Orkse consultation (Grade 3) on the topic: about the “secular ethics” module of the comprehensive course “Fundamentals of religious cultures and secular ethics. Does the school need "secular ethics"

Expert opinion of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights on the comprehensive training course "Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics"

On April 1, 2011, an experiment began in 19 regions of Russia to introduce a new subject in schools - "Spiritual and Moral Education" (DNV). Within this subject for study in the 4th and 5th grades, a training course is offered, consisting of six main "content modules":

· Fundamentals of Orthodox culture

· Fundamentals of Islamic culture

· Fundamentals of Buddhist culture

· Fundamentals of Jewish culture

· Fundamentals of World Religious Cultures

· Fundamentals of secular ethics.

Each of these modules is devoted to a separate textbook, published by the Prosveshchenie publishing house in mass circulation and colorfully illustrated. The textbooks “Book for Teachers” and “Book for Parents” stand apart, explaining the meaning of the proposed training course in historical and meaningful terms.

Each of the manuals gives its own definition of culture and religion, but nowhere is it defined what “religious culture” is. Every culture is rooted in religion. Everyone admits this, except for the anonymous authors of the Fundamentals of Secular Ethics. Therefore, it would be better to speak not about "religious culture", but about the cultural tradition characteristic of a particular religion and a particular country.

Textbooks devoted to the presentation of the foundations of Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism provide a lot of useful and interesting information. The best option for introducing children to various religious teachings would be to study the foundations of world religions. This corresponds to the best and most objective of the proposed teaching aids - "Fundamentals of World Religious Cultures". It introduces the history of the birth of the religions of the world, their basic principles, their sacred books and cultural traditions. This, of course, would contribute to the education of religious tolerance among schoolchildren and the expansion of their cultural horizon. As for the Fundamentals of Secular Ethics, this manual is full of factual errors and obvious absurdities (interpretation of shame, preference for “reasonable egoism” over altruism, the assertion that “moral norms (rules) are not written down anywhere”, etc.) , is simply unacceptable to study in its current form, and the module under review has no attribution.

A lot of useful information about the religions of the world, religion and society, the religious situation in Russia is contained in the "Book for Teachers". It's basically good reference material. Glossaries attached to various sections are especially informative. However, the book is not without gross errors: the statement that “religion is an ideology” (p. 24), the assertion (in the spirit of Soviet atheism) that the specificity of religion is that it mystifies the earthly roots of private, historically changeable interests (p. 25), or an accusation formulated in the same atheistic spirit: “Some religions use rituals to fix religious ideas in the minds of believers and strengthen faith in omnipotent forces” (p. 28). And what religions have a different attitude to rituals? Apparently, the author(s) considers the ritual practice of all religions to be criminal. On page 17, Academician Pavlov is called a "deeply believing" person. Meanwhile, Pavlov openly called himself an unbeliever. But under Soviet rule, he defended the right of believers to profess Orthodoxy. It should be noted and other "blunders". It is insulting to one of the Christian denominations to say that the Protestant ethic "over time ... turned out to be unnecessary" (p. 16). Archaically traditional (albeit with reservations) opposition of science and religion (p. 18). Unfortunately, there are many such examples. Is it worth it to impose on teachers such primitive ideas that do not correspond to reality?

An experiment on the introduction of "spiritual and moral education" into the school curriculum, i.e. studying one of the religions, so far covers the 4th and 5th grades and is designed for two years. What's next? The Russian Academy of Education plans to extend it to all schoolchildren in two years - from grades 1 to 11.

Expert evaluation of the original layout of the textbook

"Fundamentals of secular ethics" 4-5 cells. (group of authors)"

Overall rating:

The proposed text of the module "Fundamentals of Secular Ethics" cannot be recommended as a textbook, and the very approach to determining the name of the subject, its place in the general course, substantive emphasis and the organization of work on it cause bewilderment and great concern for the fate and quality of Russian education, Russian schools.

The issue of introducing this course was not discussed publicly (not to mention a referendum or serious sociological surveys), nor in the scientific and pedagogical environment. The latter led to frank absurdities in its structure and content, to amateurism both in philosophical and ethical and pedagogical terms. The very combination of modules is absurd, in a number of which the section on ethics is completely inappropriate. Ethics can be taught at school as an independent subject, but not as an artificial addition to religious modules, designed to create the illusion of political correctness. Already in the very name "Secular Ethics" unprofessionalism and a kind of servility of those who stand behind it manifest themselves. In other words, both the title and the very presence of this section in the proposed course are unacceptable.

The content of the Secular Ethics module itself cannot be corrected and brought to an acceptable state by any editing. It has many theoretical shortcomings, but first of all, it is unacceptable due to the spiritual and ideological message contained in it, which expresses the desire to turn people into executors of certain social norms, and according to a set of dominant values, into a company of marching soldiers. No philosophical ethics, no morality can sanction such an approach. This text, in essence, has nothing to do with ethics as a field of philosophy and creates a misleading image of morality as a spiritual and practical phenomenon. Philosophy is aimed at developing the ability to think critically, to subject to rational analysis, including statements related to the field of morality, to question the generally accepted verbal moralizing forms. The proposed text, on the contrary, focuses on uncritical perception, obedience, submission. If we recall the formula of the recent past about the subordination of personal interests to public ones, then the course of "secular ethics" essentially turns into a course of "Soviet ethics".

1. The name of the subject and the corresponding textbook seems unfortunate, if not unacceptable, for a number of reasons:

The term "secular ethics" is not accepted in modern philosophical literature, just as it does not have a historical and philosophical tradition. This is a synonym for ethics as a field of philosophical knowledge, emphasizing its difference from religious ethics, which consists in the fact that it explains morality without appeal to divine revelation and intervention. As academician A.A. Huseynov, “The phrase “secular ethics” does not have a wide circulation and terminological status in the research literature. It is not, in particular, in Russian, English, German philosophical and specialized ethical dictionaries. In the European tradition, since Aristotle, moral theory has always been called ethics (moral philosophy), but never secular ethics. In Germany, the school subject offered as an alternative to theology is also not called secular ethics, but simply ethics. Another telling example is that Tenzin Gyatso (the 14th Dalai Lama), who wrote a book on the non-religious understanding of contemporary moral issues, called it "Ethics for the New Millennium", considering the term "secular" to be redundant. I am not aware of textbooks, lecture courses, and other systematizations called “secular ethics.” In Western literature, the term “secular humanism” is more commonly used to refer to non-religious moral practice and a non-religious approach to the problems of moral education, in comparison and by analogy with “religious humanism”. However, in this case, too, secular humanism is generally considered to be the equivalent of humanism.” I can add to this that the course of ethics, created at one time by the future Pope, Cardinal K. Wojtyla (“Fundamentals of Ethics”, Lublin, 1983), was called precisely ethics, and not religious or secular ethics. Just Ethics.

The term "secular ethics" also has no tradition in Russia. Since the term "ethics" entered the Russian philosophical vocabulary (and this happened in the second half of the 19th century, and not in the 18th century, as it is written in the text of lesson 30, if the text does not mean ethics, but morality, then it arises much earlier), it was used without specifying the definition of "secular". Including in Russian religious philosophy, the term "secular ethics" is not used. Here are some of the first notations:

K.D. Kavelin "Problems of Ethics", 1885;

B.N. Chicherin "Science and religion about the principles of ethics", 1879; "On the Principles of Ethics" 1897;

N.I. Kareev “Thoughts about the foundations of morality. Prolegomena on Ethics" 1905 (3rd ed.);

P.A. Kropotkin "Ethics: The Origin and Development of Morality", 1922;

E.L. Radlov "Ethics", 1922.

Another important argument is that in the history of thought there is no one-to-one correspondence between a certain type of explanation of morality in ethics and what norms and values ​​are affirmed in it. All ethical theories - both secular and religious - agree that morality is aimed at harmonizing relations between people and exalting the human personality. In the same way, the highest moral requirements formulated by them basically coincide. As A.A. Huseynov, “They all proceed from the value of individually responsible behavior and a caring, respectful attitude towards one's neighbor. The main difference is that philosophical (scientific) ethics is focused on the autonomy of the will of the individual and a high degree of attainability of the moral perfection of man and society, while religious ethics transfers the implementation of the moral ideal to the other world, and connects the human efforts necessary for this with the divine. grace." In other words, ethical systems differ primarily in the way morality is substantiated, but not in the normative-value content, which is the main content of the course. Therefore, there is no reason to single it out meaningfully on the basis of “secularism”. If you try to compare the individual modules of the curriculum, you will not find in any one such moral judgments, formulations of such moral norms that could not be the subject of ethical consideration and would not be affirmed in non-religious morality.

The recently voiced interpretations of secular ethics as non-church, but not non-religious, contradict the historical and philosophical tradition and distort the image of modern ethical thought. They only emphasize the already existing contradiction between the constitutionally enshrined separation of church and state and the introduction of the foundations of religious culture into the compulsory school curriculum.

This section could be called "Ethics", "Fundamentals of Ethics" ...

