WJEC/Eduqas RS for A2/Yr2: Religion and Ethics (DRAFT)

T1 Ethical Thought

For Bradley, the whole point of ethics was concerning the ‘self’ but not in abstract alone with no relation to the physical world, like metaphysical philosophers would suggest. Instead, the realisation should be that the ‘self’ could be fully appreciated when understood within, and not to be seen as separate from, the whole and the best way to understand oneself, one’s purpose and one’s duty was to find one’s niche, or ‘station’ as Bradley expresses it. As Bradley writes: ‘To know what a man is (as we have seen) you must not take him in isolation. He is one of a people, he was born in a family, he lives in a certain society, in a certain state. What he has to do depends on what his place is, what his function is, and that all comes from his station in the organism.’ Bradley goes on to explain that the problem with Kantian ethics was that it was far too ‘abstract’ and yet simultaneously ‘subjective’ because it was not ‘real in the world’ but simply an ‘inner notion in moral persons’. Bradley states, ‘It did not come to us as what was in fact, it came as what in itself merely was to be, an inner notion in moral persons, which, at least perhaps, had not power to carry itself out and transform the world.’ In other words, although supposed to be a universal notion of duty, Kantian ethics and universalisation depended too much upon the unpredictable will of the individual. Bradley’s solution was that through a process of ‘self-realisation’, whereby one actively identifies one’s place in the social organism of the world: ‘we, in fact do, put ourselves forth and see ourselves actual in outer existence’. That is, it is the enactment and inter-action with the world around us is where the self discovers its ethical sense of duty. This is the process of self-realisation. Such self-realisation eradicates the sense of self-isolation that is merely a delusion. Bradley is clear that the true idea of ‘self’ is imbued with the society within which it operates. Therefore, in relation to the wording of the Specification: Ethical sentences express propositions Bradley’s essay sees ethical sentences as cognitive (verifiable) and also meaningful because they relate to this world and are not part of some abstract, intuitive conscience. Ethical sentences depict interactions with our world and recognise that we are part of a whole. For Bradley, it is because an agent’s ‘station’ and ‘duty’ are to be found within the empirical realm that the nature of ethical statements expressed are both verifiable (cognitive) and relate to the facts of the world in which we live (Bradley follows Hegel and refers to this as the ‘ concrete universal ’). However, it is with the duty element that Bradley clearly sees as beyond the Kantian notion of a priori knowledge but grounded firmly in the experience of the real world. Our place and role in the historical community provide us with a measurable observable basis for a satisfying life. Our goal is to realise our true self, which we learn (through observation) in the family and community, and adapt the values of our society – and those of other societies that offer sound criticisms of our society. Objective features of the world make propositions true or false Bradley’s essay acknowledges that our knowledge of society around us can assert, confirm or deny the claims of ethical propositions in relation to realising and finding one’s station in life in accord with the process of self-realisation. Meta-ethical statements can be seen in scientific terms An ethical judgement of value can be made within the parameters of the empirical world without any appeal beyond this. Ethical decisions are part of the process of self-realisation, of engaging with, and becoming part of the whole through embracing the ‘concrete’ reality by finding one’s niche, place or station of duty within the organism as a whole. This socially interactive process is the crucial aspect for Bradley.

Key quote The difficulty is: being limited and so not a whole, how to extend myself so as to be a whole? The answer is be a member in a whole. Here your private self, your finitude, ceases as such to exist; it becomes the function of an organism. (Bradley)

DRAFT

1.7 What was Bradley’s problem and what was the solution he proposed?

Key term Concrete universal: Bradley’s view that the self is not isolated but is derived from dialectical relations with the world

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