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167-460: Originally written in Arabic, prompted by Halevi's contact with a Spanish Karaite , it was then translated by numerous scholars, including Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon , into Hebrew and other languages, and is regarded as one of the most important apologetic works of Jewish philosophy . Divided into five parts ( ma'amarim "articles"), it takes the form of a dialogue between a rabbi and the king of

334-635: A Priest-king . He changed the title Hakham to " Ḥakhan " (a portmanteau between Hakham and the Mongol-Turkic title khan ), forbade the use of Hebrew, and in the 1930s reintroduced Yahwist elements (such as the veneration of sacred oak trees in the cemetery). He also recognized both Jesus and Muhammad as prophets (in order to appease both the Tsarist Russian Orthodox government and the Muslim Turkic peoples). After

501-645: A resurrection of the dead or afterlife , a position also held by the Sadducees. The British theologian John Gill (1767) noted, In the times of John Hyrcanus , and Alexander Janneus his son, sprung up the sect of the Karaites, in opposition to the Pharisees, who had introduced traditions, and set up the oral law, which these men rejected. In the times of the said princes lived Simeon ben Shetach, and Judah ben Tabbai, who flourished AM 3621, these two separated,

668-731: A 12th-century Rabbinic account, in approximately 760, Shelomoh ben Ḥisdai II, the Exilarch in Babylon died, and two brothers among his nearest kin, ʻAnan ben David (whose name according to the Rabbinical account was ʻAnan ben Shafaṭ, but was called "ben David" due to his Davidic lineage) and Ḥananyah were next in order of succession. Eventually, Ḥananyah was elected by the rabbis of the Babylonian Jewish colleges (the Geonim ) and by

835-607: A 19th-century German scholar who founded Reform Judaism , posited a connection between the Karaites and a remnant of the Sadducees, the 1st-century Jewish sect that followed the Hebrew Bible literally and rejected the Pharisees ' notion of an Oral Torah even before it was written. Geiger's view is based on comparison between Karaite and Sadducee halakha : for example, a minority in Karaite Judaism do not believe in

1002-579: A Sunday. In the "Golden Age of Karaism" (900–1100) a large number of Karaite works were produced in all parts of the Muslim world, the most notable being a work penned by Jacob Qirqisani , entitled Kitāb al-Anwār wal-Marāqib ("Code of Karaite Law"), which provides valuable information concerning the development of Karaism and throws light also on many questions in Rabbinic Judaism. Karaite Jews were able to obtain autonomy from Rabbinic Judaism in

1169-467: A Tekhelet thread in Tzitzit was lost for most Rabbinic Jews. Their Tzitziyot are usually all white. Karaite Jews believe that the importance of Tekhelet is that the color of thread is blue-violet and it may be produced from any source, including synthetic industrial dyes, except impure (a state mostly overlapping unkosher ) marine creatures, rather than insist on a specific dye. Therefore, they believe that

1336-426: A certain manner by being wholeheartedly committed to this manner. Virtues contrast with vices , which are their harmful counterparts. Virtue theorists usually say that the mere possession of virtues by itself is not sufficient. Instead, people should manifest virtues in their actions. An important factor is the practical wisdom, also called phronesis , of knowing when, how, and which virtue to express. For example,

1503-428: A certain standpoint. Moral standpoints may differ between persons, cultures, and historical periods. For example, moral statements like "Slavery is wrong" or "Suicide is permissible" may be true in one culture and false in another. Some moral relativists say that moral systems are constructed to serve certain goals such as social coordination. According to this view, different societies and different social groups within

1670-399: A characterization of what is good and then define what is right in terms of what is good. For example, classical utilitarianism says that pleasure is good and that the action leading to the most overall pleasure is right. Consequentialism has been discussed indirectly since the formulation of classical utilitarianism in the late 18th century. A more explicit analysis of this view happened in

1837-401: A compound being, he objects in the form of the following query: "Why did the emanation stop at the lunar sphere? Why should each intelligence think only of itself and of that from which it issued and thus give birth to one emanation, thinking not at all of the preceding intelligences, and thereby losing the power to give birth to many emanations?" He argues against the theory of Aristotle that

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2004-470: A diversity of viewpoints. A universal moral norm is seen as valid if all rational discourse participants do or would approve. This way, morality is not imposed by a single moral authority but arises from the moral discourse within society. This discourse should aim to establish an ideal speech situation to ensure fairness and inclusivity. In particular, this means that discourse participants are free to voice their different opinions without coercion but are at

2171-409: A friction between later Karaite theology and possible connections to Philo's philosophy, which could serve as either a rejection of their origins, rejection of theological positions no longer accepted, or that Philo's philosophy was not entirely used in the founding of the Karaites (although some influences remain possible). Early 20th-century scholars Oesterley and Box suggested that Karaism formed in

2338-479: A general standpoint of what is objectively right and wrong. In a slightly different sense, the term ethics can also refer to individual ethical theories in the form of a rational system of moral principles, such as Aristotelian ethics , and to a moral code that certain societies, social groups, or professions follow, as in Protestant work ethic and medical ethics . The English word ethics has its roots in

2505-659: A great congregation of Karaites became Rabbinical Jews during the time of the Nagid Rabbi Abraham Maimonides , who, in his words, "was not reluctant to receive them." During the 19th century, Russian authorities began to differentiate Karaite Jews from Rabbanite Jews, freeing them from various oppressive laws that affected Rabbinic Jews. In the 1830s the Tsarist governor of the Taurida Governorate , Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov , told

2672-530: A hylic intellect which is influenced by the active intellect. This hylic intellect, which forms the rational soul, is a spiritual substance and not an accident, and is therefore imperishable. The discussion concerning the soul and its faculties leads naturally to the question of free will . Judah upholds the doctrine of free will against the Epicureans and the Fatalists , and endeavors to reconcile it with

2839-515: A lack of practical wisdom may lead courageous people to perform morally wrong actions by taking unnecessary risks that should better be avoided. Different types of virtue ethics differ on how they understand virtues and their role in practical life. Eudaimonism is the original form of virtue theory developed in Ancient Greek philosophy and draws a close relation between virtuous behavior and happiness. It states that people flourish by living

3006-476: A law built on their own conception, but failed, till Simon b. Shētaḥ returned with his disciples from Alexandria, and restored tradition to its former condition. Karaism had, however, taken root among people who rejected the oral law, and called all kinds of proofs to their aid, as we see to-day. As regards the Sādōcaeans and Boēthosians , they are the sectarians who are anathemised in our prayer. Abraham Geiger ,

3173-549: A means to promote their self-interest. Ethical egoism is often criticized as an immoral and contradictory position. Normative ethics has a central place in most religions . Key aspects of Jewish ethics are to follow the 613 commandments of God according to the Mitzvah duty found in the Torah and to take responsibility for societal welfare . Christian ethics puts less emphasis on following precise laws and teaches instead

3340-611: A more general principle. Many theories of normative ethics also aim to guide behavior by helping people make moral decisions . Theories in normative ethics state how people should act or what kind of behavior is correct. They do not aim to describe how people normally act, what moral beliefs ordinary people have, how these beliefs change over time, or what ethical codes are upheld in certain social groups. These topics belong to descriptive ethics and are studied in fields like anthropology , sociology , and history rather than normative ethics. Some systems of normative ethics arrive at

3507-466: A multiplicity in His essence than do the multifarious influences of the rays of the sun on various bodies imply a multiplicity of suns. To the intuitive vision of the prophet the actions proceeding from God appear under the images of the corresponding human actions. Angels are God's messengers, and either they exist for a length of time, or they are created only for special purposes. From the names of God and