It is difficult for me to judge why, when determining the name and content of a school subject, the position of leading experts in this field was not taken into account at all, and also why requirements and restrictions were imposed on this subject, expressing the most primitive ideas about ethics and morality. The most incomprehensible, strange and outrageous - if true - is the ban on the use of the word "humanism". The consequences of this, in my opinion, unacceptable and unjustified approach are exclusively negative and cannot be eliminated with the help of separate editing.

2. The illustrations raise serious objections - they are clearly biased and limited in nature, in places they simply contradict the content of the ideas (for example, the lesson on the specifics of morality is illustrated with images of the State Duma). In addition, they present secular ethics as completely divorced from the history of culture, from those diverse subjects that became the subject of philosophical and ethical reflections. The illustrations are monotonous - scenes of charity, military service and sports are repeated many times. This creates a sense of dominance of competitiveness and militancy. It is not clear why the main pictorial series is mainly reduced to the realities of Russian life - this significantly impoverishes him.

The design of the general cover of the training course also raises objections: firstly, world religions are not directly related to ethnic characteristics, while the photograph of four children is most definitely intended to symbolize the four religions through outwardly recognizable features. It is clear that the non-religious part of the course did not find any image for itself. I think the proposed cover design does not meet the ideas of tolerance and cultural diversity, visually imposes the idea of ​​​​the existence of only four choices and only a religious nature. Not to mention the simply erroneous connection of religion with external national features.

3. The textbook is based on familiarizing students with basic ethical concepts, which, in my opinion, makes it difficult to understand.

4. Unfortunately, the emergency-scandalous way of preparing the text, which led to the fact that the personal presence of the author is not felt in the texts, is incomprehensible. Conversation about morality, as a result, turns out to be formal, devoid of sincerity.

Page notes

1. (page 5). The paragraph is unsuccessful in content - secular ethics do not fit into the proposed series. In this textbook - quite justifiably - the word "ethics" refers to the area of ​​philosophical knowledge about morality. It can hardly be argued that ethics in this sense occupies a special place in the spiritual traditions of Russia. Rather, the author implies the moral content of spiritual traditions. As a matter of fact, in this formulation, all the absurdity, illogicality and absurdity of finding ethics in the proposed series becomes obvious. I draw your attention to the fact that the first lesson in two modules - on Buddhism and Judaism - has the best edition.

2. (p. 6, paragraph 2). The conjunction "and" does not make sense. The term "morality" can be put in brackets.

3−4. (page 7). Ethics as a philosophical knowledge of morality, first of all, is a reflection on morality, its norms, prohibitions, what is valuable for a happy human life. Just as philosophy in general is critical of ordinary consciousness, ethics can be critical of accepted, generally accepted moral ideas, and even of morality in general. It can teach a person the ability to think about morality, protects him from moral self-deception. But it cannot by itself make a person moral. For her, the essential question is what is "better", what is "good" for a person. In the text of the textbook, this question is completely removed, it is repeatedly repeated that ethics and morality (pp. 7, 11) help a person become better, while moral values ​​and ethics determine what is “better”.

3. (p. 7). Incorrect wording: the idea is imposed that some people are moral, while others are lying, rude, etc. But morality, first of all, concerns a person's attitude to himself, to his actions, thoughts, feelings, to his own ability to create both good and evil. In general, the very division of people into good and evil is wrong.

5. (p. 8). The term culture is not of Greek, but of Latin origin. (For the first time the word "culture" is found in a treatise on agriculture by Mark Porcius Cato the Elder (234-149 BC), which was called De agri cultura).

6. The phrase "culture does not exist in the singular, unlike nature" (p. 8) is unfortunate. Nature is also varied. (The Stoics are talking about something else).

7, 10. (pp. 9, 10). An unsuccessful definition of morality is given (“a set of requirements, norms and rules of human behavior from the point of view of good and evil”) - morality is reduced in it to norms. (Morality in ethics is understood as a much richer phenomenon, including norms, values, qualities of character, etc.) The definition is strangely built stylistically - norms and rules cannot be “from the point of view” (the same definition on p. ten).

8. The completely unacceptable reduction of the positive and negative in morality to what helps or hinders life, makes life worse or better. Due to its infidelity and primitiveness, this thesis is simply not subject to discussion.

9. (p. 9). I cannot agree with the thesis that moral norms of behavior were created in order to "transmit knowledge of good and evil to the next generations."

10. (p. 10). Bad illustration.

11. (p. 11). The assertion that by following moral standards a person makes the life of the people around him and his own life better, the “justifications” of morality by its usefulness repeated in other places, turning it into a means of improving life - all this reduces the justification of morality to utilitarian arguments. It has already been said about the secondary nature of the concepts of “a better life and a better person” in relation to moral values. It seems that the authors are simply ignoring one of the undoubted truths of both scientific and religious ethics, that goodness has a valuable meaning in itself, contains its reward in itself.

12. (p. 11). One gets the impression that the author (essentially absent, vague, collective) does not risk entrusting the individual with the decision on moral issues. Therefore, he considers it possible to use the theoretically and pedagogically criminal phrase "follow morality."

13. (p. 11). Impunity is also very scary for the imaginary author. He would rather admit that each of us knows that there is good for the other and good in general - therefore, each should help the other to become better. Therefore, the student is invited to punish the other, to condemn him (the clause that “condemning is not the main thing” does not change the matter at all - after all, it is necessary to condemn).

14, 15. (pp. 12−13). Unfortunate definitions of good and evil. Unacceptable reduction of goodness to deeds. Page 14 - examples with slavery and serfdom are unsuccessful for illustrating the change in ideas about good and evil. (The Christian commandment "Thou shalt not kill" also existed during the period of serfdom). In addition, there is a distinction between mores, social practices, and ideas of right and wrong.

16. (p. 14). There is a misconception that people became more moral (this is already a problem) as a result of thinking about how to make life better.

17, 18. (pp. 16−17). Virtue and vice are qualities of character that are manifested in actions. (Incorrect - "by which other people evaluate her"). S. 16−17 - unsuccessful illustrations. In modern culture, there are individuals who truly personify worthy deeds. For example, Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa. One can recall the Russian doctor Gaaz, nicknamed the "holy doctor." Possible illustrations for works of art, fairy tales, etc. You should not replace the moral qualities of a person with his professional achievements and the fulfillment of his constitutional duty - these are different things. And such a substitution is constantly imposed through illustrations.

19. (p. 17). Vices are not actions, but qualities of character (on this page, as on many others, the absence of a single author is visible).

20. (p. 19). Firstly, I would like to ask - but one must live as one wants? Secondly, it is not easier to live in your own way. It's easier to be an absolute conformist.

21. (p. 20). Virtue according to Aristotle is not a choice of an option, but simply an act in specific circumstances. Vices are NOT an excess or deficiency of virtue in Aristotle. (Excess of virtue is impossible).

22. (p. 21). Mistake - Aristotle (and generally in terms of meaning and logic) is not duplicity, but absurdity.

23. (p. 21). There can be no excess of friendliness, an excess of virtue is impossible, according to Aristotle.

Page 43. False. The golden rule is not aimed at foreseeing the consequences of actions.

Page 62. Most of the text is unacceptable. The series looks anecdotal: Judaism - Islam - Orthodoxy - Buddhism - secular ethics - as elements of the spiritual tradition of Russia. We can only talk about the moral content of this spiritual tradition, secular ethics as philosophical knowledge does not fit into this series. The moral basis of the spiritual tradition was formed long before the emergence of world religions and existed in different, not only religious, forms. (As already mentioned, the term "ethics" has been used in Russian philosophy since the second half of the 19th century, and the term "secular ethics" has no tradition at all in Russian philosophical thought).

Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences,

basics RELIGIOUS CULTURES AND SECULAR

ethics basics SECULAR

ethics

4-5 GRADES

Tutorial

for educational institutions

Moscow "Enlightenment" 2010

Content

Lesson 1.Russia is our Motherland

Lesson 2What is secular ethics

Lesson 3Culture and morality

Lesson 4Features of morality

Lesson5. Good and Evil

Lesson6. Good and Evil

Lesson 7Virtue and Vice

Lesson 8Virtue and Vice

Lesson 9Freedom and moral choice of man

Lesson 10Freedom and responsibility

Lesson 11 . Moral duty

Lesson 12Justice

Lesson 13Altruism and selfishness

Lesson 14Friendship

Lesson 15What does it mean to be moral

Lessons 16-17.Summarizing

Lesson 18Genus and family - the source of moral relations

Lesson 19moral act

Lesson 20The Golden Rule of Morality

Lesson 21. Shame, guilt and forgiveness

Lesson 22Honour and dignity

Lesson 23Conscience

Lesson 24Moral ideals

Lesson 25Moral ideals

Lesson 26Samples of morality in the culture of the Fatherland

Lesson 27Etiquette

Lesson 28Family holidays

Lesson 29Human life is the highest moral value

Lesson 30.Love and respect for the Fatherland

Lesson 1 - Russia is our Motherland

We live in a wonderful country whose name is the Russian Federation, or, in short, Russia. Say this word aloud, and you will feel light, expanse, space, spirituality in its sound...

We respectfully call our country FATHERLAND, because our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, great-grandfathers of our great-grandfathers and their ancestors studied, worked and defended their land in order to save Russia for future generations. We lovingly call our country MOTHERLAND, because we were born and live in it.

