Life under the grace of ethics

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2. Principles of ethics

* Critical examination of the old quadruple classification

* Scale for evaluation of good and bad morality

* Effect of seclusion and dissociability in morality

* Arguments of advocators of seclusion and association

* Exceptional cases in which seclusion is permitted

* Vigilance and self-examination or studying incentives and consequences

We shall now review the principles of ethics propounded by the pioneers of this technique . Ethics scholars have summarized the principles of moral virtues under the following four heads:

1- Wisdom

2- Chastity

3- Bravery

4- Justice

They believe that each of these four principles has a norm, between two extremes of sensual powers and instincts, and so moral vices are on two sides of them, and there are two vicious attributes for each virtue.

1- Wisdom means moderation in recognition and understanding of realities as they are, and the opposite side in its high extreme is "slyness and astuteness", which refers to hyperactivity of perception faculty and relying on the probabilities and doubtful matters and non-stability on correct theories, and in its low extreme is "stupidity and dullness".

2- Chastity refers to moderation in using lusts and appropriate utilization from desires and instincts, and the opposite side in its high extreme is "greed and self-indulgence" and in its low extreme is "numbness".

3- Bravery is moderation in anger faculty and fearing of what should be feared and not fearing of what should not be, and the opposite side in its high extreme is "rashness" and temerity, and in its low extreme is "cowardice" and horror.

4- Justice refers to listening of desire and anger powers to intellect power and their appropriate control for correction and prosperity, and the opposite side in its high extreme is "being oppressed and tolerance of oppression" and in low extreme is "injustice".

They assume moral vices infinite in one aspect, while moral virtues, as the normal limit and moderate point, have only one stage, and thus they have resembled it to the center of a circle, which is only one point, and the vices to infinite points existing within the circle.

It is narrated from Mohaghegh Tousi, Khajeh Nasireddin and some other scholars that "the path" described in the traditions as;

«اَدَقُّ مِنَ الشَّعْرِ وَ اَحَدُّ مِنَ السَّيْفِ».

"is thinner than hair and sharper than sword", is the same moral moderation.(24)

Now, we shall see how these quadruple principles have originated?

Ethics scholars say: man's soul has three powers:

1- Power of perception and distinction

2- Power of acquiring benefit or "attraction" or "desire" (in its general sense)

3- Power of loss repulsion or "repulsion" or "anger"

Moderation in each of these powers forms one of the moral virtues, i.e. wisdom, chastity and bravery respectively.

And when the two powers of desire and anger are under the control of the distinction/perception power, justice is achieved.

In other words, balance in each of the above triple powers is considered as a virtue, and their combination with each other, i.e. desire and anger powers being controlled by perception power, gives rise to another virtue. It often happens that a man is brave and not afraid unduly in the battle field, but this bravery may be utilized in a wrong way, like fighting for small worthless objectives, and this is bravery but not justice. But if this bravery is applied for a high and intellectual objective and mixed with wisdom, justice is achieved.

The principles mentioned by previous scholars for morality (good and bad) and described in the foregoing discussion are not perfect, although they may seem interesting:

1- There are some good moral habits which are difficult to place in one of the above quadruple principles. For instance, philanthropy and self sacrifice and self devotion, could be hardly included in "chastity", because it is possible that an individual's desires are moderate, yet he lacks self sacrifice and devotion and philanthropy. That is to say he neither encroaches on the rights of others, nor desires their loss, but at the sametime does not possess a spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion.

Perhaps the idea of this quadruple division results from the ideology of the ancients who assumed most of world's issues to be based on the number four, and considered four things as the main elements, and divided body's components and temperaments into four. They considered four diseases as the basis of physical diseases, and assumed one of four temperaments for all medicines. Today one finds that none of these quadruple divisions are tenable. The same is true for division of principles of ethics into four.

2- Including wisdom among principles of moral virtues, and its opposite point among the vices is not very appropriate, because moral habits deal with desires, affections and instincts, not with perceptions, and so interpreting braininess as "good morality" does not seem appropriate.

