The Secularization of Morality and the Emergence of Conscience: A Comparison between the Western and Arab Contexts

This article explores the relationship between religion, religiosity and morals. It highlights the deep differences between ancient and modern moral theories that can be summed up as follows: the first assumption is that modern morals are built on the basis of rules of conduct that govern individual behavior in opposite to ancient morals that seek for virtue as inclination to do good and for happiness as the ultimate end of the action. The second is that modern morals assume that a human being is able to figure out the meaning of moral rule without any help or external command from God or any other timeless or worldly authority.  This development has been the result of an intellectual process where the concept of conscience as inner motivation and free will held great importance. All this has required the recognition of individual freedom and the right of the subject to govern him/herself and to be the master of his/her own action. In contrast to this progress in the field of Western modern moral theories, and which has led to the secularization of values and norms of moral action, in the Arab context such progress in the same direction has not been seen. 

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This article explores the relationship between religion, religiosity and morals. It highlights the deep differences between ancient and modern moral theories that can be summed up as follows: the first assumption is that modern morals are built on the basis of rules of conduct that govern individual behavior in opposite to ancient morals that seek for virtue as inclination to do good and for happiness as the ultimate end of the action. The second is that modern morals assume that a human being is able to figure out the meaning of moral rule without any help or external command from God or any other timeless or worldly authority.  This development has been the result of an intellectual process where the concept of conscience as inner motivation and free will held great importance. All this has required the recognition of individual freedom and the right of the subject to govern him/herself and to be the master of his/her own action. In contrast to this progress in the field of Western modern moral theories, and which has led to the secularization of values and norms of moral action, in the Arab context such progress in the same direction has not been seen. 

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