The world around us is infinite and diverse. Things, objects among which a person lives, natural phenomena - this is the material world. But there is another world, the spiritual one. The spiritual world is knowledge and information contained in books, works of art and cinema, relationships between people, etc. At school, you get to know this world by studying Russian, native and foreign languages, mathematics and computer science, literary reading, fine arts and much more. This world is also called the world of culture.

Not only is a person in the spiritual world, but this world is reflected in a person and forms his inner world, which is defined by almost all religions of the world as the soul of a person. In this inner world of a person live memories, images of dear people, everything that he believes in and strives for.

A person, depending on the state of his inner world, can be happy or sad, be calm or anxious, create something new and necessary for people, or indulge in despondency and melancholy.

What does it depend on? From what you fill your inner world with and how you build relationships with other people.

Both in the inner and in the outer world there is high and low, light and dark, beautiful and ugly, favorable for man and dangerous for him. There is good and evil, love and hatred, honor and dishonor, mercy and cruelty, truth and lies. A person has the right to determine for himself what to choose from this, how to feed his soul. And this choice is never easy.

How not to destroy your inner world? You began to study the subject "Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics" in order to get answers to these questions, which are important for every person.

The spiritual world has its own paths. They are called traditions. Our ancestors followed them. Cultural traditions are the wealth of our multinational country. A special place among them is occupied by religious cultures and moral and ethical norms. All of them are based on such eternal values ​​as kindness, honor, justice, mercy. If a person follows them, he will not get lost in a complex world, he will be able to distinguish good from bad, he will learn how to make his inner world clean, bright and joyful.

In our country there are people who know and cherish different traditions. They often speak different languages, but they understand each other well and together they form one friendly family of the peoples of Russia.

And in this family, we treat each tradition with respect and care. We are all different, but we all live, work, study and are proud of our Motherland.

Lesson 1 - What is secular ethics

Ethics is a science that examines the actions and relationships between people in terms of ideas of good and evil. The founder of this science was the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (4th century BC), who introduced the term itself into the titles of his works. In ancient Greece, all sciences were called philosophy. The word "philosophy" is made up of the Greek words "philo" - love and "sophia" - wisdom. It turns out that philosophy is the love of wisdom. Aristotle believed that ethics is part of philosophy.

Ethics is the study of morality. The word "morality" originated in ancient Rome and means "customs", "rules of conduct". All together, this can be called the word "mores", from which the word "morality" came from in Russian.

Therefore, the words "morality" and "morality" are synonymous.

Ethics is not just about how people behave and why they act the way they do. It helps to understand what morality is and how it is achieved.

Every person has positive and negative traits. Most people are honest, hardworking, caring, able to love and make friends. However, there are those who lie, steal, are rude, offend the weak.

Why do some do good deeds, while others do evil to themselves and others? What do you need to do to become kind yourself and to have as many good people as possible? How to reward a person who has done good? How not to do evil? How to make people's lives better? Ethics helps answer all these questions.

Distinguish between religious and secular ethics. The word "secular" means "worldly", "civil". Secular ethics assumes that a person himself can determine what is good and what is evil; that it depends on the person himself whether he becomes good or bad; that a person himself must be responsible for his actions before other people.

We can say that ethics helps a person to independently perform virtuous deeds and build relationships with people, which means to become better.

The fresco of Raphael (1483-1520) "The School of Athens" has another name - "Philosophical Conversations". On it, the artist depicted great thinkers who lived in other times and in other countries. Some of them he gave the features of his contemporaries. For example, in the center of the fresco we see the figure of Plato, who has the features of the great artist Leonardo da Vinci. To his right stands Aristotle, holding his book Ethics in his hand.

Lesson 3 - Culture and Morality

The concept of culture appeared in ancient Greece and, translated from Latin, meant "cultivation of the land." It was assumed that the care of the field is not just the cultivation of the land, but also a caring attitude towards it.

The word "culture" entered the Russian language in the middle of the 19th century. It was used in two meanings: 1) arable farming, agriculture; 2) education.

Culture is sometimes called second nature. Unlike natural nature, which can exist without man, culture is created by the labor of many people who continue to support, develop, and enrich it. In addition, unlike nature, culture does not exist in the singular. Each nation at different times created and is now creating its own culture. These cultures exist together enriching each other. Therefore, it is very important to study the culture not only of your country of your people, but also of other countries and peoples.

Culture includes the objects of human labor (material culture), as well as representations, ideas, values ​​and ideals, traditions and customs, norms and rules (spiritual culture).

There are many different types of spiritual culture.

For example, political culture is the ideals and life values ​​of people in the state, legal culture is the laws by which people live in society and which are binding on everyone: without exception. A special kind of spiritual culture - morality - a system of norms and values ​​that regulate people's behavior.

Morality arose when people realized that some actions help to live, others hinder. For example, if you help each other, then life becomes easier. And if she is lazy, quarrel, deceive, then people's lives become worse. Gradually, ideas about good and bad, good and evil began to take shape. As a result, there was a need to support (encourage good (good) deeds and prohibit bad (evil) deeds. In addition, it became (necessary to transfer knowledge about good and evil to the next generations. This knowledge gradually passed into the norms of behavior. These moral norms are associated with understandable requirements: to respect parents, to keep promises, to help those in need, not to steal, not to kill, etc. And always, at all times, cowardice, betrayal, greed, cruelty, slander, hypocrisy were condemned.

Lesson 4 - Features of morality

YouYou already know that morality is a system of norms and values ​​that regulate people's behavior. But in society there are many different values ​​and norms. What are the features of morality?

Moral norms (rules) are not written down anywhere.However, this does not mean that you cannot read about them anywhere. There are the works of scientists, literary works and films, the heroes of which find themselves in various situations of moral choice, as well as religious books.

Most state laws, including the main law of the Russian state, which is the Constitution of the Russian Federation, are based on moral standards. In addition, there are parents and teachers who teach their children to observe moral norms (rules).

The laws adopted by the State Duma of the Russian Federation are based on moral norms

Moral norms are not documentedfootdesign, ie, there is no single code | list) of moral standards. A person himself, by reading books, observing the laws of the state in which he lives, listening to parents and teachers, learn to distinguish good from evil, good from bad. Knowing the world and communicating with other people, a person learns to choose moral standards, following which he will make the life of the people around him, and therefore his own life better.

In society, there are special organizations that make sure that people follow the rules and regulations. These are the prosecutor's office, the courts, the police. They make sure people don't break the law. If people violate them, then life in society will become worse.

There is nothing of the kind in morality - no "moral organizations", no special "moral guards", "caretakers of morality".Allpeople make their own contribution to the maintenance of morality and moral educationnie.Good, kind behavior of children is taken care of by parents and relatives in the family, teachers at school, friends. For adults, employees are the people they work with. And, of course, the man himself.

This means that it largely depends on each person what moral standards he himself follows and what morality is in the society in which he lives. If people are indifferent, do not pay attention to the bad deeds of others, then there will be more bad deeds. Impunity increases evil in the world. At the same time, the main thing is not to condemn the other, but to help him become better. Then there will be more good people.

Lesson 5 - Good and Evil

"Dobro” and “evil” are the main moral concepts in life. It is these concepts that guide people when they do things. From the point of view of good and evil, a person evaluates both his own actions and the actions of other people. Due to the fact that people understand what good and evil are, they can maintain good relations with each other and forbid, prevent quarrels, violence, cruelty. Let us consider in more detail what is good and what is evil.

Good- this is a moral value that relates to human activity, a model of people's actions and relations between them. To perform moral (good) deeds consciously, disinterestedly, and not with the expectation of profit or reward, means doing good.

If a person committed an act in order to receive praise or a reward, then this does not mean that the act is bad, but it cannot be called morally good either, because it was done unselfishly. Also, one cannot call good deeds that are done out of fear of punishment.

So good is:

- actions that help overcome disunity between people, contribute to the establishment of humanity (philanthropy, mutual understanding and mutual respect);

- actions that help develop the person himself and the people around him.

For example, if you let a classmate write off homework, this does not mean doing a good deed. After all, the one who cheated will not know the lesson better. It will be a good deed to help him understand the task so that he can do it himself.

Often it is more important for ethics to find out not what is good, but what is evil. Sometimes it is more important to prevent evil than to do good.

Evil is the opposite of good, it is what morality seeks to eliminate and correct. Evil can exist in different actions of people. Here are the most common examples of the manifestation of evil:

- deliberate humiliation of other people, which is most often manifested in disrespect and intolerance towards them;

- deceit, because of which those who are deceived do wrong things;

- violence that suppresses the freedom of a person, depriving him of the ability to be independent, or makes him unkind.

As the opposite of good, evil destroys the relationship and cooperation of people, spreads enmity between them, hinders the development of human abilities. Evil deeds bring trouble and suffering to people. Therefore, preventing evil and fighting it are important tasks of human moral behavior.

Lesson 6 - Good and Evil

In the course of historical development, society and culture have changed. Ideas about good and evil also changed.