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3674-550: A person should tell the truth even in specific cases where lying would lead to better consequences. Another disagreement is between actual and expected consequentialism. According to the traditional view, only the actual consequences of an act affect its moral value. One difficulty of this view is that many consequences cannot be known in advance. This means that in some cases, even well-planned and intentioned acts are morally wrong if they inadvertently lead to negative outcomes. An alternative perspective states that what matters are not

3841-401: A pleasurable experience has a high value if it has a high intensity and lasts for a long time. A common criticism of Bentham's utilitarianism argued that its focus on the intensity of pleasure promotes an immoral lifestyle centered around indulgence in sensory gratification. Mill responded to this criticism by distinguishing between higher and lower pleasures. He stated that higher pleasures, like

4008-470: A purely solar calendar of 364 days and 30-day months, insisting that all the Holy Days and fast days should always occur on fixed days in the week, rather than on fixed days of the months. He further said that Shabbat should be kept from sunrise on Saturday to sunrise on Sunday. Most Ananites and Karaites rejected such beliefs. ʻAnan developed his movement's core tenets. His Sefer HaMiṣwot ("The Book of

4175-491: A reaction to the rise of Islam . The new religion recognized Judaism as a fellow monotheistic faith, but claimed that it detracted from its belief by deferring to rabbinical authority. Anan ben David ( Hebrew : ענן בן דוד , c. 715 – 795 or 811?) is widely considered to be a major founder of the Karaite movement. His followers, called Ananites, did not believe the rabbinical oral law was divinely inspired. According to

4342-465: A set of traditions; in other words, history is an important factor in the development of human culture and science. Halevi writes that as the Jews are the only depositaries of a written history of the development of the human race from the beginning of the world, the superiority of their traditions cannot be denied. Halevi asserts that no comparison is possible between Jewish culture , which in his view

4509-790: A single principle covering all possible cases. Others encompass a small set of basic rules that address all or at least the most important moral considerations. One difficulty for systems with several basic principles is that these principles may conflict with each other in some cases and lead to ethical dilemmas . Distinct theories in normative ethics suggest different principles as the foundation of morality. The three most influential schools of thought are consequentialism , deontology , and virtue ethics . These schools are usually presented as exclusive alternatives, but depending on how they are defined, they can overlap and do not necessarily exclude one another. In some cases, they differ in which acts they see as right or wrong. In other cases, they recommend

4676-464: A situation, regardless of their specific role or position. Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) is one of the most well-known deontologists. He states that reaching outcomes that people desire, such as being happy, is not the main purpose of moral actions. Instead, he argues that there are universal principles that apply to everyone independent of their desires. He uses the term categorical imperative for these principles, saying that they have their source in

4843-425: A society construct different moral systems based on their diverging purposes. Emotivism provides a different explanation, stating that morality arises from moral emotions, which are not the same for everyone. Moral nihilists deny the existence of moral facts. They reject the existence of both objective moral facts defended by moral realism and subjective moral facts defended by moral relativism. They believe that

5010-557: A virtuous life. Eudaimonist theories often hold that virtues are positive potentials residing in human nature and that actualizing these potentials results in leading a good and happy life. Agent-based theories, by contrast, see happiness only as a side effect and focus instead on the admirable traits and motivational characteristics expressed while acting. This is often combined with the idea that one can learn from exceptional individuals what those characteristics are. Feminist ethics of care are another form of virtue ethics. They emphasize

5177-540: A visual reminder to the Israelites to remember the commandments given by God. The thread of Tekhelet is a blue-violet or blue thread, which, according to the traditions of Rabbinic Judaism, is to be dyed with a specific kind of dye derived from a mollusc (notably the Hexaplex trunculus sea snail). Due to a number of factors, including Rome outlawing the use of Tekhelet by commoners, the source and practice of using

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5344-527: Is God. Halevi now attempts to demonstrate the superiority of his religion, Judaism. The preservation of the Israelites in Egypt and in the wilderness, the delivery to them of the Torah (law) on Mount Sinai , and their later history are to him evident proofs of its superiority. He impresses upon the king the fact that the favor of God can be won only by following God's precepts in their totality, and that those precepts are binding only on Jews. The question of why

5511-487: Is a moral obligation to refrain from lying. Because it relies on consent, contractualism is often understood as a patient-centered form of deontology. Famous social contract theorists include Thomas Hobbes , John Locke , Jean-Jacques Rousseau , and John Rawls . Discourse ethics also focuses on social agreement on moral norms but says that this agreement is based on communicative rationality . It aims to arrive at moral norms for pluralistic modern societies that encompass

5678-456: Is based upon religious truth, and Greek culture , which is based upon science only. He holds that the wisdom of Greek philosophers lacked that divine support with which the Israelite prophets were endowed. Had a trustworthy tradition that the world was created out of nothing been known to Aristotle , he would have supported it by at least as strong arguments as those advanced by him to prove

5845-476: Is better than an unequal distribution even if the aggregate good is the same. There are disagreements about which consequences should be assessed. An important distinction is between act consequentialism and rule consequentialism. According to act consequentialism, the consequences of an act determine its moral value. This means that there is a direct relation between the consequences of an act and its moral value. Rule consequentialism, by contrast, holds that an act

6012-410: Is between naturalism and non-naturalism. Naturalism states that moral properties are natural properties accessible to empirical observation . They are similar to the natural properties investigated by the natural sciences , like color and shape. Some moral naturalists hold that moral properties are a unique and basic type of natural property. Another view states that moral properties are real but not

6179-470: Is considered melakha (forbidden work). Their prayer books are composed almost completely of biblical passages. Karaite Jews often practice full prostration during prayers, while most other Jews no longer pray in this fashion. Unlike Rabbinic Jews, Karaites do not practice the ritual of lighting Shabbat candles . They have a differing interpretation of the Torah verse, "You shall not [burn] ( Hebrew : bi‘er

6346-456: Is embedded in and relative to social and cultural contexts. Pragmatists tend to give more importance to habits than to conscious deliberation and understand morality as a habit that should be shaped in the right way. Postmodern ethics agrees with pragmatist ethics about the cultural relativity of morality. It rejects the idea that there are objective moral principles that apply universally to all cultures and traditions. It asserts that there

6513-537: Is found in Jainism , which has non-violence as its principal virtue. Duty is a central aspect of Hindu ethics and is about fulfilling social obligations, which may vary depending on a person's social class and stage of life . Confucianism places great emphasis on harmony in society and sees benevolence as a key virtue. Taoism extends the importance of living in harmony to the whole world and teaches that people should practice effortless action by following

6680-427: Is in print by Feldheim Publishers. After a short account of the incidents preceding the conversion of the king, and of his conversations with a philosopher , a Christian , and a Muslim concerning their respective beliefs, a Jew appears on the stage, and by his first statement startles the king; for, instead of giving him proofs of the existence of God, he asserts and explains the miracles performed by Him in favor of

6847-460: Is no difference between essential and other attributes. Either the attribute affirms a quality in God, in which case essential attributes cannot be applied to Him more than can any other, because it is impossible to predicate anything of Him, or the attribute expresses only the negation of the contrary quality, and in that case there is no harm in using any kind of attributes. Accordingly, Judah divides all

