The holy versus the chase: on the need for a

secular ethics
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gods say that things are moral in nature because they are moral, or these become moral because
the gods so declare? - The Euthyphro Dilemma
Epicureanism teaches that justice is a social and cultural construct based on agreements between
people, agreements in which we as free agents. As such, society must take full responsibility for the
justice system to establish and ethical doctrines we teach.
Sometimes ethical arguments that in practice could be considered healthy stem from improper
foundations or lead to incorrect conclusions to be linked to supernatural claims that confuse: a
Christian anti-abortion does not have a solid foundation in the ethical principles of non- violence
could defend the practice of war or criticize the cruelty of the meat industry as showing himself to be
pro-life. This is a symptom of an incoherent worldview.
If someone really brings a style of non-violent life, it must be anti-war, anti-abortion, creatively
resolve conflicts and also based industries boycott cruelty. That seems consistent and perhaps
deserves the label of pro-life. The problem that I present here is the inconsistency and incoherence
of certain system of values, not the merit of a particular label.
Inconsistency is not our only criticism of non-naturalistic ethics. There are circumstances in which the
alleged religious ethics is simply evil and dangerous. We know of honor killings of young girls by their
parents or Muslim brothers of a law that favors commit genocide against gays in Uganda, an Old
Testament and a human history filled with violent episodes of holy wars (if a war can be holy). The
Levite in the Bible code encourages stoning of a child by drinking alcohol and selling women. The
epic Ramayana hinda legitimizes suicide widow when her husband dies and the Koran instructs a
man to hit his wife if she disobeys.
A healthy mind in a healthy body. - Roman Adagio
Asked to most people derive their values from which many refer to his religious upbringing, but few
have the intellectual work of analysis with a healthy level of rigor foundations of those teachings. On
the other hand, it is impossible to find fault with the secular ideal of a healthy mind in a healthy
body. What could be wrong with a healthy mind in a healthy body?
The Roman word healthy share semantic roots with the word holy. At some point in history, they
separated the two notions just as holy and wholesome ideals are separated in the English language
today. By confusing ethics with religion, society moved away greatly from the healthy ethics and
common sense, he sided natural philosophy in favor of credulity and the supernatural. Being good is,
since then, a pragmatic and non-platonic ideal, is to believe in certain things and not live a healthy
life. The result is that society suffers.

The notion of the holy inherited cultural baggage which can not divorce: it is linked to taboos,
irrational fears and fundamental denials of life, many of which are not healthy.
What is separated
The holy, the sacred, the biblical notion of kedosh involves what has been consecrated or separately,
which has been dedicated (to a deity or a cause). When something is sacrificed (Latin for "make
sacred"), by definition it is now separate sacred and the everyday. It has a special power and dignity
or as supernatural, so can not be used for trivial purposes already.
The sacred also often have the sense of being secret, unspeakable, that beyond reproach what can
not speak, they can not be touched with dirty hands. The Bible prohibits the name of God is
said. Menstruating women are impure and should live apart for a while. Countless taboos born
because of the sacred: work on Saturday is illegal, as it is an unclean animal offering to a
god.Prohibitions against the shrimp and pork are examples of these arbitrary categories in the Bible,
but there are examples in all religious cultures. These notions of fetishism may help to preserve a
social order and the privileges of certain classes, and also carry a mental slavery and unnecessary
restrictions that have nothing to do with the real ethical issues and, by virtue of being separated,
claim to be beyond reproach. But the saint is not always healthy.
The sacrifice of an animal, from the perspective of non-violent ideals, is considered unhealthy and
immoral, but it is a sacred event. The stoning someone to work on a Saturday is neither healthy nor
moral, but those who lived under Moses in the Old Testament times had it as a sacred duty.
Therefore, secular and hedonistic philosophers believe that a basic distinction between the holy life
and healthy living is essential to define the ethical, even though many religious groups want to
confuse our moral compass and make us believe that the holy life is by definition healthy.Any attempt
to measure pain versus pleasure produced by the Crusades, the jihad, by the Inquisition, and many
episodes where the saint was not healthy helps us understand the moral imperative to secularize
ethics.
The inability to question authority and tradition that is implicit in our sense of the sacred and taboo,
brings additional burdens: we are not encouraged to raise legitimate questions about abuse or on
illegitimate authority. The sexual abuse of thousands of children in the hands of the Catholic clergy,
who succeeded for generations, reveals a culture of predation that could only have occurred in the
context of a submissive, docile flock and never questioned.
It is absolutely necessary to require transparency and morality of our leaders, both secular and
religious. Tyranny is served only when we do and are often tyrants want our child require obedience
without question.
Censorship should be discussed here as a particularly obnoxious example of the latent and manifest
toward totalitarianism that sweeps between sacred trends. If a man is truly wise and self-evident