3- Insisting that all good moral habits are moderation between two extremes is questionable, because although this is true in some cases, it is untrue in others. For example, considering tolerance of oppression as the high extreme for justice is not suitable, because high extreme is not applicable to justice. If tolerance of oppression means indolence and numbness, it will be the opposite side of chastity, and if it means fear of adjudication, it will be low extreme of anger power, and anyway high extreme in justice is meaningless, specially when justice is considered as anger and desire powers being controlled by intellect.

To conclude, one can say that the moderation theory for good moral habits is true in cases like bravery and chastity, but one cannot support its generalization since it is untrue in cases of justice and wisdom.

It is also inferred from above discussions that dividing principles of ethics into four has no clear rationale and can be erroneous in some aspects. Therefore, it is better not to restrict the principles of moral virtues to four. Rather, one can have as many good and bad moral attributes as there are instincts, desires and affections in man, and training and balancing each of these instincts and desires for individual's and society's perfection is a virtue, and deviation of each of them causing degeneration of individual or society is considered as a vice.

The figure mentioned in traditions and narrations of the Prophet's Household A.S. for moral virtues is much more than four. For example, in a well known tradition at the beginning of Osoul Kafi, it is narrated from Imam Sadegh A.S. in respect of "hosts of intellect and ignorance", that their number is 75. Majority of these relate to moral virtues or vices.

Scale for evaluation of good and bad morality

Not all of the moral concepts are clear and obvious. Of course, some concepts such as bravery, generosity and self sacrifice are so clear that nobody doubts in their virtue, and their opposites (cowardice, stinginess and selfishness) are obviously among the vices. But some others are not so black and white and many a debate and controversy arises as to whether they count among virtues or vices. Thus, we need a clear evaluation scale.

For instance, nowadays some of the materialistic scientists like "Bertrand Russell" suggest that if performing an action, whatsoever it may be, does not cause a loss for the others, we do not have any reason for condemning it, and we cannot condemn an action only for being something which religion or custom regards as obscene or forbidden without giving any reason. Under this view the only thing that matters is the advantages and disadvantages of an action as we understand them.(25)

Following from this, he supports many obscene actions considering them as not harming others (including adultery and homosexuality if both parties agree).

Some others such as the communists believe that most of the moral principles are a product of capitalism and so should be discarded alongwith capitalism and only those morals should prevail which help the cause of the proletariat!

If we were to discuss this subject from a religious viewpoint, the position is fairly clear. Having recognized that Islam is a religion that follows the truth, we shall refer to the clear criterion and defintions in the Quran and practices of the Prophet S.A. for evaluation of principles of moral virtues and vices.

From an intellectual viewpoint, one can go by the principle that any moral factor supporting man's perfection is a virtue, and any factor that causes degeneration is a vice.

However, it is important that a man should be studied not only in terms of material aspects and basic requirements of this life but also the spiritual and intangible aspects as these are often the defining and critical characteristics of his morality. An evil and undesirable action may not cause any difficulty for the others and yet may result in degeneration of the doer in human and spiritual aspects. Certainly, such action will be a vice.

Those who consider only material aspects are looking at only half of man's existence (the less important half), while the need is to study the ethics holistically that includes body, mind and the soul. The approach adopted by the communists is even worse as besides ignoring the spiritual aspects it also limits its focus of material aspects mainly on those related to economics. It is obvious that these narrow and limited doctrines cannot give us effective tools for corrective actions and are likely to lead to serious mistakes due to their inherent limitations in defining the principles of ethics and distinguishing moral virtues from vices.

To sum up, we can say that based on logic and intellect the best approach in studying moral principles is to use the criterion of man's perfection in all aspects. All the virtues and vices will then be defined based on how they affect man's overall perfection.

Effect of seclusion and dissociability

Is purification of carnal soul and acquiring moral virtues easier to achieve as an active member of the society or in seclusion and dissociability? This is the question that a lot of people ask themselves.