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7014-736: Is no one coherent ethical code since morality itself is irrational and humans are morally ambivalent beings. Postmodern ethics instead focuses on how moral demands arise in specific situations as one encounters other people. Ethical egoism is the view that people should act in their self-interest or that an action is morally right if the person acts for their own benefit. It differs from psychological egoism , which states that people actually follow their self-interest without claiming that they should do so. Ethical egoists may act in agreement with commonly accepted moral expectations and benefit other people, for example, by keeping promises, helping friends, and cooperating with others. However, they do so only as

7181-651: Is not interested in which actions are right but in what it means for an action to be right and whether moral judgments are objective and can be true at all. It further examines the meaning of morality and other moral terms. Metaethics is a metatheory that operates on a higher level of abstraction than normative ethics by investigating its underlying assumptions. Metaethical theories typically do not directly judge which normative ethical theories are correct. However, metaethical theories can still influence normative theories by examining their foundational principles. Metaethics overlaps with various branches of philosophy. On

7348-446: Is one of the earliest forms of consequentialism. It arose in the 5th century BCE and argued that political action should promote justice as a means to increase the welfare of the people. The most well-known form of consequentialism is utilitarianism. In its classical form, it is an act consequentialism that sees happiness as the only source of intrinsic value. This means that an act is morally right if it produces "the greatest good for

7515-428: Is one of the main branches of philosophy and investigates the nature of morality and the principles that govern the moral evaluation of conduct , character traits , and institutions . It examines what obligations people have, what behavior is right and wrong, and how to lead a good life. Some of its key questions are "How should one live?" and "What gives meaning to life ?". In contemporary philosophy, ethics

7682-422: Is primarily concerned with normative statements about what ought to be the case, in contrast to descriptive statements , which are about what is the case. Duties and obligations express requirements of what people ought to do. Duties are sometimes defined as counterparts of the rights that always accompany them. According to this view, someone has a duty to benefit another person if this other person has

7849-438: Is right if it follows a certain set of rules. Rule consequentialism determines the best rules by considering their outcomes at a community level. People should follow the rules that lead to the best consequences when everyone in the community follows them. This implies that the relation between an act and its consequences is indirect. For example, if telling the truth is one of the best rules, then according to rule consequentialism,

8016-468: Is said to be rejected if it contradicts the simple meaning of the Tanakh's text. The vast majority of these traditions are not forced upon any Karaite Jew or convert to Judaism through the Karaite movement, except very few such as donning a head covering in the Karaite kenesa . Those Karaites Jews who are new to the Karaite lifestyle do not have such an inheritance or tradition and tend to rely solely upon

8183-434: Is that codes of conduct in specific areas, such as business and environment, are usually termed ethics rather than morality, as in business ethics and environmental ethics . Normative ethics is the philosophical study of ethical conduct and investigates the fundamental principles of morality . It aims to discover and justify general answers to questions like "How should one live?" and "How should people act?", usually in

8350-519: Is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy , it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics , applied ethics , and metaethics . Normative ethics aims to find general principles that govern how people should act. Applied ethics examines concrete ethical problems in real-life situations, such as abortion , treatment of animals , and business practices . Metaethics explores

8517-573: Is the meaning of the text that would have been naturally understood by the ancient Hebrews when the books of the Torah were first written—without the use of the Oral Torah. By contrast, Rabbinic Judaism relies on the legal rulings of the Sanhedrin as they are codified in the Midrash, Talmud, and other sources to indicate the authentic meaning of the Torah. Karaism holds every interpretation of

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8684-422: Is the only thing with intrinsic value is called ethical or evaluative hedonism . Classical utilitarianism was initially formulated by Jeremy Bentham at the end of the 18th century and further developed by John Stuart Mill . Bentham introduced the hedonic calculus to assess the value of consequences. Two key aspects of the hedonic calculus are the intensity and the duration of pleasure. According to this view,

8851-583: Is the palace of the world's Ruler; (8) belief in Resurrection contemporaneous with the advent of the Messiah; (9) final judgment; (10) retribution. Karaite Jews do not object to the idea of a body of interpretation of the Torah, along with extensions and development of non-rabbinic halakha (Jewish law) that strives to adhere to the Tanakh's straightforward meaning. Several hundred such books have been written by various Karaite Ḥakhamim (sages) throughout

9018-437: Is to have a good will. A person has a good will if they respect the moral law and form their intentions and motives in agreement with it. Kant states that actions motivated in such a way are unconditionally good, meaning that they are good even in cases where they result in undesirable consequences. Divine command theory says that God is the source of morality. It states that moral laws are divine commands and that to act morally

9185-489: Is to obey and follow God's will . While all divine command theorists agree that morality depends on God, there are disagreements about the precise content of the divine commands, and theorists belonging to different religions tend to propose different moral laws. For example, Christian and Jewish divine command theorists may argue that the Ten Commandments express God's will while Muslims may reserve this role for

9352-480: Is turned on prior to Shabbat. Many observant Karaites either unplug their refrigerators on Shabbat or turn off the circuit breakers. Karaites consider producing electricity to be a violation of Shabbat , no matter who produces it. Additionally, some Karaites view the purchasing of electricity that is charged on an incremental basis during the Shabbat as a commercial transaction that the Tanakh prohibits, no matter when

9519-411: Is usually divided into normative ethics , applied ethics , and metaethics . Morality is about what people ought to do rather than what they actually do, what they want to do, or what social conventions require. As a rational and systematic field of inquiry, ethics studies practical reasons why people should act one way rather than another. Most ethical theories seek universal principles that express

9686-454: Is why Rabbinic Judaism prohibits starting a fire on Shabbat. The vast majority of Karaite Jews hold that, throughout the Tanakh, ba‘ar explicitly means "to burn", while the Hebrew word meaning "to ignite" or "to kindle" is hidliq . Accordingly, the mainstream in Karaite Judaism takes the passage to mean that fire should not be left burning in a Jewish home on Shabbat, regardless of whether it

9853-421: Is wrong to break a promise even if no harm comes from it. Deontologists are interested in which actions are right and often allow that there is a gap between what is right and what is good. Many focus on prohibitions and describe which acts are forbidden under any circumstances. Agent-centered deontological theories focus on the person who acts and the duties they have. Agent-centered theories often focus on

10020-399: Is wrong. This observation is sometimes taken as an argument against moral realism since moral disagreement is widespread in most fields. Moral relativists reject the idea that morality is an objective feature of reality. They argue instead that moral principles are human inventions. This means that a behavior is not objectively right or wrong but only subjectively right or wrong relative to

10187-407: The pi‘el form of ba‘ar ) a fire in any of your dwellings on the day of Shabbat." (Ex. 35:3) In Rabbinic Judaism, the qal verb form ba‘ar is understood to mean "burn", whereas the pi‘el form (present here) is understood to be, not intensive as usual but causative, the rule being that the pi‘el of a stative verb will be causative, instead of the usual hif‘il. Hence bi‘er means "kindle", which

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10354-667: The Ancient Greek word êthos ( ἦθος ), meaning ' character ' and ' personal disposition ' . This word gave rise to the Ancient Greek word ēthikós ( ἠθικός ), which was translated into Latin as ethica and entered the English language in the 15th century through the Old French term éthique . The term morality originates in the Latin word moralis , meaning ' manners ' and ' character ' . It

10521-578: The Bible , the very reading of which is dependent upon it, since there were no vowels or accents in the original text. The fourth essay opens with an analysis of the various names of God found in the Bible. According to Judah, all these names, with the exception of the Tetragrammaton , are attributes expressing the various states of God's activity in the world. The multiplicity of names no more implies