For example, in ancient times there was a custom to sacrifice animals and even people to the gods. And it wasn't considered a bad thing. On the contrary, people thought they were doing well. Indeed, in this way they wanted to appease the gods so that they would help them get a good harvest, successfully hunt, etc.

For many thousands of years, slavery existed in the world, when some people were owned by others. Slave owners forced slaves to work for themselves, they were poorly fed, they could be severely beaten or even killed. Slaves worked without receiving any pay or even gratitude for their work.

For hundreds of years, serfdom existed in Russia and other countries. The peasants, like a thing, belonged to their master. Often, cruel landowners mocked the peasants, punished them for any offense.

There have been many cases in the history of mankind when some people killed others because they had a different skin color, because they think differently, simply because they are different. And it was not condemned by society. There are many examples of how ideas about good and evil have changed.

Time passed, society developed, human life changed. People began to think more about how to make their lives and the life of the whole society better, and they learned this.

Today everyone knows that one cannot sacrifice and kill people either for the sake of appeasing the gods or for any other purposes, that one cannot keep anyone in slavery and force them to work without pay and gratitude for their work, that one cannot kill, insult and humiliate other people for their skin color, because they have different thoughts and beliefs.

Nowadays, people should take care of the elderly and the sick, try to live in peace and harmony, not violate moral standards. If they do not, they are condemned, considered immoral or immoral.

Of course, this does not mean that everything in the world has become good, there are no disasters and suffering. There are also wars, and famine, and disease. However, people are getting better and find the strength to fight evil. And helps them in this knowledge about good and evil. Thanks to this, people strive for a peaceful life, friendship, mutual assistance, and try to take care of each other.

Lesson 7 - Virtue and Vice

Virtue and vice are two opposite characteristics of a person by which other people evaluate him.

By doing good deeds, a person learns to be kind, becomes virtuous. What is virtue?

Virtue expresses a person's desire for good, the desire to be like a moral person, which is a model for him. Parents, a teacher, a friend, astronauts, polar explorers, military men, athletes, artists, literary characters (heroes, musketeers, knights) can be such a role model. Trying to be like these moral standards, a person learns to be virtuous.

In addition, virtue is a separate positive quality of a person. For example, hard work, efficiency, responsibility, friendliness, politeness, the ability to empathize, sympathize, etc.

Actions that result in harm to oneself or others are called vices. A reprehensible shortcoming of a person, a property of character that shames him, can also be called a vice. For example, greed, laziness, deceit, boasting, arrogance, etc.

A moral person knows what good and evil are. He deliberately performs virtuous deeds, avoiding vicious ones.

What do you need to do to become virtuous?

The moral development of a person as a person occurs throughout his life.

From early childhood, a person communicates with other people, observes their actions, takes an example from them. Sometimes people make mistakes and do bad things. However, gradually, trying and making mistakes, listening to the opinions of the people around him, comparing his actions with their actions, a person learns to live in society. He learns to be virtuous, acquires the positive qualities of a person, that is, he improves morally.

The first step to virtuous behavior is to recognize the worth of others. What does it mean? This means that in his actions a person cannot be guided only by his interests and beliefs,

he must respect the interests and beliefs of other people, listen to their opinion.

The path to virtue is difficult and long. It seems to someone that it is easier to live the way only he wants. But then this person should be prepared for the fact that others will avoid communicating with him, will not want to be friends with him, love him.

Of course, no person can ever become completely virtuous, but one must strive for this, try to act virtuously and avoid vicious behavior.

Lesson 8 - Virtue and Vice

There are many virtues and vices. The most famous understanding and division of virtues in ethics was proposed by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. He believed that virtue is the ability to do the best in everything. And such a virtue is in the middle between two vices: excess and deficiency. Let's take an example for better understanding.

Extravagance - generosity - stinginess.

Generosity is the middle ground between extravagance and stinginess. Generosity as a virtue expresses a person's attitude towards material things. In this case extravagance is an excess, and avarice is a disadvantage.

It is bad when a person is stingy and does not share with those who need it, but it is not better to be wasteful either. It would seem good when a person spares nothing for others, distributes what he has to everyone without exception at the first request. But sooner or later a person who really needs it can turn to him, and it will be impossible to help him. To be generous means to be able to give people what they really need, and when they need it.

Harmfulness - friendliness - servility.

Friendliness is the middle between servility and harmfulness, absurdity. Friendliness as a virtue expresses the degree of sincerity in relations between people. Excess in this case is harmfulness, absurdity. The disadvantage is servility. An obsequious person wants to please everyone, flatters everyone, pleases. If servility is combined with the desire to get one's own benefit, then sycophancy is obtained. Friendliness as a virtue is the ability to maintain relationships with other people, not forgetting about self-esteem, that is, self-respect. This feeling does not allow a person to humiliate himself, respond with rudeness to rudeness, etc.

Reckless courage - courage - cowardice.

Courage is the middle ground between cowardice and reckless, thoughtless courage. A courageous person correctly assesses the danger, helping others and himself. The excess in this case is reckless courage, and the disadvantage is cowardice.

There are many other virtues and vices. But there are no uniform rules that can be learned to become virtuous. Therefore, each person must correctly assess the specific situation in order to perform a good deed. It is this act that will be virtuous.

Lesson 9 - Freedom and the moral choice of man

featureman as a living being is that he has freedom. Freedom is the ability of a person to determine his behavior, taking into account the laws of nature and society.

Animals are not free in their actions, they are guided by instinct. Predators, such as the lion and the wolf, cannot but kill other animals. The desire to kill is inherent in them by nature - otherwise they will not survive. In man, too, much depends on nature. He, for example, cannot choose whether to breathe or not to breathe. However, he can choose how to act towards other people.

Closely related to the concept of freedom is the concept of moral choice. Moral choice is a choice between different ways of behaving, between norms that a person follows, between different ideals to which he aspires. Ultimately, it is a choice between good and evil.

There are a lot of situations of moral choice in which a person finds himself throughout his life. Let's consider some of them.

The choice between moral and immoral behavior primarily depends on the persistence of following the virtues that make up the character of a person. Therefore, it can be said that moral choice is the result of fortitude. Exactly

it depends on a person whether he becomes morally good or evil, whether he follows the path of virtue or the path of vice.

Often a person must choose between his own interests and the interests of other people. It is believed that a virtuous person should follow the interests of others. Living together, people should help each other, even sometimes to the detriment of their own interests and desires. However, not all people are virtuous, and sometimes their interests may be contrary to moral standards.

For example, one person wants to commit a theft or deceive someone and asks a friend to help him. In this case, the moral choice requires the friend not only not to help, but also to prevent the thief or swindler from doing what he intended. A person cannot ignore the opinions of other people. However, if he is convinced of his moral rightness, then he makes a choice in favor of defending his position.

People are bound to each other by various duties, one of which is difficult to fulfill without violating the other. How, for example, to keep a promise to keep a trusted secret, if hiding it can harm other people? Therefore, it is important to make only such promises that you can definitely keep without harming others.

An acute situation of moral choice is sometimes called a moral conflict. A moral conflict is when the pursuit of one moral value destroys another, perhaps no less expensive one. When resolving a moral conflict, it is very important to make not just the right, but the virtuous choice.

Lesson 10 - Freedom and Responsibility

Human freedom is always associated with responsibility. Responsibility is a character trait of a person and his actions, which indicates that a person is responsible for his own free choice.

Responsible behavior of a person is possible only under certain conditions.

First, a person is responsible only for those actions that are the result of his free choice. A person is not responsible for what he did not do, or for what does not depend on him.

For example, if a person was pushed and he, falling, caused harm to someone, then he cannot be blamed and is not responsible for this. The one who pushed should be responsible for the harm caused, because he could not do this.

Secondly, an important condition in assessing the responsibility of an act and the person who committed it is intentionality.

What is premeditation? This is when an act is done consciously. Intentional help is much more valuable than accidental help.

Intentional infliction of evil is worse than unintentional. But for the unintentional infliction of evil, a person must also be held responsible.

Thirdly, a person must be aware of the consequences of his actions.

For example, throwing something out of the window (and this is already immoral), a person did not think that he could hit a passerby and injure him. However, this does not mean that he is not responsible for this.

Therefore, before doing something, a person should think: “What consequences will my act lead to?”, “Will I harm someone?”. The ability to ask yourself such questions is an inner responsibility of a person. It testifies to his responsibility to himself and to other people.

Speaking of responsibility, it is important to understand who and what is included in the relationship of responsibility. First of all, this is the one who is responsible, that is, the person who has made his conscious free moral choice, then the one or those to whom the person is responsible, and finally, what the person is responsible for.

Of course, everyone has different responsibilities. It depends on age, and on what place a person occupies in society. Parents are responsible for their children, and children are responsible for the tasks entrusted to them. Teachers are responsible for ensuring that students learn, and students are responsible for how they learn. The more people depend on a person, the greater the degree of his responsibility.

People are responsible not only for each other, but also for everything that surrounds them, including nature. This meaning of moral responsibility is very close to the concept of care.

Let's take an example. The tourists left garbage behind at a halt in the forest and did not put out the fire. All this causes great harm to nature. Responsible people don't do that. They care about nature and about those people who will come here after them. Real tourists will definitely leave the place of their halt in perfect order.

