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Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system, or life stance that embraces human reason, logic, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism, while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision-making. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Modern examples include humanism, freethinking, and most versions of consequentialism. Additional philosophies with ancient roots include those such as skepticism and virtue ethics . Greg M. Epstein also states that, "much of ancient Far Eastern thought is deeply concerned with human goodness without placing much if any stock in the importance ...
Secular ethics is a branch of moral philosophy in which ethics is based solely on human faculties such as logic, empathy, reason or moral intuition, and not derived from belief in supernatural revelation or guidance—a source of ethics in many religions.
The word "ethics" is "commonly used interchangeably with 'morality' ... and sometimes it is used more narrowly to mean the moral principles of a particular tradition, group, or individual." [ 8 ] Likewise, certain types of ethical theories, especially deontological ethics , sometimes distinguish between ethics and morality.
For example, within Buddhism, the intention of the individual and the circumstances play roles in determining whether an action is right or wrong. [16] Barbara Stoler Miller points out a further disparity between the morals of religious traditions, stating that in Hinduism, "practically, right and wrong are decided according to the categories ...
The supernatural is featured in folklore and religious contexts, [4] but can also feature as an explanation in more secular contexts, as in the cases of superstitions or belief in the paranormal. [5] The term is attributed to non-physical entities, such as angels, demons, gods and spirits.
A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply satisfying, which is held by many philosophers to be more important than traditional moral conduct. [2] Most religions have an ethical component, often derived from purported supernatural revelation or guidance. Some assert that religion is necessary to ...
Compassion [39] and a belief in karmic retribution [40] form the foundation of the precepts. The first precept consists of a prohibition of killing, both humans and all animals. Scholars have interpreted Buddhist texts about the precepts as an opposition to and prohibition of capital punishment, [41] suicide, abortion [42] [43] and euthanasia. [44]