10688-519: The Israelites . The king expresses his astonishment at this exordium , which seems to him incoherent; but the Jew replies that the existence of God, the creation of the world, etc., being taught by religion , do not need any speculative demonstrations. Further, he propounds the principle upon which his religious system is founded; namely, that revealed religion is far superior to natural religion. For

10855-459: The Khazars , who has invited the former to instruct him in the tenets of Judaism in comparison with those of the other two Abrahamic religions : Christianity and Islam . The Kuzari takes place during a conversion of some Khazar nobility to Judaism. The historicity of this event is debated. The Khazar Correspondence , along with other historical documents, are said to indicate a conversion of

11022-521: The Motekallamin , whose arguments on the creation of the world, on God and His unity, he terms dialectic exercises and mere phrases. However, Judah ha-Levi is against limiting philosophical speculation to matters concerning creation and God; he follows the Greek philosophers in examining the creation of the material world. Thus he admits that every being is made up of matter and form . The movement of

11189-672: The Mo‘eṣet HaḤakhamim . KJU teaches various forms of Karaite Judaism and includes Sevel HaYerushah in its course materials. Thus, newly admitted converts to Karaite Judaism can choose to accept or reject Sevel HaYerushah. As with other Jews, during Shabbat , Karaites attend synagogue to worship and to offer prayers . Most Karaites refrain from sexual relations on that day since they maintain that engaging in them can cause fatigue and copulation, in particular, results in ritual impurity on this holy day, concerns that Rabbinic Judaism ceased to have long ago; additionally, impregnating one's wife

11356-578: The New Testament and the Quran . Yudghan was a follower of Abū ʻĪsā al-Iṣfahānī and claimed to be a prophet and the Messiah, saying that the observance of Shabbat and Holy Days was no longer obligatory. Isma‘il al-‘Ukbari believed he was the prophet Elijah , and hated ʻAnan. Mishawayh al-‘Ukbari, who was a disciple of Isma‘il al-‘Ukbari and the founder of the Mishawites, taught his followers to use

11523-632: The Oral Torah , codified in the Talmud and subsequent works, as authoritative interpretations of the Torah , Karaite Jews do not treat the written collections of the oral tradition in the Midrash or the Talmud as binding. Karaite interpretation of the Torah strives to adhere to the plain or most obvious meaning ( peshat ) of the text; this is not necessarily the literal meaning of the text—instead, it

11690-531: The astronomical and medical knowledge of the ancient Hebrews. The fifth and last essay is devoted to a criticism of the various philosophical systems known at the time of the author. Judah attacks by turns the Aristotelian cosmology , psychology , and metaphysics . To the doctrine of emanation, based, according to him, upon the Aristotelian cosmological principle that no simple being can produce

11857-402: The medieval period , ethical thought was strongly influenced by religious teachings. In the modern period , this focus shifted to a more secular approach concerned with moral experience, reasons for acting , and the consequences of actions. An influential development in the 20th century was the emergence of metaethics. Ethics, also called moral philosophy, is the study of moral phenomena. It

12024-628: The 12th century scholar and liturgist Judah ben Elijah Hadassi in his Eshkol ha-Kofer : (1) God is the Creator of all created beings; (2) He is premundane and has no peer or associate; (3) the whole universe is created; (4) God called Moses and the other Prophets of the Biblical canon; (5) the Law of Moses alone is true; (6) to know the language of the Bible is a religious duty; (7) the Temple at Jerusalem

12191-532: The 20th century, virtue ethics experienced a resurgence thanks to philosophers such as Elizabeth Anscombe , Philippa Foot , Alasdair MacIntyre , and Martha Nussbaum . There are many other schools of normative ethics in addition to the three main traditions. Pragmatist ethics focuses on the role of practice and holds that one of the key tasks of ethics is to solve practical problems in concrete situations. It has certain similarities to utilitarianism and its focus on consequences but concentrates more on how morality

12358-404: The 20th century, when the term was coined by G. E. M. Anscombe . Consequentialists usually understand the consequences of an action in a very wide sense that includes the totality of its effects. This is based on the idea that actions make a difference in the world by bringing about a causal chain of events that would not have existed otherwise. A core intuition behind consequentialism is that

12525-545: The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, atheism became official state policy in Soviet territories and Karaite religious schools and places of worship were the very first religious institutions closed by the Soviet government. The authorities allowed only the teaching of Shapshalian doctrines about the Karaites, and the official stance according to Soviet law (carried over from Russian Imperial law) erroneously regarded

12692-488: The Commandments") was published about 770. He adopted many principles and opinions of other anti-rabbinic forms of Judaism that had previously existed. He took much from the old Sadducees and Essenes, whose remnants still survived, and whose writings—or at least writings ascribed to them—were still in circulation. Thus, for example, these older sects prohibited the burning of any lights and the leaving of one's dwelling on

12859-506: The Crusades. Setting aside the possible exception of the work of Maimonides , it had a profound impact on the subsequent development of Judaism, and has remained central to Jewish religious tradition. Given what has been generally regarded as its pronounced anti-philosophical tendencies, a direct line has been drawn, prominently by Gershom Scholem , between it and the rise of the anti-rationalist Kabbalah movement. The ideas and style of

13026-594: The Israeli city of Ashdod . Some scholars trace the origin of Karaism to those who rejected the Talmudic tradition as an innovation. Judah Halevi , an 11th-century Jewish philosopher and rabbi , wrote a defense for Rabbinic Judaism entitled Kuzari , placing the origins of Karaism in the first and second centuries BCE, during the reign of Alexander Jannaeus ("King Jannai"), king of Judaea from 103 to 76 BCE: After him came Judah b. Tabbāi and Simon b. Shētaḥ, with

13193-456: The Jews were favored with God's instruction is answered in the Kuzari at I:95: it was based upon their pedigree, i.e., Noah 's most pious son was Shem . His most pious son was Arpachshad etc. Abraham was Arpachshad's descendant, Isaac was Abraham's most pious son, and Jacob was Isaac's most pious son. The sons of Jacob were all worthy and their children became the Jews. The Jew then shows that

13360-605: The Karaite leaders that, even though the Russian Empire liked the idea that the Karaites did not accept the Talmud , they were still Jews and responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus and thus subject to the laws. The leaders, hearing that, devised a ruse by which they could be freed of the oppressive laws and told him that the Karaites had already settled in the Crimea before the death of Jesus. The Tsarist government then said that, if they could prove it, they would be free of

13527-599: The Karaite revival of the late 20th century; the World Karaite Movement was founded by Nehemia Gordon and Ḥakham Meir Rekhavi in the early 1990s. Karaite Jewish University (KJU), approved by the Mo‘eṣet HaḤakhamim (the Council of Sages) in Israel, was founded to teach an introductory course on Karaite Judaism. It could lead to a student's conversion by a Beit Din (religious Jewish court) authorized by

13694-523: The Karaites as Turkic descendants of the Khazars and not as Jews. Not all European Karaites accepted the Shapshalian doctrines. Some Hachamim and a small part of the general Karaite population still preserved their Jewish heritage, but most dared not oppose Shapshal openly due to his official standing with regard to the Soviet Union . The Karaite community in Egypt was considered one of

13861-622: The Karaites were a group called Benei Ṣedeq during the Second Temple period . Historians have argued over whether Karaism has a direct connection to the Sadducees dating back to the end of the Second Temple period (70 CE) or whether Karaism represents a novel emergence of similar views. Karaites have always maintained that while there are some similarities to the Sadducees due to the rejection of rabbinical authority and of

