...Can't A Guide J. Budzisze wski WHAT WE CAN’T NOT KNOW J. BUDZISZEWSKI WHAT WE CAN’T NOT KNOW A Guide Revised and Expanded Edition IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO First edition published by Spence Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas ©2003 by J. Budziszewski All rights reserved Cover illustration: Comstock/Fotosearch.com Cover design by Sam Torode ©2004 Spence Publishing Company Used by permission Published in 2011 by Ignatius Press, San Francisco ©2003, 2011 J. Budziszewski All rights reserved ISBN 978-1-58617-481-1 Library of Congress Control Number 2010927673 Printed in the United States of America To my grandparents Julian and Janina Budziszewski, long departed, not forgotten The mind of man is the product of live Law; it thinks by law, it dwells in the midst of law, it gathers from law its growth; with law, therefore, can it alone work to any result. —George MacDonald CONTENTS PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION A New Phase of an Old Tradition ix PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION Whom This Book Is For xix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xxiii INTRODUCTION The Moral Common Ground 3 I THE LOST WORLD Things We Can’t Not Know 1 2 What It Is That We Can’t Not Know 3 Could We Get By Knowing Less? II EXPLAINING THE LOST WORLD 4 The First and Second Witnesses 5 The Third and Fourth Witnesses 6 Some Objections vii 19 29 54 83 93 116 viii WHAT WE CAN’T NOT KNOW III HOW THE LOST WORLD WAS LOST 7 Denial 8 Eclipse ...
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...achieved by understanding that absolute truth exists. There is a great debate in this country as to whether absolute truth exists. To make that statement that there is no absolute truth is completely illogical. There are indeed absolute realities and standards that define what is true and what is not. Therefore, actions can be deemed right or wrong by how each compares to those absolute standards. Educators have the ability to share the absolute truth to their students in many areas of study. Christian educators believe the Bible when it says that Jesus is “the way, and the truth, and the life” and that He is the ultimate manifestation of truth and the only way one can get to heaven (John 14:6). Another example of the existence of absolute truth is found in the human conscience, that feeling within them that tells them that things should be a certain way that some things are just wrong. In the Holy Bible, book of Romans 2:14-16, describes the role of human conscience. “Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them. This...
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...ETHICS 101 A COMMON ETHICS LANGUAGE FOR DIALOGUE Compiled by the Ethics Across the Curricula Committee DePaul University Institute for Business & Professional Ethics 1 E. Jackson Blvd, Ste 7000 Chicago, IL 60604 http://commerce.depaul.edu/ethics bf 208592 ETHICS 101 A COMMON ETHICS LANGUAGE FOR DIALOGUE Compiled by the Ethics Across the Curricula Committee ©2007 IBPE. All Rights Reserved Chaired by Patricia Werhane, Director, Institute for Business & Professional Ethics, DePaul University. A subcommittee of the Ethics Across the Curricula Committee created this document. The members include: Andrew Gold, Professor, College of Law; Laura Hartman, AVP & Professor of Business Ethics, Department of Management; Karyn Holm, Professor, Department of Nursing; Scott Paeth, Asst. Professor, Religious Studies Department; Charles Strain, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs; Marco Tavanti, Asst. Professor, Public Services Graduate Program; David Wellman, Asst. Professor, Religious Studies Department. This guide draws from various resources prepared by others including copyrighted materials reprinted with the permission of the Markkula Center for a Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University (www.scu.edu/ethics), from Larry Hinman, Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory, 3rd edition (Belmont CA: Thomson Learning, 2003), from Marco Tavanti, “Thinking Ethically” (unpublished), David Ozar, “A Model for Ethical Decision-Making.” (unpublished)...