opinions, there is no need for violence against dissidents. The hysteria of the burning of books and
culture generally hostile to wisdom are what led to the closure of the Epicurean schools, the
destruction of all our literature and very efficient smear campaign suffered by the naturalists and
philosophers throughout hedonistic the ages. Even today, many religious groups use the term
"hedonistic" as an insult and discarded arrogantly any attempt to demarcate the proper discourse of
ethics as related to tangible pain and pleasure, I demarcate within the context of hedonic calculus
that is where This speech belongs.
It is easy to forget the wealth that we lost because we never really know how much ancient wisdom
was lost because of censorship. The most we can say is that we will always be poorer sort
intellectually for their cause.
No one can argue that all taboos are unhealthy, and indeed many argue (correctly, in my opinion)
that children are easily influenced by the authority figure and that the notion of taboo, of the
forbidden, is necessary for us to raise healthy children: limits should be set for their
behavior. Therefore, one could say that there is legitimate authority and legitimate spaces for the
concept of taboo. But only taboos that are healthy and which are not based on irrational fears should
be endorsed.
Although people of all religions often performed noble and pleasurable inspired by his belief, acts
also perform immoral and amoral acts because of the same belief. A sophisticated system healthy
and ethics should, at least, clearly differentiate between healthy and holy religious taboos and name
those that are amoral or immoral as such: saints but unhealthy and corrupt.
Hygiene and health
No mental health and vibrant physics, is difficult to live a pleasant life. Many sacred practices are
rooted in hygiene as a means of preventing the disease. They have to do with preserving health and
are, therefore, healthier. The sacred baths that Jews, Muslims, Hindus and other groups are given
are examples of these practices.
Similarly, Native Americans translate spiritual power as a medicine and as many early cultures, its
folklore linked to ancient healing practices, some of which are legitimate. Many pharmaceutical
companies have researched and patented herbs and natural wisdom of traditional healers. For
example, the soothing properties of linden or hops and invigorating effects of maca were first
discovered by ancestors who sought medical in nature.
Cleaning and other health practices are necessary for a pleasant life and prevent disease.Remove
harmful germs inside the house and body, as a healthy diet are important ethical concerns.
Similarly, it is difficult to measure the harmful effects of morbid imagery of violence in movies or
games, music and certain forms of association with bad character. If the prevalence of disorder of
post-traumatic stress among those who have been commissioned to kill in other countries, we is any

indication, it seems that what feeds our eyes and our mind stays with us long after experience and
becomes part of our reality.
Only through attention and introspection we can notice anxiety or serenity that cause different types
of music or scenes in movies and video games, or good or bad influence on all our
associations. Mental hygiene is therefore as important as physical: one serving the mental health
and other corporeal.
Natural justice
Some of the enemies of Epicurus (well, the usual suspects, the Platonic) argued that since the
canon (the ruler to measure the reality that Epicurean and use based on direct empirical evidence in
our natural faculties) ago every person capable of discerning the truth independently using
subjective criteria such as pleasure and pain, in addition to the five senses, therefore the Epicureans
were unable to perform the duties and responsibilities of good citizenship. Such arguments are
based on Platonic concepts of justice as an eternal idea, with supernatural and metaphysical
attributes and unchangeable qualities, which made it necessary for Epicurus articulate a nonmetaphysical and non-superstitious theory of justice that later became crucial to Our system of laws:
the social contract.
While religious traditions suggest rudimentary systems mal-called justice, as sharia or sacred law in
Islam where the woman's testimony is worth half that of man, and to criticize religion is punishable by
death, Epicurus proposes that falls from the sky no laws and that justice is simply an agreement
among mortals.
Natural justice is a commitment of mutual benefit to prevent a man get hurt or harm another ... It is
impossible for a man who secretly violates the terms of an agreement not to damage or be
damaged, they feel confident that it will not to be discovered even if he escaped ten thousand
times; but even their death will never be sure that will not be detected. - Principal Doctrines 31, 35
In other words, instead of justice emerge from non-organic or abstract principles, arbitrary authority
or gods, Epicurus said that the living entities enter into contracts naturally (without the intervention of
the gods). What this contractual theory of justice means in concrete terms it is that we create our
laws and also, of course, we can change them.
Many opponents of Epicureanism have argued that, following this train of thought, an epicure could
commit theft or other crimes if they know that they will not detect. What Epicurus says in verse
already cited, however, it is that both Epicureans Epicureans as non-hedonic must include in their
calculation the possibility of living with guilt and undetected if they fail to keep their
agreements. Break our contracts brings shame, guilt, legal or social penalties and other mechanisms
that preserve the social order.

The concept of hedonic agreement has been expanded beyond a reorganization agreement not to
damage or be damaged by modern thinkers such as Michel Onfrey French epicure, who
characterized it as an agreement to maximize all the pleasures and minimize the pains of all. He
says that "the utilitarian hedonism want to calculate the joys with the goal of obtaining the most
benefits for one and the other."
This ideal is implemented, for example in the field of economic justice by encouraging the exchange
right (movement "fair trade"), comply with the laws of fair wages, etc. The hedonic agreement not
only allows the epicurean live in the polis as a healthy and responsible citizen: it is essential to
prevent tyranny and to create a happy and progressive civilization.
Some final considerations
It is perhaps unfair to criticize religious practices that are not harmful or unhealthy because they are
not destructive but are a waste of time, an inconvenience or an unnecessary restriction. Many of
these practices (such as the singing of religious songs) added a huge amount of aesthetic pleasure
and the lives of people value and, therefore, when we do the hedonic calculus can conclude that
they are good.
Many people feel they have a moral duty to criticize the immoral religious practices that generate
unnecessary pain (circumcision, homophobia, religious violence). However, there is no doubt that a
religious person can be perfectly ethical if you have good judgment, and above all, if refined their
religiosity through sound philosophy.
The medicinal use of words in the epicuresmo helps us to be authentic in our discourse on ethics. A
secular understanding of ethics that focuses on the healthy rather than what saint, healing instead of
holiness as an ideal, long to release the deadly superstition, fraudulent authorities and baseless
fears. These secular ethical notions do not have the burden of religious notions and are usually easy
to recognize, teach and implement.
Lay ethical philosophers and naturalists should, therefore, used to speak positively and healthy life
styles, healthy partnership, friends and ideals healthy, wholesome entertainment, etc. and the project
should take and articulate their traditions of wisdom in these terms to understand precisely what
these things (like unhealthy counterparts) mean in practice.
Adapted from the book Growing the Epicurean garden for ateistaspr.com