don’t achieve your goal, you will still go somewhere where it will probably be better than in the middle of the forest.
Third rule: always strive to conquer yourself rather than fate, change your desires, and not the order of the world. We must get used to the idea that only our thoughts are in complete control. There is no need to complain that we wanted to do something grandiose, but did little. We always do as much as we can - which means we are not given more.
There is no need, for example, to regret that we are deprived of those benefits to which, it would seem, we have the right from birth. It's as if we regretted not owning China or Mexico. We must be like those philosophers who once knew how to place themselves outside the power of fate and, despite suffering and poverty, compete in bliss with their gods.
Descartes considered the main task of man to be the improvement of his mind. It is much sadder to lose your mind than to lose your life, for in this case everything would be lost.
Questions to the text: 1. Why, according to R. Descartes, is it important to pay attention not to a person’s words, but to his deeds?
2. Should every person who strives to live wisely develop for himself the basic rules (commandments) of his behavior, or will this limit his freedom?
Assignment for students of group 3: Why, according to J.-J. Rousseau, is it necessary to think about changing the system and methods of education in order to raise a real person? What is the essence of the system of nature-conforming education?
Jean - Jacques Rousseau.
(1712-1778).
In 1750, the Dijon Academy announced a competition for the best essay on the topic “Has the revival of the sciences and arts contributed to the improvement of morals?” The award was received by an unknown 38-year-old employee, Russo, a native of Switzerland. In his essay on this topic, he argued that science, writing and the arts are the main enemies of morality. By creating poverty, they are the sources of slavery. Whatever distinguishes a civilized man from an untrained barbarian is evil.
Living, wrote Rousseau, is the craft that I want to teach a child. When he leaves my hands, he will be neither a judge, nor a soldier, nor a priest, but he will be, first of all, a man. Everything that a person should be, he will be able to be, if necessary, just as well as anyone else. And no matter how fate moves him, he will always be in his place.
To live means to be able to use all the fullness of feelings, all abilities, all parts of one’s being. A wise man is not the one who lived long, but the one who felt life most. Some people are buried as a hundred-year-old man, but he died at birth, because all his life he was crushed by conventions, false principles, and never opened his soul and heart to the world and people.
Most people live like this from childhood: they are born and die in slavery to prejudice. From childhood, a child is forced to blindly obey, from childhood he is coerced, from childhood he lives in circumstances artificially constrained by adults.
And education should be natural - you need to observe nature and follow its path. She constantly exercises children, teaches them what labor and pain are, accustoms them to adversity, harsh seasons, hunger, and thirst. A child endures trials that an adult would not endure.
Therefore, you need to give the child complete freedom, simply limiting him to extremes and skillfully directing his behavior. People! “Be humane,” he addressed the teachers. Love childhood, be attentive to its games and amusements, to its instinct. How many of you have sometimes regretted that sweet age when a smile never leaves your lips, when your soul constantly enjoys peace?
According to Rousseau, there are two types of dependence - on people and on things. Keep your child dependent on things and you will follow the order of nature. Do not instill slavish obedience in your child, help him, but so much so that he is free and not domineering.
Since they began raising children, they have not come up with another way other than competition, envy, hatred, vanity, greed, and base fear. They used everything except real freedom, which is subtly and wisely guided by education.
Children are taught in words, but they must be taught in deeds and actions: to be tolerant, loving, selfless and happy that your needs do not exceed your capabilities.
From birth to 12 years, Rousseau suggested taking care of the development of the body and sensory organs, training the senses more, because, as adults, people forget about them and begin to live only by reason, becoming superficial and bookish. We must learn to see, learn to hear the surrounding nature.
From 12 to 15 years old, it is necessary to develop children’s intellect, teach physics, geometry, astronomy, but only using the example of direct natural phenomena. For example, watching the starry sky. From 15 to 20 - develop moral feelings: love for one's neighbor, the need to share their suffering, etc.
Since nature is always honest, and there is no depravity in the human heart from birth, then the natural education of children is capable, Rousseau believed, of solving all social problems. The freedom and initiative of the child, respect for his personality and the study of his interests - this, from his point of view, is the basis of real education.
Question to the text: J.-J. Rousseau said that very often a child is forced to live the way adults live, and thereby does not allow him to develop freely, instilling in him slavish obedience. But without obedience, without the authority of an adult, education is also apparently unthinkable. Where is the way out?
Assignment for students of group 4: Determine why I. Kant believed that a person should never be a means, but only an end, that you cannot use another person for your own benefit?
Immanuel Kant
(1784 -1804)
Immanuel Kant believed that all human actions can be divided into moral and legal (lawful). If you save a drowning person, knowing that he is rich and will thank you, this is a legal act. If you lend someone a sum of money, you are not sorry, you add that today you helped him, and tomorrow he will help you - this is also a legal act.
But if you saved a drowning man, not knowing who it was, but you could not help but save him, this is a moral act committed contrary to the natural inclination of a person, i.e. against himself: even if I feel bad, I can’t help but help him, I don’t think about the benefits and consequences. From discussions about moral and legal actions, Kant derives the category of duty: only by fulfilling his duty does a person remain free. In fulfilling my duty, I can go against the laws of nature, against myself, but above the laws of nature are the laws of freedom.