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...Freedom of Religion or Belief - how the FCO can help promote respect for this human right “The UK condemns all instances where individuals are persecuted because of their faith or belief, wherever this happens and whatever the religion of the individual or group concerned.”1 SUMMARY Freedom of religion or belief is a human right whose enjoyment is important to achieving the UK’s strategic priorities, particularly as regards conflict prevention and resolution. It is a sensitive issue in many countries. These guidelines, elaborated with the help of specialist stakeholders, aim to provide a simple introduction to the issues for FCO posts and desks, an analytical matrix to identify problems, some general responses to frequently raised issues, and other resources for those who wish to go deeper into the subject. 1 FCO Human Rights Annual Report 2007, p. 106 1 CONTENTS What is freedom of religion or belief? Paras 2-9 Why is freedom of religion or belief important to the UK? Paras 10-11 What is needed to achieve freedom of religion? Para 12 Vulnerable groups and freedom of religion Para 13 Children and freedom of religion Para 14 Freedom of religion and freedom of expression Paras 15-19 Restrictions on freedom of religion Paras 20 – 25 What problems are Posts most likely to encounter? Paras 26 – 32 How can Posts help to promote freedom of religion? Paras 33 – 38 Regional mechanisms Para 39 Some basic...
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...character. Watch your character, they beconme your destiny.” ANONYMOUS Preliminary Notions: A. Etymological: The word ethics comes from the Greek word “ethos” ,meaning : custom, a habitual way of acting character, a meaning that the Latin terms “mos” , “moris” also connote. Among the Greeks , “ethics” meant what concerns human conduct/human action. B. Descriptive: Largely a concern of cultural anthropologists and sociologists. Its task is to describe how some person, members of a culture or society address all sorts of moral issues, what customs they have, and so, how they are accustomed to behave. C. Met-ethics: Concerns itself with the meanings of moral terms: like good and bad, right and wrong, duties and rights, etc. Hence the concern is with the understanding of the use of these terms, their logical forms and the objects to which they refer. Sometimes the concern of meta-ethicist is even more fundamental: What is the possibility of moral philosophy. D. Normative: Ethics is normative, not in the way that logic is, namely. With regard to the correctness of our thinking, but with regard to the goodness of our living, the right orientation of our existence. It is a practical science, not simply because it treats human action, but also because it aims at guiding this. Moralists are not content to describe human conduct: they intend to judge and rectify it. They propose rules and give warning, they provide counsels and issue precepts, so as to make clear to men...
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...In the contemporary dispute over homosexuality within the Church, how and in what balance can the Anglican three-legged stool of Scripture, tradition and reason be used as a starting point for the benefit of the whole Church and gay and lesbian people in particular? The issue of homosexuality is a vital one for all churches. The Anglican Church is one of those that contains proponents on both sides of the argument and one of the ways it has viewed revelation is to see it being arrived at through a three fold cord- Scripture, tradition and reason. The essay’s main concern will be with experience and the dialogue of the interpretive community. This is because in an area of strong disagreement dialogue and the interpreters themselves are the keys to how both Scripture and tradition should be used. Natural law seems to be philosophically dead and yet the naturalness of an act is still used by some as an argument against homosexuality. As for science, it has offered no firm conclusions about why some people are homosexual. Therefore this essay will not cover these areas. SCRIPTURE “Slavery seeks refuge in the Bible only in its last extremity…. Goaded to frenzy in its conflicts with conscience and common sense, … it courses up and down the Bible, ‘seeking rest and finding none.’ The law of love, glowing on every page, flashes through its anguish and despair.” (Theodore Dwight Weld, The Bible Against Slavery: or, An Inquiry into the Genius of the Mosaic System, and the Teaching...
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...horrible moral standards for example. The sub-categories of utilitarian individualism and expressive individualism are also not necessarily good or bad. A utilitarian individualist may invent a cure for a disease to make a profit or to save a loved one -- good still comes from it. An expressive individualist may give to charity in order to gain a public reputation as a philanthropist. In the context of our own society, a lot of people are concerned with the effects of moral individualism, utilitarian individualism, and expressive individualism -- concerned that these orientations are being lived at the expense of community interests to a point at which they are harmful to collective life. Your task is to be familiar with these terms and have some sense of where you stand with respect to them. Your advocacy in one direction or other is not my primary concern -- I want you to know the terms and have an attitude with respect to them. Foundation of Ethical Conduct Order – patterned trajectories and relationships that have continuity in time. The importance of order. Natural Order – supra-human, patterned pathways and relationships e.g., bees, flowers, bees and flowers. o Do other animals have social order – yes, but not as sophisticated as human. Social Order – patterned trajectories and relationships between persons. o Unconsciously evolved social order. o Consciously evolved social order. Norms – patterned action between persons...