Some believe that more the seclusion, healthier is the morality because a lot of deviations and vices surface in the context of dealing with others. Envy, pride, lie, slander, calumny, hypocrisy, grudge and such like are all caused in the course of interaction with others. The one who does not associate with others neither slanders nor hears it, neither envies nor is envied and so on.

Arguments of advocates of seclusion

Advocates of seclusion also include some ethics scholars and famous pious men who have put forth a number of additional justifications for seclusion and its effects on improvement of morality.

They say: one who adopts seclusion is able to improve the quality of his worship and prayers, can improve his meditation and reflection on the mysteries of creation and different fields of science and grasp better the underlying realities. He is not distracted by extraneous matters such as love, hatred, debates and disputes which can hinder comprehension of facts and realities, and therefore one finds that great thinkers generally live in seclusion.

Moreover, when associating and communicating with people, a man is often faced with situations which create burdensome obligations which he cannot fulfil and is therefore guilty of non-compliance of religious duties. For example, living in the society, we often encounter people engaged in unlawful things and sins and breach of duties which makes it incumbent on us to oppose the bad and invite them to good - since such responsibilities are not always easy to discharge, why not escape them by opting for seclusion!

In addition, there are some verses and traditions encouraging seclusion and dissociation. For example:

(فَلَمَّا اعْتَزَلَهُمْ وَ ما يَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ وَهَبْنا لَهُ اِسْحقَ وَ يَعْقُوبَ وَ كُلاًّ جَعَلْنا نَبِيّاً).

1- When he had turned away from them and from those whom they worshipped besides Allah, We bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, and each one of them We made a prophet.(26)

This verse indicates that the bounty of children was granted to Abraham, a prophet, when he chose seclusion and dissociation.

(وَ اِذِ اعْتَزَلْتُمُوهُمْ وَ ما يَعْبُدُونَ اِلاَّ اللهَ فَأْوُوا اِلَى الْكَهْفِ يَنْشُرْ لَكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ)

2- And when you forsake them and what they worship save Allah, betake yourselves for refuge to the cave; your Lord will extend to you largely of His mercy and provide for you a profitable course in your affair.(27)

This verse shows that divine favours were provided to those who adopted seclusion and dissociation in certain circumstances.

«قِيلَ لِرَسُولِ اللهِ(صلى الله عليه وآله): اَيُّ النّاسِ اَفْضَلُ؟ قالَ: مُؤْمِنٌ مُجاهِدٌ بِنَفْسِهِ وَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ تَعالى. قِيلَ: ثُمَّ مَنْ؟ قالَ: رَجُلٌ مُعْتَزِلٌ فِي شِعْب مِنَ الشِّعابِ يَعْبُدُ رَبَّهُ وَ يَدَعُ النّاسَ فِي شَرِّهِ».

3- They asked the Prophet S.A.: who is the most superior among people? He said: the believer who struggles in the way of God. It was asked: Then who is even superior to him? He said: one, in a valley, who has dissociated from people, worships God and people are secure from his evil!(28)

This tradition too has commended seclusion and dissociation.

4- In Mesbahol Sharia, it is narrated from Imam Sadegh A.S.:

«صاحِبُ الْعُزْلَةِ مُتَحَصِّنٌ بِحِصْنِ اللهِ وَ مُحْتَرِسٌ بِحَراسَتِهِ فَياطُوبى لِمَنْ تَفَرَّدَ بِهِ سِرّاً وَ عَلانِيَةً».

Those in isolation are in the divine castle and under God's protection; Good for those who are with God publicly and in privacy.(29)

Disadvantages of seclusion and dissociation

Notwithstanding the above mentioned merits, seclusion and dissociation also suffer from a number of disadvantages and given the numerous advantages of association, a case can be made that it is association that excels and is the preferable course.

1- A very important advantage of association is that most virtues and good habits are acquired in the society and not in solitude, because most of them are concerned with inter-personal relations. Courtesy, modesty, kindness, devotion, forgiveness, remission, bravery, patience, suppression of anger, affection and pity come into play when one interacts with others in the society.