14028-653: The Khazar nobility to Judaism. A minority of scholars, among them Moshe Gil and Shaul Stampfer have challenged the document's claim to represent a real historical event. The scale of conversions within the Khazar Khaganate (if, indeed, any occurred) is unknown. The Kuzari's emphasis on the uniqueness of the Jewish people, the Torah and the land of Israel bears witness to a radical change of direction in Jewish thinking at that juncture in history, which coincided with

14195-566: The Muslim government. He was sentenced to death, but his life was saved by his fellow prisoner, Abu Hanifa , the founder of the madhhab or school of fiqh (Muslim jurisprudence) known as the Hanafi . Ultimately he and his followers were permitted to migrate to Palestine . They erected a synagogue in Jerusalem that continued to be maintained until the time of the Crusades . From this center,

14362-459: The Muslim world and establish their own institutions. Karaites in the Muslim world also obtained high social positions such as tax collectors, doctors, and clerks, and even received special positions in the Egyptian courts. Karaite scholars were among the most conspicuous practitioners in the philosophical school known as Jewish Kalam . According to historian Salo Wittmayer Baron , at one time

14529-705: The Oral Law, there are major differences. According to Rabbi Abraham ibn Daud , in his Sefer ha-Qabbalah (written c. 1160), the Karaite movement crystallized in Baghdad in the Gaonic period ( c. 7th–9th centuries) under the Abbasid Caliphate in present-day Iraq . This is the view universally accepted among Rabbinic Jews. However, some Arab scholars claim that Karaites were already living in Egypt in

14696-561: The Sabbath. Unlike the Sadducees, ʻAnan and the Qumran sectaries allowed persons to leave their house, but prohibited leaving one's town or camp. ʻAnan said that one should not leave one's house for frivolous things, but only to go to prayer or to study scripture. The Sadducees required the observation of the new moon to establish the dates of festivals and always held the Shavuot festival on

14863-476: The Sages, advising him to browbeat, expel, and scatter or kill them. He replied: 'If I destroy the Sages what will become of our Law?' 'There is the written law,' they replied, whoever wishes to study it may come and do so; take no heed of the oral law.' He followed their advice and expelled the Sages and among them Simon b. Shētaḥ, his son-in-law. Rabbinism was laid low for some time. The other party tried to establish

15030-403: The Tanakh and those practices mentioned in it, and to adapt Biblical practices to their cultural context. Karaite communities are so small and generally isolated, that their members commonly adopt the customs of their host country. In Israel, too, traditional Karaites tend to be culturally assimilated into mainstream society (both secular and Orthodox ). Many modern Karaite Jews have emerged from

15197-476: The Torah to the same scrutiny regardless of its source, and teaches that it is the personal responsibility of every individual Jew to study the Torah , and ultimately to decide personally its correct meaning. Karaites may consider arguments made in the Talmud and other works, but without exalting them above other viewpoints. According to the Karaite Mordecai ben Nissan (born 1650), the ancestors of

15364-661: The Ukbarites emerged separately from the Ananites. However, the Isunians, Yudghanites, Ukabarites , and Mishawites all held views that did not accord with those of either the Ananites or the Karaites. Abū ʻĪsā al-Iṣfahānī, who was an illiterate tailor, claimed to be a prophet, prohibited divorce, claimed that all months should have thirty days, believed in Jesus and Muhammad as prophets, and told his followers that they must study

15531-491: The above commentaries are in Hebrew. Karaite Judaism Karaism is a non-Rabbinical Jewish sect characterized by the recognition of the written Tanakh alone as its supreme authority in halakha ( religious law ) and theology . Karaites believe that all of the divine commandments which were handed down to Moses by God were recorded in the written Torah without any additional Oral Law or explanation. Unlike mainstream Rabbinic Judaism , which regards

15698-430: The actual consequences but the expected consequences. This view takes into account that when deciding what to do, people have to rely on their limited knowledge of the total consequences of their actions. According to this view, a course of action has positive moral value despite leading to an overall negative outcome if it had the highest expected value , for example, because the negative outcome could not be anticipated or

15865-529: The agent. It is controversial whether agent-relative moral theories, like ethical egoism , should be considered as types of consequentialism. There are many different types of consequentialism. They differ based on what type of entity they evaluate, what consequences they take into consideration, and how they determine the value of consequences. Most theories assess the moral value of acts. However, consequentialism can also be used to evaluate motives , character traits , rules, and policies . Many types assess

16032-410: The aim of ethical training, which is the object of religion, is not to create in man good intentions, but to cause him to perform good deeds. This aim cannot be attained by philosophy, which is undecided as to the nature of good, but can be secured by religious training, which teaches what is good. As science is the sum of all truth found by successive generations, so religious training is based upon

16199-444: The attributes found in the Bible into three classes: active, relative, and negative, which last class comprises all the essential attributes expressing mere negations. The question of attributes being closely connected with that of anthropomorphism , Judah enters into a lengthy discussion on this point. Although opposed to the conception of the corporeality of God, as being contrary to Scripture, he would consider it wrong to reject all

16366-570: The basic assumptions underlying moral claims are misguided. Some moral nihilists conclude from this that anything is allowed. A slightly different view emphasizes that moral nihilism is not itself a moral position about what is allowed and prohibited but the rejection of any moral position. Moral nihilism, like moral relativism, recognizes that people judge actions as right or wrong from different perspectives. However, it disagrees that this practice involves morality and sees it as just one type of human behavior. A central disagreement among moral realists

16533-455: The belief in God's providence and omniscience. As mentioned above, six commentaries were printed in the fifteenth century, four of them known to us: And two commentaries of two students of Rabbi Shlomo Ben Menachem: Rabbi Yaakov Ben Parisol and Rabbi Netanel Ben Nechemya Hacaspi. (For more information, see the translation of Yehudah Even-Shemuel, preface, p. 53). In the 20th century, several more commentaries were written, including: All

16700-595: The belief in the eternity of matter. The objection that the Absolutely Infinite and Perfect could not have produced imperfect and finite beings, made by the Neoplatonists to the theory of "creatio ex nihilo," is not removed by attributing the existence of all mundane things to the action of nature ; for the latter is only a link in the chain of causes having its origin in the First Cause , which

16867-417: The best action for someone with a good salary would be to donate 70% of their income to charity, it would be morally wrong for them to only donate 65%. Satisficing consequentialism, by contrast, only requires that an act is "good enough" even if it is not the best possible alternative. According to this view, it is possible to do more than one is morally required to do. Mohism in ancient Chinese philosophy

17034-590: The community Ḥakhamim still taught that the Karaites were and had always been a part of the Jewish people; prayer was in Hebrew, the lineage of Kohens , Levites , and families of Davidic descent were meticulously preserved, and books printed in Hebrew adamantly identified the Karaites as Jews. In 1897 the Russian census counted 12,894 Karaites in the Russian Empire. By the early 20th century, most European Karaites were no longer very knowledgeable about

17201-533: The community, his conservatism and opposition towards local customs were met by little success. In the 1950s, the entire Jewish population in Egypt was estimated at 80,000 including 5,000 Karaite Jews. Following the United Arab Republic 's participation in the Six-Day War , a few Jewish men in Egypt were placed in short term detention, before being expelled from the country. This resulted in

17368-421: The consequences. A related approach is to characterize consequentialism not in terms of consequences but in terms of outcome, with the outcome being defined as the act together with its consequences. Most forms of consequentialism are agent-neutral. This means that the value of consequences is assessed from a neutral perspective, that is, acts should have consequences that are good in general and not just good for