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...of Aristotle He was a dualist- believed in the body and the soul He believed the soul was more perfect than the body He believed that societies should be run by philosophers He believed the physical world is a pale imitation of the world of the forms The allegory of the cave The prisoners- normal people of society The prisoner who escapes- philosophers, people that thirst to know the real truth The people casting the shadows- the leaders of society- shaping the world without knowing the truth The shadows/statues- what people believe is reality, what they are told to believe, things people deem to be important The cave- a world without knowledge, the physical world/the body The fire- controlled, dim light- limited knowledge. An imitation of the form of the good The journey outside- a difficult journey, acquisition of knowledge The sun- illuminates the true world- form of the good The journey back into the cave- the desire to educate and inform others of the truth The world of the Forms Forms Plato uses the word ‘form’ to describe the true essence of material objects in the world This idea of the ‘form’ exists in a non physical (yet more real) realm that can only be understood by the mind. This is called the world of the forms Plato believed that the forms were interrelated and hierarchical The highest form The ultimate principle is the form of the good The world of the forms Perfect, eternal, real, a’priori, transcendent, immutable, real The world of...
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...have spiritual growth, the believer must understand identity and status in Christ along with applications of basic spiritual principals. Stanford uses the writings of Paul as the backbone of his work as he is a strong proponent of Pauline principals. Summary Part One In The Complete Green Letters, Mile Stanford divides the book into five parts. These individual parts encompass several sub-topics for each part. The parts are actually titles of books that Stanford has written previously. Part one which is based on The Green Letters: Principals of Spiritual Growth discusses what is needed for spiritual growth. There are eighteen topics that assist in explaining this process. Faith, which is what is needed to establish any relationship with the Father is backed by the scriptures. Stanford states “Faith standing on the facts of the Word of God substantiates and gives evidence of things not seen”. Time which emphasis that time coupled with life experiences help to shape our spirituality gradually. Acceptance, we are accepted into the family of God is through Christ only. We should depend solely on Him for the believer can do nothing. Stanford states “God’s basis must be our basis for acceptance. There is none other”. It is the duty of man to search the scriptures for God’s purpose for our lives....
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...Frédéric Bastiat The Law The Foundation for Economic Education, Inc. Irvington-on-Hudson, New York 10533 The Translation This translation of The Law was done by Dean Russell of The Foundation staff. His objective was an accurate rendering of Mr. Bastiat's words and ideas into twentieth century, idiomatic English. A nineteenth century translation of The Law, made in 1853 in England by an unidentified contemporary of Mr. Bastiat, was of much value as a check against this translation. In addition, Dean Russell had his work reviewed by Bertrand de Jouvenel, the noted French economist, historian, and author who is also thoroughly familiar with the English language. While Mr. de Jouvenel offered many valuable corrections and suggestions, it should be clearly understood that Dr. Russell bears full responsibility for the translation. The Law The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law itself guilty of the evils it is supposed to punish! If this is true, it is a serious fact, and moral duty requires me to call the attention of my fellowcitizens to it. Life Is a Gift from God We hold from God the gift which includes all others. This gift is life — physical, intellectual, and moral life. But life cannot maintain itself alone. The Creator of life has entrusted...
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...exclusive email list on the planet, a collection of early-adopter iPad 3G subscribers that includes thousands of A-listers in finance, politics and media, from New York Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson to Diane Sawyer of ABC News to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It even appears that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's information was compromised. In fact, it is believed 114,000 user accounts were compromised, although it's possible that confidential information about every iPad 3G owner in the U.S. has been exposed. (Tate, 2010) Earlier this year, the names and e-mails of customers of Citigroup Inc. and other large U.S. companies were exposed in a massive and growing data breach after a computer hacker penetrated online marketer Epsilon. In what could be one of the biggest such breaches in U.S. history, a diverse number of companies that did business with Epsilon stepped forward over the weekend of April 3 to warn customer some of their electronic information could have been exposed. Walgreens, TiVo, Capital One...
