Deontology
T.F.S.
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 128 –
D. H. Lawrence
Deontology
One of the workshops at the conference, “Virtue Ethics,” was conducted by Brother and Dr. Nelson Stone. This workshop was all too short, (just 30 minutes,) but then this is one of my favorite subjects, Brother Stone had a very difficult task to delve into ethics and philosophy as they can be applied to Masonry in so short a time, but he was able to do it, and he made it extremely interesting. Delving into ethics and philosophy and how they apply to Freemasonry is a very worthwhile thing to do. I like these subjects not because I am so well versed in it, but because I want to understand it better.[i]
Virtue Ethics is a peculiar kind of ethics in that it tells you things like ‘be a good person’ or ‘maintain relationships and are for other people’ without providing a clear idea of how to do it.[ii] “”This is a problem that philosophers refer to as ‘contextualism.’ Virtue ethics does not make universal claims. E.g.[iii] the ethics of the right thing to do varies from context to context.
When I mention about understanding as it relates to virtue ethics and philosophy and Masonry I remember something Rabi Benjamin Blech says in one of his lectures about the people receiving the Torah from God; he says their response was “We will do and we will hear.” Meaning that they first committed to do first and then to begin to understand. Remembering that reminds me of the ritual of Freemasonry; the candidate in the degree is told that in order to join in the great and good work of Freemasonry it is necessary for him to make a statement and promises of future actions, as all Masons before him have also done, before he begins to understand; every Freemason has been willing to do that; Masonry is a fraternity of action: After the action of our promises we then begin our journey of understanding.
One of the topics mentioned in the workshop on Virtue Ethics was Deontology, which is different than virtue ethics: [Deon-tology] this is the theory of moral obligation or commitment, which applies very well to the obligations of the degrees in Freemasonry. If you were to study deontology much of what you will learn will have a special significance to you as a Freemason. The word ‘deontology’ comes from the Greek word ‘Deont,’ which means that which is binding or needful. The word is also influenced by the words ‘Dien,’ and ‘Logy;’ ‘Dien’- bind; ‘Logy’ – discourse or expression.
Deontology is about duty. The term ‘deontological’ means ‘duty based.’ Any moral theory that is deontological is one that focuses on duty; it doesn’t matter who or what that duty is to, so it applies very well to Masons being duty bound to fulfill their promises no matter who they are made to, even to themselves. The Philosopher Emmanuel Kant is one who was a proponent of deontological theories. According to Kant deontology was all about following absolute rules; to do one’s duty. A definition of duty is; something you are required to do whether you want to or not.[iv]
Following rules is an interesting subject in itself, which you may want to study. In the obligation of the Masonic degrees there are things a Mason promises to do, and not to do. Rabi Benjamin Blech[v] says in referring to the many Mitzvot in the Torah that the don’ts are more important than the do’s: he explains that the ‘don’ts’ prevent us from making grievous errors, while the do’s guide us down a proper path of conduct. The Masonic obligations also contain various do’s and don’ts. For our own enjoyment each of us might enjoy reviewing the obligations, and maybe the charges, of the three degrees of the Blue Lodge, just to refresh our memories about the do’s and don’ts of Freemasonry.
When we think of deontological theory we might also want to learn about ‘motivist’ and ‘consequence’ theories: To explain briefly the ‘motivist ethical theory’ says that the rightness or wrongness of an action depends, in its entirety, on the motive from which the action was done. e.g. why was the action taken? The ‘consequence ethical theory’ says the rightness or wrongness of an action depends entirely on the effects that the action has; e.g. what are the results of the action?[vi]
Philosophers who hold to the deontological ethical theory say that it differs from the motivist and the consequence theories in that “the rightness or wrongness of an act depends neither on the motive from which an act was done nor upon the consequences of the act – but solely upon what kind of act it was.” Because of the stress on obligation and duty deontological theories are also called ‘Duty Ethics.’
Philosopher Emanuel Kant’s ideas on deontological ethics and morality have been summed up to just a few simple items which include; always tell the truth, and always keep your promises. “Kant also believed that the only thing that is totally and completely good without exception is a good will.” What Kant meant by ‘good will’ was that our desires, the things we wish and hope for, must be good.[vii] He believed that only the ‘good will’ is absolutely good, thus “just because a wrong or evil act might turn out good in the end [I’m sure you can think of examples of this kind of action] doesn’t mean that the act becomes good. “The moral of this is that you can’t just look at behaviors or outcomes to see if an act is right or wrong.” Deontology, according to Kant, “totally rejects out comes as a way of judging acts; because things can turn out well even when we don’t intend them to, and things can turn out terribly, even when we mean well!”[viii]
“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.” Brother Manly Hall
From the Great Light of Masonry: “But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ‘I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me – to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share.” Genesis 14:22-24 NIV
Words to live by: “The Ten Commandments aren’t the ten ‘suggestions.’ They are meant to be binding, whether we agree or not, and in every situation.” Rabbi Benjamin Blech
Please remember: if you would like to participate in the latest Masonic Monday Question, please go to http://www.lodgebuilder.org and click on the Lodge Education forum. When you have an answer send it to masonicmonday@gmail.com the Masonic Monday Question for the week of
More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by Email at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to erhmasonic@gmail.com with Subscribe in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publications.
To read this paper, (or past issues,) on the web go to: http://www.halpaus.net and click on the publication you would like to read.
With “Brotherly Love”,
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer
“Always two there are, a master and an apprentice.” Yoda
[i] Why study ethics and philosophy and apply them to what we can learn in Freemasonry? One book [a] says “instead of letting philosophers do all the thinking for us – speculating on what is good and right from their lofty ivory towers – we should be figuring it out for ourselves.” The second portion of the paragraph on this subject is very similar to what Masonry says about interpreting symbols; each of us is free to interpret the meaning of symbols for ourselves. This should sound familiar: “But our understanding will be rational only to the degree that our conversation is truly fair, and everyone has roughly the same opportunities, incentives, and capacities for informed, reasoned discussion.”
a. The Complete Idiot’s guide to Understanding Ethics [0-02-864325-9]
[ii] ibid
[iii] I.e short for Latin id est meaning ‘that is.’ E.g. short for Latin exempli gratia meaning ‘for example.’
[iv] The Complete Idiot’s guide to Understanding Ethics
[v] Understanding Judaism – the basics of Deed and Creed
[vi] Philosophy Made Easy [ISBN0-385-42533-3]
[vii] The Complete Idiot’s guide to Understanding Ethics
[viii] Ibid
Labels: Ethics