Lesson 11 - Moral duty

Moral, virtuous behavior is impossible without a person understanding his duty. Duty is a person's awareness of the need to fulfill moral norms. In a moral duty, external cultural norms turn into a personal task for each person. A man of duty fulfills the existing norms not under duress, but on the basis of his convictions. Duty is closely related to freedom and responsibility. Through understanding and awareness of his duty, a person freely and voluntarily assumes obligations towards himself and others. Therefore, a moral duty is sometimes called a moral duty. What moral obligations does a person have?

Obligation to fulfill the moral norms established in society. So, a virtuous person fulfills the norm “do not lie” not because he is afraid of punishment, but because he is convinced that it is his duty to tell the truth. A virtuous person helps another, not for reward or gratitude, but because he feels compelled to do so.

Duty to respect other people and their rights. Everyone has the right to freely express their opinion. And other people should respect this right. However, this does not mean that one should always agree with the opinions of others. Each person has their own beliefs and opinions. And you can not persecute, humiliate, condemn or insult a person, and even more so force him to give up his beliefs if they do not coincide with yours. The only exceptions are those rights that everyone must respect. If these beliefs do not contradict the rights of other people, then no one can prevent a person from exercising his rights.

In addition, there are many responsibilities that people volunteer to take on. Thus, by making a promise to do something, a person assumes the obligation to keep it. If the promise was given freely, that is, without coercion or deceit, then it must be fulfilled.

The moral duty of a person is selfless help to other people. Previously, there was talk of moral responsibility as caring for others. Selflessly helping other people when they need it is a moral duty of a person.

Gratitude is also a moral obligation. When one person provides assistance to another in accordance with his moral duty, without counting on material gratitude, then you can thank him by saying “thank you” and be ready to help him when needed.

There are many other responsibilities associated with human relationships. There is a parental duty to take care of children. There is a duty to take care of the sick and the elderly. There is a professional duty, which is associated with the performance of duties at work. There is a patriotic duty, which is expressed in the defense of one's Motherland, in caring for its prosperity.

The most important thing in moral duty is not the blind fulfillment of the norms and requirements existing in society, but the conscious and voluntary adherence to them.

Lesson 12 - Justice

Justice plays an important role in human relations. Every person wants to be treated fairly. What is justice?

Justice is a moral rule that regulates relations between people in the distribution of benefits, rewards and punishments, income, etc. n. Aristotle called justice a perfect virtue.

There are different ideas about justice. For example, in the 19th century nobles held a high position in society. They were revered primarily for noble birth and wealth, and not for merit or outstanding abilities. And it was considered morally justified and just.

In some nations, the rule “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” was previously considered fair. And today, in some places, there is a custom of blood feud. However, in modern society, most people consider this unfair and take measures to eradicate this wild custom.

Students also often think about justice. Have I been labeled correctly? Did the parents justly punish the wrongdoing?

Here are the main signs by which one can judge justice.

A sign of proportionality, which means that an act should be judged on merit. For a good, virtuous deed, a person deserves a reward, praise, honor and respect. For a bad deed, he should be justly punished. A person must know for what he received a reward or punishment.

The sign of equalization, or "equal for equal", requires equality of labor and pay, the value of a thing and its price, harm and its compensation. It is unfair if equally successful students receive different grades for the same knowledge. But another thing is also unfair, when the same marks are given for different knowledge.

What moral rules should be followed in order to treat others fairly?

Avoid evil in your actions (humiliation, deceit and violence).

Strive to fight against vices and shortcomings, and not with people who have them.

Recognize the rightness of other people, doubt your own unconditional rightness.

To be ready to meet the other person, looking at the situation from his point of view.

Strive to find a solution that could suit everyone.

Justice requires respect for the rights of other people, does not allow encroachment on the personality and dignity of a person. Justice is largely aimed at the fulfillment of a person's duties to other people and to himself.

Injustice, on the other hand, harms not only those at whom it is directed, but also the one who creates it. By committing unjust acts, a person loses the ability to correctly evaluate himself. Thus, he is unable to see his moral shortcomings and cannot correct them.

Lesson 13 - Altruism and selfishness

Often people's actions are morally evaluated as altruistic or selfish. At the same time, selfish actions are condemned, and altruistic ones are encouraged. Sometimes you can hear the angry "Don't be selfish!" or surprised “Yes, you are an altruist!”. So what exactly is altruism and selfishness?

The word "altruism" comes from the Latin wordalter- another. Therefore, in a broad sense, altruism is any action aimed at the benefit of another, be it a person or society. In a more precise sense, altruism is a moral, life position that requires a person to perform selfless acts for the sake of other people or for the sake of common goals.

The altruist wants everyone to be happy. However, his desires do not always coincide with the desires and actions of other people. Why do people still do altruistic things?

Often a person helps others only because he can do it. He feels in himself the strength that he can spend on good deeds. Sympathizing with other people's grief, suffering and need, a person freely gives his strength to people, regardless of the possible consequences for himself. Altruism is opposed to selfishness.

Selfishness is actions aimed at satisfying personal interests, including to the detriment of the interests of other people or society. "Everything for me, everything for my sake" - this is the principle of the egoist. He can easily violate moral norms and neglect social values.

It is necessary to distinguish between extreme and moderate (reasonable) egoism. Extreme selfishness manifests itself in the form of conceit, disrespect for other people, disregard for their dignity and rights. Surrounding people are perceived only as a means to achieve their own goals.

Another thing is reasonable selfishness. Reasonable egoism is the ability of a person, pursuing his own interests, to promote the common good. A reasonable egoist understands that he can satisfy his interests only by taking care of the people around him and the society in which he lives.

Being opposites, altruism and selfishness can successfully complement each other. The fact is that, for all its moral appeal, altruism is not free from flaws. Thus, altruistic deeds aimed at the benefit of the "distant", helping random people are more valued. This is because in such actions the selflessness of the altruist is most obvious. However, excessive love for the “far” can lead to forgetfulness of the “neighbors”. And in this case, the idea of ​​virtue as the middle between two extremes is appropriate. Reasonable egoism is such a mean.

Lesson 14 - Friendship

Living in a society, a person is in different relationships with other people. These can be family relations between parents and children, brothers and sisters, service relations, relations between teachers and students, between classmates, neighborly relations, etc. From a moral point of view, all of them should be virtuous, built on the basis of mutual assistance and mutual respect. But even if the relationship turns out to be just that, a person can be lonely if he does not have friends.

Friendship is a relationship based on mutual affection and personal interests. Lasting friendship is possible only if certain rules are observed, the main of which are respect for each other, the ability to admit one's mistakes. Friendship is also caring for a friend, willingness to help without demanding anything in return.

One of the hallmarks of friendship is selectivity. A person does not choose his neighbors or classmates, he is not obliged to be friends with them, just smooth and friendly relations are enough. A person chooses friends himself. It is no coincidence that they say:

"Tell me who your friend is and I'll tell you who you are."

Another hallmark of friendship is selflessness. This is the lack of desire for personal gain, profit. Friends are just happy to help each other in everything. True friends do not wait to be called for help, but offer it themselves. Friends share with each other all the best that they have.

Friends are united by mutual sympathy and common interests. These are people who are close in spirit, behavior and hobbies. But this does not mean that there are no differences between friends. There are differences, but they only enrich friendship, make it even more interesting.

Who to choose as your friend? How to find out if you have a real friend? After all, you will not arrange a test for him. So you can offend a person with distrust and lose a friend. There is no single answer to this question. But from an ethical point of view, it can be said that it is more reliable to be friends with a good, virtuous person who can be relied upon. The more reliable a person, the more friends he has.

Lesson 15 - What it means to be moral

Whatdoes it mean to be moral? Humanity has always been looking for an answer to this question, which is both important and difficult. There were many mistakes along the way, but also many achievements. And even though there is no final answer yet, each person, with his life, his behavior, makes a feasible contribution to his search.

As already mentioned, ethics assumes that people themselves can determine what is good and evil. Good and evil do not just exist in people's lives and manifest themselves in actions, they are created by people. Morality is the result of human transformative activity, an integral part of culture. Yes, man has created evil. And there were many examples of evil (humiliation of human dignity, deceit and violence) in the history of mankind. It exists both in the modern world and in our life. But good is also created by people. They try to organize their lives in such a way that relations between them are built on the basis of cooperation, not hostility. This means that the existence of evil depends on the people themselves. And if people make an effort, then there will be less evil in society, and more good.

It depends on a person whether he is good or bad. Virtue is a conscious choice of the best in actions in relation to other people. A person can become kind on their own.

A person must be responsible for his actions to other people and receive a well-deserved assessment from others. A person is free, which means that the further life of himself and the people around him depends on his actions and moral choice. A person must be held accountable for his actions, be fairly rewarded or punished. The ability to recognize merit, justice in relations between people is the most important part of moral behavior.

A person fulfills the existing moral norms not under duress, but on the basis of his convictions. Through understanding and awareness of his duty, he freely and voluntarily assumes obligations towards himself and others. And if the existing norms are contrary to the duty and beliefs of a person, he always has the right to defend his beliefs and make efforts to change the existing norms. The main thing is that this should be done in accordance with the ideals of goodness, with respect for the rights of others.