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...adfh JIS S e c 3 (1 ) 2 0 0 7 Journal of Inform ation System Security w w w.jissec.o rg Ethics and Morality - a business opportunity for the Amoral? Ian O. Angell Professor of Information Systems Information Systems Department London School of Economics and Political Science London, United Kingdom Preamble It is common for speakers at computer security conferences to tell audiences that 'they should do' this, and 'should do' that. The word 'should' is regularly thrown about as some jumbled-up mixture of efficiency and ethics, without any justification of the imperative. This paper will concentrate on the ethical issues, and so it will quickly dispose of 'efficiency,' leaving detailed argument for another time. Then, taking the devil's advocate position, it will focus on demolishing the certainty behind the ethical obligation, by questioning the role of ethics in society in general, but specifically in computer security. Indeed this paper will claim that an unsuspected morality and ritual lies behind many real-world security choices and much so-called 'objective' academic analysis. Furthermore, it will propose that such moralistic positions are highly problematic, and that all recommendations phrased in terms of virtue rather than pragmatism be treated as highly suspect. This polemical paper formed the basis of a keynote address given at the 5th Computer Security Conference, held in Las Vegas on the 20th-21st April 2006. 4 Angell, JISSec ...
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...''Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.'' Or “The main subject that is being discussed or described in a piece of writing, a movie, etc.” Theme is a word having etymology from the Greek, "placed" or "laid down". Its origin is 1250–1300; Greek théma proposition, deposit, akin to tithénai to put, set down. In contemporary literary studies, a theme is the central topic a text treats. Themes can be divided into two categories: a work's thematic concept is what readers "think the work is about" and its thematic statement being "what the work says about the subject". The most common contemporary understanding of theme is an idea or concept that is central to a story, which can often be summed in a single word (e.g. love, death, betrayal). Typical examples of themes of this type are conflict between the individual and society; coming of age; humans in conflict with technology; nostalgia; and the dangers of unchecked ambition. A theme may be exemplified by the actions, utterances, or thoughts of a character in a novel. An example of this would be the theme loneliness in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, wherein many of the characters seem to be lonely. It may differ from the thesis—the text's or author's implied worldview. A story may have several themes. Themes often explore historically common or cross-culturally recognizable ideas, such as ethical questions, and are usually implied rather than stated explicitly. An example of this...
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...management and leadership • globalization • sustainability This list is not all inclusive. Ethics and ethical behaviors cover a wide range of factors and situations. Throughout the world there are many different definitions. With cultural, regional and society based interpretations of the concept. As such there are no world wide set of rules and no set standards of what is ethical. With the growing importance of ethics in the modern world, the fact that there are no set rules is fascinating. This begs the question, what is ethical? To understand this concept we must look deeper than the common definition of what an ethical organization is. There are so many factors that influence and affect an organizations ability to operate within ethically accepted standards. This paper will not tell you what is ethical and what is not ethical. Hopefully this paper will allow people to determine through their own understanding of the subject what is ethical and what is unethical. What is ethical anyway? The short answer is that there is no clear cut answer. There is no absolute rule or guideline that tells you what is...
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...adfh JIS S e c 3 (1 ) 2 0 0 7 Journal of Inform ation System Security w w w.jissec.o rg Ethics and Morality - a business opportunity for the Amoral? Ian O. Angell Professor of Information Systems Information Systems Department London School of Economics and Political Science London, United Kingdom Preamble It is common for speakers at computer security conferences to tell audiences that 'they should do' this, and 'should do' that. The word 'should' is regularly thrown about as some jumbled-up mixture of efficiency and ethics, without any justification of the imperative. This paper will concentrate on the ethical issues, and so it will quickly dispose of 'efficiency,' leaving detailed argument for another time. Then, taking the devil's advocate position, it will focus on demolishing the certainty behind the ethical obligation, by questioning the role of ethics in society in general, but specifically in computer security. Indeed this paper will claim that an unsuspected morality and ritual lies behind many real-world security choices and much so-called 'objective' academic analysis. Furthermore, it will propose that such moralistic positions are highly problematic, and that all recommendations phrased in terms of virtue rather than pragmatism be treated as highly suspect. This polemical paper formed the basis of a keynote address given at the 5th Computer Security Conference, held in Las Vegas on the 20th-21st April 2006. 4 Angell, JISSec adfh The quest for efficiency, where...
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