Document Type : Original Article
Abstract
Traditionally speaking, ethics has been defined as the spiritual qualities that encourage “spontaneous” actions that do not need to be thought, assessed or delayed beforehand. The word "spontaneous" may give the wrong impression that ethical behavior is not based on willfulness or thoughtfulness. However, in the Islamic teachings of ethics (which apply ideas of the Islamic thinkers as well as that of the Western world), willfulness and thoughtfulness actually support ethical actions. The core issue addressed in this paper is assessing the contradiction between “spontaneous” and thoughtfulness in ethical behavior and offering a solution to this contradiction by using the four component model of morality. Using an analytical-logical method and benefiting from the four component model, the ethical behavior is divided into at least four parts: moral sensitivity, moral judgment, moral motivation, and moral character. Here, the “spontaneous” is assigned to the motivation and character, while thoughtfulness and contemplation are associated with the first and the second components. The spiritual qualities can cause spontaneous actions in some of the phases of ethical behavior, although not in all of them. It is maintained that no ethical behavior can be defined as not having been based on prior thoughtfulness or careful judgment.
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