If I gave my word of honor, then breaking it is worse than death for me. No animal has a sense of duty. What do I care about illness, death, if I do not fulfill my human duty, then I will be ashamed to look people in the eyes. They will understand you and forgive you, but you will not forgive yourself if you have a conscience - an indicator of humanity.
Kant developed two moral laws:
1. Act in such a way that the maxim of your will is the basis of universal legislation: act as humanly as possible, do not make concessions to yourself and do not justify your weaknesses.
2. A person should always be only an end and never a means. You cannot use a person, his life, his health for even the most noble purposes. You cannot use a person as a means for your own benefit. By violating this law, we kill the human element in ourselves.
Kant wrote: “Two things excite and amaze me more than anything else: the starry sky above my head and the moral law in man, which makes him free.”
There is violence, evil, and lack of freedom in the world, but this should not make a person weak-willed or weaken his desire for humanity.
Questions to the text: 1.I. Kant believed that conscience is an indicator of humanity, it does not depend on any material conditions and reasons, it is like the voice of God in us, and the German philosopher A. Schopenhauer believed that conscience is nine-tenths the result of fear of public censure: I I won’t do anything bad because I’m afraid of punishment. Which point of view more correctly expresses, in your opinion, human nature?
2. Why can you make excuses for your actions to other people, but not to yourself?
Assignment for students of group 5: Think about why L.N. Did Tolstoy consider the state and revolutionaries to be sources of evil and violence? Do you share his point of view? Justify your answer.
Lev Tolstoy
(1828-1910)
The great Russian writer developed the ideas of Greek thinkers and the moral philosophy of Kant. The main question: how to break the vicious circle of violence? Everything around is built on violence, to which people respond with violence and do evil. He came to the conclusion that it was necessary to revive the principle of non-resistance to evil through violence. If violence ever protected the life and tranquility of people, then more often it became the cause of disasters.
There are two sources of evil: power and the revolutionaries who fight it. The authorities condemn criminals, but they are punished for the fact that they violated human laws; if they do not experience pangs of conscience, then it is useless to put them in prison, this will embitter them even more.
Revolutionaries believe that they can make people happy, and therefore are ready to risk their lives and the lives of other people to achieve their goals; in response to state violence, they create new violence, people suffer, and a bright future does not come.
Tolstoy called: do not respond to violence with violence! The only way out for a person is moral self-improvement. Start with yourself: teach yourself to love your neighbors, drive out evil and cruelty from your heart until people are able to resist the temptations of fear, self-interest, ambition that will work them, they will always form a society of rapists and the raped.
Tolstoy's follower Mahatma Gandhi in India called not to fight the colonialists, not to serve the British, not to pay taxes, and British power collapsed after two centuries of rule.
No matter how we feel about Tolstoy’s teachings, humanity has not come up with anything better; it is not without reason that the ideas of a nonviolent world are now becoming increasingly popular in politics.
Question to the text: 1. From the point of view of L.N. Tolstoy, it is more moral and humane to forgive the enemy than to return blow for blow. But this presupposes that the forgiven enemy must also be morally educated. Otherwise, he will hit you again and decide that you are chickening out. How to be? Should we wait for everyone to be morally educated or not wait, but start with ourselves, go, no matter what, along this difficult path, renounce violence at all costs?
3.End of lesson. Summing up the work of the groups. Closing remarks from the teacher.
Can history educate? The question is rhetorical. People live in modern circumstances that educate them more than distant times. It remains for us to teach and study those who remain in history and have, it would seem, no relation to us.
Almost the entire story consists of actions that can be discussed from a moral point of view.
I need to understand my true place as a person among other people in the world. Only after this can I answer the question: Am I really free? What am I? What should I be for others? My specific interests, the thirst for happiness, everything that constitutes my nature and my actions - all this is included in the question of freedom.
Whether I am free or not, the answer to this question determines my behavior and my nature. And this applies not only to me: after all, my actions connect me with other people. Therefore, to solve the question of freedom of choice means to determine the question of the nature of the relationships that connect me with other people, with the world.
In the depths of his conscience, a person depends on many desires. A person can bear the burden that life has placed on him only when he feels free, when he is free to carry out his mission. To be free or unfree means to exercise your choice. Choice is not an instantaneous act, but a continuity of decision, constantly renewed under favorable or unfavorable circumstances.
Man, the two-faced Janus, the only creature capable of devoting himself with enthusiasm to great goals, needs a psychophysiological organization, the bestial abilities of which carry within them the dangerous.
Do good
There is no greater joy.
And sacrifice your life
And hurry up
Not for fame or sweets,
But at the behest of the soul.
When you are seething, humiliated by fate,
You are from powerlessness and shame,
Don't let your offended soul
Instant judgment.
Wait,
Cool down.
Believe me, it really is
Everything will fall into place.
You are strong.
The strong are not vindictive.
The weapon of the strong is kindness.
Tatiana Kuzovleva
Homework. Choose one of the statements of great people listed below and write an essay, expressing your point of view on the issue we raised today in class.
“I am a supporter of good, but in my actions I am guided by evil”
Ovid, Roman poet
“The human character is a charioteer, driving two horses, each of which pulls in its own direction.”
Summing up the lesson.
Literature and sources
1. Gubin V.D. Fundamentals of philosophy. M.: Ton-Ostozhye, 1999.
2. Kanke V.A. Fundamentals of philosophy. M., “Logos”, 2001.
3.http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki(electronic encyclopedia)