Avoiding moral vices like envy, pride, lie, slander, through seclusion is not really a virtue and honor, rather it is a kind of shying away from the issue which may have other undesirable effects e.g. a person who deprives himself from fulfilling a basic need when he shuns sexuality altogether in order to rule out all possibilities of adultery. Although he is protected from this stain, such chastity is not a virtue. The virtue is when a man lives in the society and is not afraid of facing difficult situations and preserves his control over his desires in critical moments as Prophet Joseph did. In other words, strength of character is achieved through living with and standing up to challenges which are so common in today's world which is brimming with temptations and seduction at every step. The wood of forest trees has high resistance and strength because it has grown in the rough and tumble of the jungle facing pests, thunderstorms, draughts etc whereas that from trees grown in a protective environment is weaker with a reduced capacity to face pest attacks. Similarly, those adopting secluded life styles tend to gradually lose their spiritual and moral powers. The following tradition is a reply to the first argument of advocates of seclusion:

At the time of Prophet S.A. one of the Moslems went to the mountain for seclusion and worship. He was brought to the Prophet S.A. The Prophet said him:

«لا تَفْعَلْ اَنْتَ وَ لا اَحَدٌ مِنْكُمْ، لَصَبْرُ اَحَدِكُمْ فِي بَعْضِ مَواطِنِ الاِْسْلامِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ عِبادَةِ اَحَدِكُمْ اَرْبَعِينَ عاماً».

Neither you nor any other Moslem should do this, because patience and resistance living in an Islamic environment is better than forty years of worship.(30)

2- Solitude and seclusion can cause mental illnesses and distortions, A man may be brainy and virtous and yet have some weaknesses which can only come to light on interactions with others. In association one's mistakes surface quite soon, but in seclusion they could remain hidden and uncorrected. One could continue travelling on one wrong path after another until he finds himself lost and far away from home. Those who contend that meditation is facilitated by seclusion should note the dangers of deviation that seclusion can bring.

3- Another major risk of a secluded lifestyle is that it can lead to vanity and selfishness. Man is usually very interested in himself and his works, and coupled with his instinct of "self-love" which acts as a magnifier, his thoughts and actions appear to him as greater than they actually are. On the other hand, his faults appear smaller than they are. These two aspects combine to provide a very fertile environment for the growth of "vanity and selfishness".

But a man who interacts with others gets to know himself much better. Reactions and feedback from others gives him a less biased view of his real strengths and weaknesses and also provides a comparative perspective as he notices the virtues and works of others. He may then come across individuals who are much more gifted, pious, and productive than himself - a humbling experience that strikes at the root of any vain thoughts and may well teach him a thing or two in areas where he needs improvement. And for this reason one observes that it is usually the people who live solitary lives who make big and sometimes odd , hollow, claims which emanate from their deep vanity and self-admiration.

As indicated, socialising is also a means of discovering one's own faults. Our adversaries are particularly useful as they are quite generous with their criticism and act as a mirror for us to look into to see our faults. Without this mirror a lot of our blemishes could remain hidden and our mental appearance will come to resemble the dishevelled look of those who never look at the mirror!

4- Suspicion of others: one of the other disadvantages of seclusion and dissociation is that it produces suspicion. Its an outgrowth of vanity whereby the loners (who tend to consider themselves very highly) are dismayed at not getting the respect and accolades that they think they deserve. They begin to suspect people of ill-will, prejudice, bad judgment, ungratefulness, and lacking in virtues. They may go on to believe that people are vicious, astray and deviated and it is best to keep away from them. And in this way, seclusion itself is a factor for greater seclusion.

5- Peevishness and anger: Loners also tend to be peevish and angry, and do not like any kind of confrontation with people. They tend to overreact to even a minor criticism or harshness, often they are short-tempered and can become quite offensive and aggrieved at the slightest provocation.

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