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Christian Values in Virtue Ethics
MACHULOVÁ, Helena
This research strives to illuminate the concept of "Christian values" and it points out the possible connection between this term and the ethics of values. At the beginning is introduced a reflection on the "Christian values" from both philosophical and theological point of view, then we try to find a connection between the Christian values and the ethics of values. The paper is methodologically structured in several subsequent steps. The first one is the reflection on the concept of "value" in the philosophy of values (20th century). the emphasis is put on the connection between the term "value" and the term "good", because we work on the assumption that there is some non-specific relationship between the good and the values. The following step is a theological elaborate of the term "value" that proceeds from a biblical examination, during which we concentrate non only on the term itself but also on the question if the value-focused thinking in the Scripture has a specific implicit form. Thereafter we examine the term of "value" from the systematic-theology point of view. At first we try to look into the values as an expression of the Divine perfection, then we move on to the moral-theological view, where we present the Christian interpretation of values. With this theological examination we lay the foundations for the determination of "Christian values". In the final part of the paper we present the connection between values and the ethics of values. We examine in detail the definition of the ethics of values itself, consequently we talk about the role of values in the ethics of values as well as the theological development of this doctrine. We can conclude that a satisfactory and widely accepted definition of values does not exist, which is why we also examined the term of "good" in order to find the differences between the two terms. We came to the conclusion that the difference is not convincingly explained by the ethics of values. In the theological reflection of the term "value" we tried to find a biblical foundation for values. The language analysis of the biblical texts showed that the term of values is not very frequent in the Bible and less it is in the contemporary understanding of the texts. However, deeper examination of individual texts of the New Testament showed that value-oriented statements can be found relatively often in the Bible. These statements concern the highest value, as well as the hierarchy of natural and supernatural values, etc. The next step of the theological reflection showed, that in the christian understanding, God is the source of all good/values. He is the originator and the aim of all that is and al that comes from him is good. The ethics of virtues is interesting because it differs from another normative ethics by its theological thinking. It focuses on human action from the point of view of the ultimate goal of human life. It is also associated with natural law. Indeed, each of the cardinal virtues is based on some of the basic benefits of human nature. Cultivating the virtues in life leads one to the goal of life, whether it is a naturally successful life or, in the Christian concept, eternal life, that is, communion with God. In the final step, let's take a look at the very notion of "Christian values." First of all, an inclusive concept is possible, which is based on the fact that God is the originator of all that is good, and therefore all goodness can be understood as good Christian. But then there is no difference between good and Christian good. Perhaps only in the perspective of the person who evaluates this good. Secondly, the concept of exclusive is also possible, with Christian values being what is specifically Christian, that is, what has its foundation in Revelation. In other words, it is the good / value that we would not know if it were not for Christianity.
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