Secular ethics does not provide ready-made answers to all questions. Its task is to draw conclusions from the historical experience of mankind, leaving behind each person the right and opportunity to use this knowledge to make an independent decision and moral choice.

Lesson 16 – 17 Summing up

Dear friends!

The school year is ending. You have learned a lot about what secular ethics is, what it studies, what basic concepts are included in this science, how it can help you, etc.

The study of the foundations of secular ethics will continue in the first quarter of grade 5.

To consolidate the material covered, before the summer holidays, we suggest that you prepare a small creative work.

Choose one of the topics below. Ask your parents, grandparents, friend how best to write and format the work.

If necessary, use your home library, the Internet, or go to your school library. Find books on your topic. They will help you discover it more deeply.

Write text, choose illustrations or draw them yourself. Then read your work to family and friends. Listen to their opinions.

Correct the text if you find their advice and suggestions helpful and their comments fair.

Themes of creative works

"Russia is my Motherland"

"Good people are everywhere..."

"I want to tell you about one kind person"

"Good and Evil in Russian Folk Tales"

“The virtuous heroes of the fairy tales of G.-Kh. Andersen, C. Perrault "(optional)

“Virtue and vice in the fairy tale by A. N. Tolstoy “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio”

"That's what it means to be a real, true friend"

“You are forever responsible for those whom you have tamed (A. de Saint-Exupery)”

In order to test yourself, to find out if the material is well understood, use the following questions:

1. What is ethics?

2. How did morality arise and what are its features?

3. What is good and what is evil? Give examples.

4. What kind of person can be called virtuous? Give examples.

5. How did the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle understand virtue?

6. What is human freedom?

7. What is a moral choice?

8. What is friendship?

9. What does it mean to be moral?

These topics can be discussed with classmates or with parents, grandparents, older siblings, a friend.

Lesson 18 - Kin and family - the source of moral relations

Gone and the family are the first associations of people. They originated many thousands of years ago and are still of great importance to humans. Genus is people who consider themselves descendants of a common ancestor on the maternal or paternal side.

A long time ago, various gender symbols arose, such as surnames. In ancient times, the founder of the clan was sometimes considered not a person, but a legendary or mythical creature, animal or beast, such as a wolf, bear, hare. Hence the surnames: Volkovs, Medvedevs, Zaitsevs. The symbol of the clan could be the ancestral land, and ancestral patron spirits, and ancestral names, flags, coats of arms. On tribal and family coats of arms, everything that the clan and family is especially proud of is symbolically depicted.

Kinship is not only by birth. Sometimes families adopt or adopt other people's children. Then adopted children and parents become close relatives.

The older the people, the more complex the system of kinship - the pedigree. It determines the place of a person in the family, helps him build special kindred moral relations with loved ones. These relationships are based on the understanding that the life of relatives is of great value. Relationships are built most often on the mutual love of parents and children, older and younger generations. Love makes people feel valued.

The family helps a person to understand his place among other people. It was in the family circle that people began to distinguish and respect special unequal relationships (hierarchy, subordination), without which society cannot exist. Seniors (not only by age, but also by position) perform more important, responsible roles. A person is forced to understand the measure of his significance in each specific life situation. A clear understanding and fulfillment of one's role in the family allows one to feel like a full-fledged member, a respected person: father, mother, son, daughter, grandson.

Family roles involve the performance of certain important, sometimes difficult responsibilities. This is the upbringing of children, and taking care of their education, and earning a livelihood, etc.

Family roles and responsibilities are fluid. Traditionally, the man is considered the head of the family. He solves the most important questions. However, in some families this role is performed by a woman. There are families where there are two heads - husband and wife. In this case, everyone is authoritative in their field. Children play the most important role in the family. They are helpers and advisers, and often inspirers and performers of good deeds.

The main task of the clan and family is to give life to children, to raise and educate them, creating favorable living conditions. The joy of the birth of a child and the grief of the death of a person are most acutely experienced by relatives. These feelings led humanity to the idea of ​​the value of life.

Lesson 19 - Moral act

What is an act? How to evaluate it? How to manage your actions? These questions are central to ethics.

An act is a direct expression of morality, that is, an act shows whether a person is moral or not. In most cases, actions are actions, but sometimes they can also be refraining from actions. However, not every action is an act.

A moral act is only that action of a person that he performs, guided by moral ideas and values. This is a conscious action, with a specific purpose. In such an act, the moral attitude of one person to another is expressed. A moral act has special characteristics. Let's pick five of them.

1. Motive for action. Considering any act, it is important to decide why it is done. If there is at least some answer to this question, then there is a motive that prompts a person to act.

2. The purpose of the act, i.e., the intentions of a person. Knowing the intentions of a person, you can understand his act. Only an action that is able to answer the question "why?" is an act.

3. Means to achieve the goal. In order to evaluate a person's actions from the point of view of morality, one must know what consequences they led to. Here the main question arises - the question of the relationship between ends and means. There is a saying: "The end justifies the means." What does it mean? That any means are good to achieve the goal? Any?

Let's look at this with an example. The student really wanted to give his grandfather a fishing rod for his birthday, but he did not have enough money to buy it. In the corridor of the school, the boy found a wallet with money. And instead of giving the wallet to the owner, he took the money for himself and bought a fishing rod. The boy had a good goal - he wanted to please his grandfather. But the means to achieve this goal (appropriation of other people's money) was immoral.

Therefore, in morality, when thinking about an act, the goal is very important, it takes first place. But when performing actions, means are more important. They can make an act moral, or, conversely, immoral, immoral.

4. The action itself. To consider an act from a moral point of view, one must know the circumstances in which a person acted: whether he acted voluntarily or under duress. Only a voluntary act, when a person could have acted differently, but chose precisely these actions, speaks of his morality. In addition, sometimes it is important where, when, how a person acted.

5. The result of an act. This is what the person acted for. The result can be positive or negative, as an act can be beneficial or harmful.

One can only guess what the result might be.

Lesson 20 - The Golden Rule of Morality

It is sometimes difficult for a person to decide what to do in any given situation. Mankind has always been looking for and continues to look for ways to make the right choice and justify an act. One of these ways is the golden rule of morality. It began to be called that in the 18th century. But in fact, this rule as a way to control behavior has developed much earlier. It is found in many formulations, for example, in the teachings of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, the ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Thales, the Roman philosopher Seneca, and others. Here are two of its most famous interpretations.

"Do to others the way you would like to be treated to you."

"Do not treat others in a way that you would not want them to treat you."

The golden rule of morality is the most general principle for justifying morality. With its help, humanity has tried to develop a universal way to choose an act.

This is the huge positive role of the golden rule in the development of morality. It forces a person to foresee the consequences of his actions. However, this rule does not answer the question: “What in a particular case is good and what is evil?” A person must decide this himself on the basis of his own convictions and the rules of morality accepted in society.

How to apply the golden rule in life? First, you should evaluate the consequences of the act in thoughts and feelings. An act that you want or need to perform should be double-checked with respect to who the action is directed to, that is, try to take his place.

Think about how it would feel to me if they did this to me. Then answer the question: “Would I like to be treated like this?” If the answer is “no”, then the action cannot be performed.

Lesson 21 - Shame, guilt and apology

Shame is a heavy, depressed mental state of a person that appears after the condemnation of his behavior by others around him. The reasons for condemnation are usually violations of moral standards and betrayal of moral ideals. It is shame that makes a person keenly feel their connection with other people. This feeling orients a person to the moral norms existing in society.

Shame can be a form of social influence on a person. For example, a student is shamed in front of the whole class because he offended the weak. Shame can be caused by ridicule, ridicule, it can arise during punishment, including bodily punishment.

There are many reasons for experiencing feelings of shame. This is a discrepancy with high moral standards, an inability to show the qualities necessary in a particular situation: decisiveness, honesty, endurance, etc.

Shame protects from bad deeds, but sometimes also keeps from good ones. There is a concept of "false shame". It is associated with

misconceptions about morality. For example, while listening to the explanation of new material, the student did not understand something, but was too shy to ask again. He was ashamed that everyone understood, but he did not. This is, of course, false shame. Shame can be associated with feelings such as resentment, fear, guilt.

Guilt is a person's experience about his inconsistency with the norms, failure to fulfill his duty to himself. Guilt is the opposite of shame. Shame is responsibility for misbehavior to others, guilt is responsibility to oneself. Shame and guilt shape a person's conscience. If these feelings are not developed, the person is shameless. Feeling guilty is a very difficult experience. It seriously affects the human psyche, sometimes does not allow him to live in peace. Overcoming guilt comes with remorse, that is, with regret about what happened. To repent means to make a moral decision not to repeat your mistakes, to change your behavior.

To get rid of guilt, you need to apologize to the person you offended. Sometimes this is not easy to do, but it is necessary. When apologizing, you can say: “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you”, “I didn’t think that this would offend you”, “I’m very sorry that this happened. I promise this will never happen again." Asking for forgiveness is not at all a sign of weakness, humiliation. On the contrary, this is a sign of a strong person who is able to commit an act and restore good relations.