17535-400: The contest for the office of exilarch which allegedly served as the immediate cause of his apostasy." Nemoy later notes that Natronai—a devout Rabbanite—lived where ʻAnan's activities took place, and that the Karaite sage Jacob Qirqisani never mentioned ʻAnan's purported lineage or candidacy for Exilarch . ʻAnan's allowing his followers to proclaim him as Exilarch was considered treason by

17702-484: The day after the weekly Sabbath (i.e., the Sunday) that occurs during the seven days of Ḥagh HaMaṣṣot to the day after the seventh weekly Sabbath. They celebrate Shavu‘ot on that Sunday, no matter what the calendar date of that Sunday on which it happens to fall. A Tzitzit (alternatively spelled Ṣiṣit, plural: Tzitziyot or Ṣiṣiyot) is a knotted or braided tassel worn by observant Jews (both Karaite and Rabbinic) on each of

17869-496: The days from the offering of the ‘Omer is different from the rabbinic method. The Karaites understand the term "morrow after the Sabbath" in Leviticus 23:15–16 to refer to the weekly Sabbath, whereas Rabbinic Judaism interprets it as referring to the day of rest on the first day of Ḥagh HaMaṣṣot . So while Rabbinic Judaism begins the count on the 16th of Nisan and celebrates Shavu‘ot on the 6th of Sivan , Karaite Jews count from

18036-575: The death of Jesus and thus had no responsibility for it. Firkovich referenced tombstones in Crimea (altering the dates) and gathered thousands of Karaite, Rabbinic, and Samaritan manuscripts, including one rabbinic document from Transcaucasia that claims that the Jews there were descendants of the exiles from the northern Kingdom of Israel . These actions convinced the Tsar that Karaite ancestors could not have killed Jesus and that thus their descendants were free of familial guilt . Despite this, within

18203-423: The deficient state of cowardice and the excessive state of recklessness . Aristotle held that virtuous action leads to happiness and makes people flourish in life. Stoicism emerged about 300 BCE and taught that, through virtue alone, people can achieve happiness characterized by a peaceful state of mind free from emotional disturbances. The Stoics advocated rationality and self-mastery to achieve this state. In

18370-509: The essence of angels Judah passes to his favorite theme and shows that the views of the Prophets are a purer source for a knowledge of God than the teachings of the philosophers. Although he professes great reverence for the " Sefer Yetẓirah ," from which he quotes many passages, he hastens to add that the theories of Abraham elucidated therein had been held by the patriarch before God revealed Himself to him. The essay concludes with examples of

18537-490: The eternity of matter. Belief in the eternity of matter, however, is not absolutely contrary to Jewish religious ideas; for the Biblical narrative of the Creation refers only to the beginning of the human race, and does not preclude the possibility of preexistent matter. Still, relying upon tradition, the Jews believe in " creatio ex nihilo " which theory can be sustained by as powerful arguments as those advanced in favor of

18704-578: The excellence of the Hebrew language , which, although sharing now the fate of the Jews, is to other languages what the Jews are to other nations and what Israel is to other lands. The third essay is devoted to the refutation of the teachings of Karaism and to the history of the development of the oral tradition, the Talmud . Judah ha-Levi shows that there is no means of carrying out the precepts without having recourse to oral tradition; that such tradition has always existed may be inferred from many passages of

18871-689: The first Islamic governor of Egypt (d. 664), and was reportedly dated 20  AH (641 CE). At one time, Karaites made up a significant proportion of the Hebrew population. However as of 2013, an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 Karaites resided in Israel , with smaller communities in Turkey, Europe and the United States. A 2007 report estimated that, of 30,000 worldwide, more than 20,000 descend from those who made aliyah from Egypt and Iraq to Israel . The largest Karaite community today resides in

19038-462: The first half of the seventh century, based on a legal document that the Karaite community in Egypt had in its possession until the end of the 19th century, in which the first Islamic governor ordered the leaders of the Rabbinite community against interfering with Karaite practices or with the way they celebrate their holidays. It was said to have been stamped by the palm of Amr ibn al-ʿĀṣ as-Sahmī ,

19205-408: The first modern translation, by Yehudah Even-Shemuel, into Modern Hebrew from the Arabic original was published. In 1994, a French translation by Charles Touati from the Arabic original was published. In 1997, a Hebrew translation by Rabbi Yosef Qafih from the Arabic original was published, which is now in its fourth edition (published in 2013). A 2009 English translation by Rabbi N. Daniel Korobkin

19372-413: The form of universal or domain-independent principles that determine whether an act is right or wrong. For example, given the particular impression that it is wrong to set a child on fire for fun, normative ethics aims to find more general principles that explain why this is the case, like the principle that one should not cause extreme suffering to the innocent , which may itself be explained in terms of

19539-519: The formation of character . Descriptive ethics describes the dominant moral codes and beliefs in different societies and considers their historical dimension. The history of ethics started in the ancient period with the development of ethical principles and theories in ancient Egypt , India , China , and Greece . This period saw the emergence of ethical teachings associated with Hinduism , Buddhism , Confucianism , Daoism , and contributions of philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle . During

19706-452: The four corners of what is often an outer garment or their Tallit . The Torah commands Israel to make tassels on the corners of their four-cornered garment containing a thread of Tekhelet ( Numbers 15:38 ) and repeats this commandment using the word for "twisted cords" ("Gedilim") instead of "tassels" at Deuteronomy 22:12 . The purpose of the tassels is stated in the Book of Numbers as

19873-399: The friends of both. At this period the doctrine of the Karaites arose in consequence of an incident between the Sages and King Jannai who was a priest. His mother was under suspicion of being a 'profane' woman. One of the Sages alluded to this, saying to him: 'Be satisfied, O king Jannai, with the royal crown, but leave the priestly crown to the seed of Aaron.' His friends prejudiced him against

20040-405: The future should be shaped to achieve the best possible outcome. The act itself is usually not seen as part of the consequences. This means that if an act has intrinsic value or disvalue, it is not included as a factor. Some consequentialists see this as a flaw, saying that all value-relevant factors need to be considered. They try to avoid this complication by including the act itself as part of

20207-429: The greatest number" by increasing happiness and reducing suffering. Utilitarians do not deny that other things also have value, like health, friendship, and knowledge. However, they deny that these things have intrinsic value. Instead, they say that they have extrinsic value because they affect happiness and suffering. In this regard, they are desirable as a means but, unlike happiness, not as an end. The view that pleasure

20374-421: The human mind and culture rather than as subjective constructs or expressions of personal preferences and cultural norms . Moral realists accept the claim that there are objective moral facts. This view implies that moral values are mind-independent aspects of reality and that there is an absolute fact about whether a given action is right or wrong. A consequence of this view is that moral requirements have

20541-450: The human body; the prominent spiritual position occupied by Israel, whose relation to other nations is that of the heart to the limbs; the opposition evinced by Judaism toward asceticism , in virtue of the principle that the favor of God is to be won only by carrying out His precepts, and that these precepts do not command man to subdue the inclinations suggested by the faculties of the soul , but to use them in their due place and proportion;

20708-535: The immortality of the soul , resurrection , reward, and punishment are all implied in Scripture and are referred to in Jewish writings. In the second essay Judah enters into a detailed discussion of some of the theological questions hinted at in the preceding one. To these belongs in the first place that of the divine attributes. Judah rejects entirely the doctrine of essential attributes which had been propounded by Saadia Gaon and Bahya ibn Paquda . For him there

