ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Eternity of Moral Values Permanence of Ethical Norms From this point onwards we shall take up the discussion about the issue of `ought.' No doubt some 'oughts' are particular and related to individuals.

For instance, one person may need a certain kind of training, and he might say, "I should take this subject," while another who does not need it would say, "I should not take that subject." Basically, when two persons fight each other, each of them fights for the sake of a certain ought. There is no doubt that individual and particular 'oughts' are relative. For example, when I say that this food is good for me, this statement has a theoretical and a practical aspect.

My conclusion concerning the benefit of the food constitutes its theoretical aspect and `I .ought to eat that food' constitutes the practical aspect. In short, these kinds of oughts are particular and changeable. An important question in ethics is, Are there any universal and absolute 'oughts' shared by all human beings? In case there are such oughts, how can such universal oughts be explained on the basis that every `ought' is directed towards some goal?

Incidentally, we reach some fine conclusions at this point. Concerning the difference between theoretical wisdom and practical wisdom it is not sufficient to say that the formers deals with `is' and the latter with `ought.' This is not a sufficient explanation for practical wisdom. After all practical wisdom is wisdom and wisdom deals with universal issues.

Hence practical wisdom should be defined as dealing with universal 'oughts,' otherwise there are also certain 'oughts' in geometry, industry etc., but they have nothing to do with practical wisdom. What is to be noted here is that there are universal 'oughts' which are familiar to every mind. Therefore, such 'oughts' must be directed towards goals which are not particular and individual.

If we could prove such 'oughts,' we will have to accept that they are rooted in the soul and that man is not confined to physical nature only. This will be one of the proofs of the immaterial nature of soul. Kant also reached the immortality of the soul through moral issues: Man's physical nature has some needs which are limited and relative. The needs of one person differ from those of another person. The 'oughts' for meeting such needs are also different and often contradict one another.