Forgiveness is the way to overcome guilt. Forgiveness should occur of the good will of the offended and injured. To be able to forgive means to be magnanimous, that is, to have high spiritual qualities.

Lesson 22 - Honor and dignity

How do others perceive me? What is my position among people? Do they value me as a person? These and similar questions can be answered by such important moral characteristics of a person as honor and dignity. They help to determine the moral value of a person.

Honor is the moral qualities of a person worthy of respect and pride, it is a person’s good name, his spotless reputation, etc.

If a person keeps his word, does not betray his friends, does not change his moral principles, always comes to the aid of the weak, then they say about him “a man of honor”.

Dignity is the awareness of one's rights, one's moral value and self-respect. Dignity has become the right of every person to moral respect. This means that regardless of age, gender, nationality, wealth and everything else, a person is worthy of respect for being moral: he lives honestly, distinguishes good from evil, does not commit immoral acts, is able to be fair.

Dignity expresses people's idea of ​​equality. The task of each person is not to diminish the dignity of others and not to lose one's own.

Dignity helps a person to be confident in himself, to realize his own worth. About a person who behaves with restraint, politely, calmly, they say: "This is a worthy person." Dignity allows you to avoid mutual insults.

Honor and dignity are needed in those moments when you have to choose what to do. It is these qualities that will not allow a person to commit an immoral act, will help to avoid hostility, revenge and mutual insults, because he respects himself and others.

Lesson 23 - Conscience

First,who tried to understand what conscience is, was the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus. At that time, there was still no word for "conscience", and Democritus wrote that this experience is associated with shame, but different from it. Shame is a painful experience of shame in front of other people for one's behavior, and conscience is shame in front of oneself.

Conscience is the experience of condemnation or approval of one's own action, even if it is only conceived. It torments a person, regardless of whether others know about his act or not. This experience can occur simultaneously with the act, after it, and when remembering it. According to the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus, one should be ashamed not only of bad deeds, but even of speeches and thoughts about them.

Many philosophers believed that a person is born conscientious. Modern ethics asserts that conscience develops and is brought up in real life conditions.

Conscience makes a person think about his actions, critically evaluate them. She reminds him of duties, duty, responsibility. Conscience ignores cunning excuses, verbose proofs of one's own innocence. She silently and relentlessly forces a person to tell himself the truth. Conscience is our inner judge.

The voice of conscience is accompanied by two main feelings: satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Satisfaction causes a calm, clear conscience - a reward for moral efforts. A person realizes that he generally copes with his moral duties, that he has no significant violations of duty and deviations from moral rules. This feeling gives him balance and calmness. peoples is also the history of wars. There is no people who would not have brave, courageous defenders of the Fatherland. In ancient Russia, these were heroes.

Everyone, of course, knows the heroes Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich. Epics and fairy tales were formed about their exploits and strength. They were depicted in their paintings by artists.

Courage, courage, resourcefulness, fortitude and physical strength of the heroes more than once saved Russia from foreign invaders. Bogatyrs had a great influence on modern moral ideas about warriors.

The great merit of the heroes is that they introduced certain rules in the use of force, proclaimed the rules of a fair duel.

The most important virtue of a military squad is loyalty. This is loyalty to an oath, an oath, a word given to comrades in arms.

The heroes attached special importance to the concept of honor. Weapons, armor, a horse, a certain place at the table at the feast were symbols of honor and respect. Only victory without cunning and meanness did honor to the soldiers and glorified them.

Lesson 25 - Moral Ideals

Knightsin the Middle Ages (XII-XIV centuries) in Western Europe they were warriors who served in the troops of seigneurs (landowners). From their lords, the knights received lands on the condition that they acquire a horse, expensive weapons (sword, armor, shield) and, when necessary, protect the lands of their master.

The knights received a special knightly upbringing, participated in tournaments. The knight had to have such moral qualities as fidelity to duty, courage, determination, a noble, romantic attitude towards a woman (service to a beautiful lady), etc.

On the basis of a knightly moral pattern in the 19th century. formed the image of a gentleman.

Initially, a gentleman was considered a man of noble birth. Then they began to call that an educated and well-mannered man, respectable (worthy, commanding respect) and balanced (even prim and unflappable). Gentlemen were distinguished by the ability to keep their word (gentleman's agreement), emphatically polite attitude towards women, punctuality, elegance in clothes.

Loyalty to the word is one of the main virtues of a gentleman. He always kept his promises and never broke his word, so gentleman's agreements were considered absolutely decent in business situations.

The gentleman understood various issues, had a broad outlook. For example, such a real gentleman as Sherlock Holmes knew and could do more than the professional detectives of Scotland Yard.

Another important feature of a gentleman is his special patriotism. He was interested in politics, saw social problems and thought about their solution from the position of the state. It was a statesman.

Lady - originally a married woman of an aristocratic circle.

Later, ladies began to be called an educated, well-mannered woman who follows strict moral rules in life. In addition, she has a balanced, reserved character, kind, friendly, elegant. Ladies did charity work, helped orphans.

In our time, knight, gentleman and lady have become household names. They are usually called people whose behavior and ethical values ​​correspond to these images.

Lesson 26 - Images of morality in the culture of the Fatherland

Patriotism is one of the most ancient qualities and ideas of moral consciousness. Patriotism is love for the Motherland, adherence to the traditions of the fathers, respect for the customs and moral values ​​of previous generations.

A patriot is a person who loves his Motherland, his people, ready for sacrifices, labor and military feats for their sake. Without the patriotism of all the peoples of Russia, victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 would have been impossible.

The peoples of Russia have always glorified the warrior - the defender of the Fatherland. Warriors were endowed with various virtues, they were moral ideals for everyone, because they defended their native land, their people, not sparing their lives.

Collectivism is another important feature of Russian morality. Collectivism is cooperation, mutual assistance.Collectivisttakes care of the interests of the team, sometimes to the detriment of his own.

From childhood, a person learns to live in a team. First, this is a kindergarten team, a school team - a class, then a student or production team.

In Russia, it is customary to take to heart everything that happens to the team. According to traditional Russian ideas, it is more difficult for a person to achieve everything on his own without the support of family, friends, work collective, and the country as a whole. The feeling of one's strength at the expense of the power of the people has always allowed a person to be proud of "their own" and feel his own dignity from belonging to a strong team. These patterns have been developed for many hundreds of years. And everyone in principle knows how to behave politely. He knows that he should say hello, say “please” and “thank you”, that you can’t talk with your mouth full, etc. There are many other rules in etiquette. Let's consider some of them.

The choice of clothes, more precisely, a suit. This choice depends on the time of year, tastes, financial capabilities of a person and fashion. But from the point of view of etiquette, the main thing is the appropriateness of clothing. For work you need a business suit, for physical education - a sports suit. Discos and theaters suggest elegant clothes, but also different.

Great importance in etiquette is attached to speech. One must be able to control its volume, tone, tempo and content. The volume of speech should be such that only the person to whom it is addressed can hear everything.

Forcing a person to listen with tension is as impolite as it is to scream. One word or the same phrase can be pronounced in a different tone: benevolent, irritated, good-natured, affectionate, angry, dismissive, etc. The meaning of the words changes from the tone. Etiquette forbids an offensive, degrading tone of speech. The pace of speech should be slow.

The most important aspect of speech is its content, that is, what we are talking about. It is not customary to ask a person what nationality he is, how much he earns, there is no need to tell anyone except a doctor about his illnesses. One should not speak ill of those who are absent.

Speech is the most important way of communication between people. Do not be afraid to strike up a conversation first with an unfamiliar boy or girl. You can just say, “Hi! My name is Ivan".

There are many rules of etiquette. But the basis of all the rules is the same - common sense and respect for other people. Everyone can be sure that people who do not know you closely, do not know what a wonderful person you are, will judge you by your behavior, appearance, manners and speech. The rules of etiquette are specific, valuable and accessible to everyone. Knowledge of these rules is not inherited. People must learn the rules of etiquette.

Lesson 28 - Family holidays

Creating the most favorable conditions for their lives, ancient people had to work hard: cultivate the land, build dwellings, hunt, etc. To make their work easier, they asked for support, help and protection from various forces of nature. People turned to heavenly bodies (the sun, stars), elements (wind, rivers and oceans), later to spirits, and then to gods. They brought gifts to them, sang and danced, uttered laudatory words. For this, people were released from work on certain days. This is how holidays came about.

Everything new was celebrated with holidays: the onset of spring, the new year, birthdays, wedding day. On such days, everyone gathered together to feel support, mutual assistance, joy because each of them is not alone.

March 8 - International Women's Day,

May 9 - Victory Day of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, June 12 - Russia Day, November 4 - National Unity Day, etc.), public (Teacher's Day, City Day), family (birthdays, weddings) . They are celebrated both officially, solemnly, and warmly at home. And only family holidays combine both.

Each holiday has its own order of conduct - a ritual. The oldest tradition of offering gifts to deities has been preserved in gifts. A beautifully packaged gift, bought from the heart, speaks of attention, friendship and love. When choosing a gift, one must take into account the character, hobbies and tastes of the person to whom it is intended.