20875-415: The importance of interpersonal relationships and say that benevolence by caring for the well-being of others is one of the key virtues. Influential schools of virtue ethics in ancient philosophy were Aristotelianism and Stoicism . According to Aristotle (384–322 BCE), each virtue is a golden mean between two types of vices: excess and deficiency. For example, courage is a virtue that lies between

21042-411: The intellectual satisfaction of reading a book, are more valuable than lower pleasures, like the sensory enjoyment of food and drink, even if their intensity and duration are the same. Since its original formulation, many variations of utilitarianism have developed, including the difference between act and rule utilitarianism and between maximizing and satisficing utilitarianism. Deontology assesses

21209-595: The latter from the former, because he could not embrace his inventions which he formed out of his own brain; and from him the Karaites sprung, who were first called the society or congregation of Judah ben Tabbai, which was afterwards changed into the name of Karaites. Gill also traces the Karaite sect to the split between the schools of Hillel the Elder and Shammai in 30 BCE. American scholar Bernard Revel rejects many of Geiger's arguments in his 1913 published dissertation, The Karaite Halakah . Revel also points to

21376-609: The level of ontology , it examines whether there are objective moral facts. Concerning semantics , it asks what the meaning of moral terms are and whether moral statements have a truth value . The epistemological side of metaethics discusses whether and how people can acquire moral knowledge. Metaethics overlaps with psychology because of its interest in how moral judgments motivate people to act. It also overlaps with anthropology since it aims to explain how cross-cultural differences affect moral assessments. Metaethics examines basic ethical concepts and their relations. Ethics

21543-432: The many correlations between Karaite halakha and theology and the interpretations of Philo of Alexandria , the 1st-century philosopher and Jewish scholar. He also notes the writings of a 10th-century Karaite who refers to Philo's works, showing that the Karaites made use of Philo's writings in the development of their movement. Later Medieval Karaite commentators did not view Philo in a favorable light. These attitudes show

21710-569: The moral rightness of actions based on a set of norms or principles. These norms describe the requirements that all actions need to follow. They may include principles like telling the truth, keeping promises , and not intentionally harming others. Unlike consequentialists, deontologists hold that the validity of general moral principles does not directly depend on their consequences. They state that these principles should be followed in every case since they express how actions are inherently right or wrong. According to moral philosopher David Ross , it

21877-477: The moral value of acts only depends on the pleasure and suffering they cause. An alternative approach says that there are many different sources of value, which all contribute to one overall value. Before the 20th century, consequentialists were only concerned with the total of value or the aggregate good. In the 20th century, alternative views were developed that additionally consider the distribution of value. One of them states that an equal distribution of goods

22044-431: The motives and intentions behind people's actions, highlighting the importance of acting for the right reasons. They tend to be agent-relative, meaning that the reasons for which people should act depend on personal circumstances. For example, a parent has a special obligation to their child, while a stranger does not have this kind of obligation toward a child they do not know. Patient-centered theories, by contrast, focus on

22211-681: The movement's history, although most are lost today. The disagreement arises over the rabbinic tradition's raising of the Talmud and the other writings of the rabbis above the Torah. The Karaites believe this has led to traditions and customs being kept under rabbinic law that contradict what is written in the Torah. The Karaites also have their own traditions and customs passed down from their ancestors and religious authorities. These are known as Sevel HaYerushah , which means "the Yoke [or burden] of Inheritance." Most of these practices are kept primarily by traditional Karaites; theoretically, any tradition thereof

22378-476: The natural flow of the universe . Indigenous belief systems, like Native American philosophy and the African Ubuntu philosophy , often emphasize the interconnectedness of all living beings and the environment while stressing the importance of living in harmony with nature. Metaethics is the branch of ethics that examines the nature, foundations, and scope of moral judgments , concepts, and values. It

22545-409: The near complete disappearance of the Jewish and Karaite communities by the 1970s. Karaites were among the last to leave and most of Egypt's Karaite Jews settled in Israel. The latest Chief Karaite sages of the Karaite community in Egypt (החכמים הראשיים הקראים) were: From 1916 to 1921, due to World War I, there was no Chief sage in Egypt. The oldest Karaite articles of faith were formulated by

22712-453: The notables of the chief Jewish congregations, and the choice was confirmed by the Caliph of Baghdad. A schism may have occurred, with ʻAnan ben David being proclaimed exilarch by his followers. However, not all scholars agree that this event occurred. Leon Nemoy notes, "Natronai, scarcely ninety years after ‘Anan's secession, tells us nothing about his aristocratic (Davidic) descent or about

22879-481: The number of Jews affiliating with Karaism was as much as 10 percent of world Jewry, and debates between Rabbinist and Karaite leaders were not uncommon. Among the staunchest critics of Karaite thought and practice at this time was Saadia Gaon , whose writings brought about a permanent split between some Karaite and Rabbinic communities. Egypt had long been a bastion for Karaites and their teachings. According to David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra , in one day in Egypt,

23046-523: The oldest and had existed in that country for about 1,300 years. Many interactions, including financial support, religious leadership positions and marriages, have taken place between the various Karaite communities, including those in Egypt, Turkey, Jerusalem and Crimea. A split emerged within the Karaite community of Egypt around the turn of the 20th century, between those now termed "progressives" and those termed "traditionalists". The progressives, of which noted writer and intellectual Murat Faraj Lisha‘

23213-442: The oppressive laws. The community leaders charged Abraham Firkovich (1786–1874) with gathering anything that could help show that Karaites were not in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus , and thus not responsible for the crucifixion. Through his work, Firkovich helped establish the idea among the Russian authorities that the Karaites, as descendants of the exiled northern kingdom of Israel, had already gone into exile centuries before

23380-400: The payment is made; the recording of the electric meter is considered by them to be a commercial transaction. Karaites maintain that in the absence of a Temple , ordinary washing with flowing waters (described in the Torah as "living"—flowing—water) should be substituted for purification with water that includes ashes obtained through the red heifer burning ritual. Karaites believe that this

23547-430: The people affected by actions and the rights they have. An example is the requirement to treat other people as ends and not merely as a means to an end. This requirement can be used to argue, for example, that it is wrong to kill a person against their will even if this act would save the lives of several others. Patient-centered deontological theories are usually agent-neutral, meaning that they apply equally to everyone in

23714-440: The person possesses and exercises certain capacities or some form of control . If a person is morally responsible then it is appropriate to respond to them in certain ways, for example, by praising or blaming them. A major debate in metaethics is about the ontological status of morality, questioning whether ethical values and principles are real. It examines whether moral properties exist as objective features independent of

23881-411: The person would want everyone to follow the same maxim as a universal law applicable to everyone. Another formulation states that one should treat other people always as ends in themselves and never as mere means to an end. This formulation focuses on respecting and valuing other people for their own sake rather than using them in the pursuit of personal goals. In either case, Kant says that what matters

24048-479: The practice of selfless love , such as the Great Commandment to "Love your neighbor as yourself". The Five Pillars of Islam constitute a basic framework of Muslim ethics and focus on the practice of faith , prayer , charity , fasting during Ramadan , and pilgrimage to Mecca . Buddhists emphasize the importance of compassion and loving-kindness towards all sentient entities. A similar outlook

24215-555: The rabbinic tradition of relying on a dye from a mollusc is incorrect. They suggest that the source of the dye was indigo or Isatis tinctoria . Rabbinic Jews have specific traditions on how the tassels are to be knotted. Karaite Jews, for their part, have certain traditions on the manner of braiding the tassels, although they are not binding. Consequently, the way the Tzitziyot are made usually distinguishes Karaite Tzitziyot from rabbinic Tzitziyot . Ethics Ethics

24382-532: The religion and Seraya Shapshal , a Karaite soldier of fortune who had been the tutor of the last Qajar Shah of Persia, Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar and a Russian spy, managed about 1911 to get himself elected Chief Ḥakham of the Karaites in the Russian Empire (by that time, due to Russian regulations, the position had become more of a political one than a spiritual one). Influenced by the Pan-Turkic movement in Turkey, Shapshal made his position into something of

24549-468: The right to receive that benefit. Obligation and permission are contrasting terms that can be defined through each other: to be obligated to do something means that one is not permitted not to do it and to be permitted to do something means that one is not obligated not to do it. Some theorists define obligations in terms of values or what is good . When used in a general sense, good contrasts with bad . When describing people and their intentions,

24716-417: The same course of action but provide different justifications for why it is right. Consequentialism, also called teleological ethics, says that morality depends on consequences. According to the most common view, an act is right if it brings the best future. This means that there is no alternative course of action that has better consequences. A key aspect of consequentialist theories is that they provide

24883-401: The same ontological status as non-moral facts: it is an objective fact whether there is an obligation to keep a promise just as it is an objective fact whether a thing is rectangular. Moral realism is often associated with the claim that there are universal ethical principles that apply equally to everyone. It implies that if two people disagree about a moral evaluation then at least one of them

25050-423: The same time required to justify them using rational argumentation. The main concern of virtue ethics is how virtues are expressed in actions. As such, it is neither directly interested in the consequences of actions nor in universal moral duties. Virtues are positive character traits like honesty , courage , kindness , and compassion . They are usually understood as dispositions to feel, decide, and act in

25217-403: The sect diffused thinly over Syria , spread into Egypt, and ultimately reached Southeast Europe . Ben David challenged the Rabbinical establishment. Some scholars believe that his followers may have absorbed Jewish Babylonian sects such as the Isunians (followers of Abū ʻĪsā al-Iṣfahānī ), Yudghanites , and the remnants of the pre-Talmudic Sadducees and Boethusians . Later, sects such as

25384-471: The sensuous concepts of anthropomorphism, as there is something in these ideas which fills the human soul with the awe of God. The remainder of the essay comprises dissertations on the following subjects: the excellence of Israel , the land of prophecy , which is to other countries what the Jews are to other nations; the sacrifices; the arrangement of the Tabernacle, which, according to Judah, symbolizes

25551-428: The soul of man is his thought and that only the soul of the philosopher will be united, after the death of the body, with the active intellect. "Is there," he asks, "any curriculum of the knowledge one has to acquire to win immortality? How is it that the soul of one man differs from that of another? How can one forget a thing once thought of?" and many other questions of the kind. He shows himself especially severe against

25718-409: The spheres formed the sphere of the elements, from the fusion of which all beings were created. This fusion, which varied according to climate, gave to matter the potentiality to receive from God a variety of forms, from the mineral, which is the lowest in the scale of creation, to man, who is the highest because of his possessing, in addition to the qualities of the mineral , vegetable , and animal ,

25885-409: The structure of practical reason and are true for all rational agents. According to Kant, to act morally is to act in agreement with reason as expressed by these principles while violating them is both immoral and irrational. Kant provided several formulations of the categorical imperative. One formulation says that a person should only follow maxims that can be universalized . This means that

26052-544: The teachings of the Quran . Contractualists reject the reference to God as the source of morality and argue instead that morality is based on an explicit or implicit social contract between humans. They state that actual or hypothetical consent to this contract is the source of moral norms and duties. To determine which duties people have, contractualists often rely on a thought experiment about what rational people under ideal circumstances would agree on. For example, if they would agree that people should not lie then there

26219-455: The term evil rather than bad is often employed. Obligations are used to assess the moral status of actions, motives , and character traits . An action is morally right if it is in tune with a person's obligations and morally wrong if it violates them. Supererogation is a special moral status that applies to cases in which the agent does more than is morally required of them. To be morally responsible for an action usually means that

26386-502: The text was published in its original Arabic for the first time by Hartwig Hirschfeld ; in 1977, an Arabic critical translation was published by David H. Baneth. Parallel to his Arabic edition, Hirschfeld also published a critical edition of the Ibn Tibbon translation of the text that was based upon six medieval manuscripts. In 1885, Hirschfeld published the first German translation, and in 1905 his English translation appeared. In 1972,

26553-450: The truth and keeping promises. Virtue ethics sees the manifestation of virtues , like courage and compassion , as the fundamental principle of morality. Ethics is closely connected to value theory , which studies the nature and types of value , like the contrast between intrinsic and instrumental value . Moral psychology is a related empirical field and investigates psychological processes involved in morality, such as reasoning and

26720-444: The underlying assumptions and concepts of ethics. It asks whether there are objective moral facts, how moral knowledge is possible, and how moral judgments motivate people. Influential normative theories are consequentialism , deontology , and virtue ethics . According to consequentialists, an act is right if it leads to the best consequences. Deontologists focus on acts themselves, saying that they must adhere to duties , like telling

26887-399: The value of consequences based on whether they promote happiness or suffering. But there are also alternative evaluative principles, such as desire satisfaction, autonomy , freedom , knowledge , friendship , beauty , and self-perfection. Some forms of consequentialism hold that there is only a single source of value . The most prominent among them is utilitarianism , which states that

27054-498: The work played an important role in debates within the Haskalah or Jewish Enlightenment movement. In addition to the 12th-century Hebrew translation by Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon , which passed through eleven printed editions (1st ed. Fano, 1506), another (albeit less successful) Hebrew rendering was made by Judah ben Isaac Cardinal at the beginning of the 13th century. Only portions of latter translation have survived. In 1887,

27221-402: Was at the forefront, called for a more liberal interpretation of Halakha , along with societal reforms and greater solidarity with Rabbanites. The traditionalists were led by Chief Hakham Tubiah ben Simhah Levi Babovich, and called not only for a more obdurate interpretation, but for greater separatism from both Rabbanites and Zionism . Although Babovich was respected for his dedication towards

27388-555: Was introduced into the English language during the Middle English period through the Old French term moralité . The terms ethics and morality are usually used interchangeably but some philosophers distinguish between the two. According to one view, morality focuses on what moral obligations people have while ethics is broader and includes ideas about what is good and how to lead a meaningful life. Another difference

27555-445: Was lit prior to, or during the Sabbath. However, the minority of Karaites who view the prohibition to be on kindling a fire often permit a fire to continue burning into the Sabbath. Historically, Karaites refrained from using or deriving benefit from fire until the Sabbath ends, and accordingly their homes were not lit during the night of the Sabbath. Many modern Karaites today use a fluorescent or LED lamp powered by batteries, which

27722-630: Was the practice before the Tabernacle was built in the Sinai Peninsula following the Exodus . They follow certain Torah laws for avoiding Ṭum’at Met (ritual impurity caused by contact with a dead body, human bones, graves, or being present in a space under any ceiling where a human died) which are no longer considered relevant in Rabbinic Judaism, except for Kohanim (members of the Jewish priestly class). The Karaite method of counting

27889-475: Was unlikely. A further difference is between maximizing and satisficing consequentialism. According to maximizing consequentialism, only the best possible act is morally permitted. This means that acts with positive consequences are wrong if there are alternatives with even better consequences. One criticism of maximizing consequentialism is that it demands too much by requiring that people do significantly more than they are socially expected to. For example, if

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