To make the holiday a success, you need not only to feed the guests, but also make sure that they have fun. However, fun should be measured in moderation. Too noisy, aggressive and offensive behavior will spoil any, the most beautiful holiday. The festive mood is fragile. It is necessary that the holidays bring only joy to people and leave pleasant memories.

Lesson 29 - Human life is the highest moral value

Values ​​are everything that matters to a person. We value our country, its traditions, relationships with parents and friends, our home, clothes, books and much more. However, the highest value for a person is his life.

Only by living can a person rejoice and grieve, have fun and be sad, love and be friends. All plans are connected with life. They will become a reality only if the person lives. Every life is unique, unrepeatable. Peaceful life is especially valuable when there is no war, there are close people, health, success, interesting and important things. To make life like this is the task of the state, society and every person.

Not only a happy life is valuable, but also a life full of suffering and troubles. It provides invaluable experience on how to endure suffering, survive the loss of loved ones and other misfortunes, how to deal with illnesses, etc.

In life, a person makes many discoveries for himself and others. In the process of life, a person affirms himself as a person, is proud of his achievements, tries to build his own life. This is perhaps the most interesting activity in the world!

The life of every person is a great value for his relatives, relatives and friends. She gives them joy, pride, love. It is their hope for the future.

Human life has a special value. Only he could create the world of culture. It is people who can build cities and villages of amazing beauty, breed new varieties of plants and new breeds of animals, create cars, sew clothes, etc. All this makes us value the life of any person, protect and protect all life on Earth.

Lesson 30 - Love and respect for the fatherland

Dear friends!

You got acquainted with the great spiritual heritage, which for many centuries one generation of our compatriots passed on to another. You learned about religion, spiritual ideals, moral norms of our ancestors, about what they believed in, how they lived, supporting each other and helping each other.

“Believe me that everything was not in vain: our songs, our fairy tales, our incredible gravity of victory, our suffering, don’t give it up for a sniff of tobacco... We knew how to live. Remember this. Be human!" - such a testament was left to us by the outstanding writer and actor V. M. Shukshin.

In the 7th-10th centuries in the space from the Volga to the Dnieper there was the state of Khazaria, many of whose inhabitants professed Judaism. In the 8th century in the city of Derbent (Dagestan) the first mosque was built, which began the history of Islam in our country. In 988, Prince Vladimir baptized Russia - Orthodoxy came to our land. In the 17th century Our state included Buryats and Kalmyks, who brought Buddhism with them. Since the 18th century non-religious culture began to spread widely in Russia and a tradition of secular ethics began to take shape. This is how the spiritual traditions of Russia were formed.

Our culture has grown and strengthened, nourished by various spiritual traditions. Traditions are like roots. The more roots and the deeper they are, the stronger the trunk of the tree and the thicker its crown.

We are all united by love - for our family, for loved ones, for our small and large Motherland, for our Russia.

Love is the basis of our life. Every person wants to be loved. But if he dwells only on this feeling, then he turns into an egoist and selfish. True love begins with selfless love for one's neighbor: for mom and dad, for brother and sister, for friends, for classmates.

The value of love is not that they love you, but that you are able to love others.

The great Russian writer N. V. Gogol wrote in a letter to his sister: “You complain that no one loves you, but what do we care if someone loves us or does not love us? Our business: do we love? Love is when you can lay down your life for "your friends".

You are loved by your parents and other close people, without demanding anything in return. You love your family, your friends, without asking for a reward. We love our Motherland already for the fact that we have it.

Love is service. Service is manifested primarily in deeds for the benefit of people, for the benefit of our Motherland.

Fatherland is all of us. Think about what you can do for others. Start small: clean your apartment, help a classmate with their studies, protect a toddler, clean up your yard with friends, plant trees and take care of them. Make the world around you cleaner, kinder, fairer, and you will make yourself better, you will feel how love grows in the world.

From small deeds, great love for one's neighbor, family, people, Russia is born. All this we call patriotism.

Where does Russia begin? It starts with your love, with what you are willing to do for it.

Ponizova Maria Vladimirovna

Place of work, position:

Municipal educational budgetary institution "Secondary school with. Arkadyevka"

teacher-organizer

Amur region

Resource characteristics

Levels of education:

Primary general education

Class(es):

Item(s):

The target audience:

Teacher (teacher)

Resource type:

Lesson summary (classes)

Brief description of the resource:

The purpose of the lesson: to acquaint students with what ethics, secular ethics are; cultivate morality, the desire to do good deeds

Subject: ORKiSE 4th grade

Lesson topic: What is secular ethics.

Lesson Objectives: to acquaint students with what ethics, secular ethics and what it implies; develop interest in the subject; cultivate morality, the desire to do good deeds.

Lesson objectives:

· Familiarization of students with the course, basic concepts, terminology.

· Education of students of moral ideals and values. Formation of independent work with sources of information in the preparation of a creative conversation.

Equipment: computer, presentation, children's work

Lesson stages

1. Organizational moment

2. Actualization of the previously studied. Checking homework.

3. Communication of the topic and objectives of the lesson

4. Learning new material

5. Physical education game

6. Primary comprehension and consolidation of the material.

7. Homework

8. Summing up.

During the classes

1. Organizational moment.(Checking readiness for the lesson)

2. Updating knowledge on the topic "Russia is our Motherland". Checking homework.

Questions for students:

What did you talk about with family and friends?

What new things have you learned for yourself?

What are they particularly interested in?

Students' stories about the traditions adopted in their families, demonstration of drawings.

3. Presentation of the topic and objectives of the lesson.

Today in the lesson we will learn what the words secular ethics mean and remember the rules of behavior for a polite person.

4. Learning new material.

We live in the world, among many people, and every day we have to make decisions, take actions and actions that are important not only for us, but also for many people around. In order not to offend others with our behavior, we must know the rules and laws that all people recognize.

Guys, what do you think, what principles does a person follow when building his behavior in society, at the table, in public places?

How can you describe all this in one word? /ethics/

So what are we going to talk about today?

Ethics is a science that examines the actions and relationships between people in terms of ideas about good and evil. (Children read the definition on the slide and write down the missing words in a notebook task number 1)

It is our preconceived notion of what is good and what is bad. It allows us to evaluate this or that life situation or deed: whether they are good or bad, right or wrong.

The founder of the science of Ethics was the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. (Against the background of the slide, the teacher talks about the biography of Aristotle)

Aristotle (4th century BC) - Greek philosopher, scientist-encyclopedist. The life story of Aristotle is amazing. He became the founder of many branches of knowledge: physics, biology, psychology, political science; he created his own school, was the mentor of Alexander the Great. Opponents feared his speech, always clever and logical, always witty. The scientific legacy of Aristotle is enormous. It forms a complete encyclopedia of the scientific knowledge of its time. His most famous works are: "Physics", "Poetics", "On the Soul", "Ethics", "Politics", "History of Animals". He lived in ancient Greece, where all sciences were called philosophy. (The definition of philosophy is given). Aristotle believed that ethics is part of philosophy.

Working with textbook illustrations /slide/

The slide shows a fresco by Raphael. "Athenian school", which has another name "philosophical conversations". On it, the artist depicted great thinkers who lived in another time and in another country. Some he gave the features of his contemporaries. For example, in the center of the fresco we see the figure of Plato, who has the features of the great artist Leonardo da Vinci. To his right stands Aristotle, holding his book Ethics in his hand.

Completing the task (notebook task No. 2) Group the illustrations. On what basis did you do it?

The answer is on the slide (stadium, school, theater - these are secular buildings; all the rest are church), secular professions - a teacher, a builder, a doctor. Those. secular(in plain sight, in the light, public, public ...)? Distinguish between religious and secular ethics

Secular ethics These are the norms of behavior accepted in civil society.

Working with the textbook p.7 paragraph 3-4

Now listen to the proverb. Let's try to understand her wisdom together.

Sow an act - you reap a habit;

Sow a habit - you reap virtue or vice;

Sow virtue or vice, you reap character;

Sow character, reap destiny.

Every person, wherever he lives, whatever he does, enters into the most diverse relationships with other people. One of the regulators of these relations, which poses a question to a person: does he act fairly and what brings people - good or evil? - is morality. Morality gives a person the opportunity to evaluate the actions of the people around him, understand himself and comprehend whether he lives correctly, how to live and what to strive for. Ethics is the study of morality.

The word "morality" originated in ancient Rome and means "habits", "customs", "rules of conduct". Slide number

All this can be called the word NRAV, from which the word MORALS came from in Russian. Therefore, the words "morality" and "morality" are synonymous.

What do you think when people act morally and when they act immorally?

5. Physical education game.

Now let's try to determine how you know the rules of politeness. To do this, we will play the game "Polite - impolite". I name the situation, and you determine whether the actions in it were polite or not. (polite - hands on the desk, tilting the head in agreement; impolite - hands up)

Say hello when you meet ... (politely)

Push and do not apologize ... (impolite)

Help to get up, pick up a fallen thing ... (politely)

Interrupt elders ... (impolitely)

Give way to an elderly person ... (politely)

Interfering with your classmate in class ... (impolite)

6. Consolidation of the studied material.

Playing situations. Group work.

Students are invited to act out scenes that reflect both more beautiful behavior and a violation of etiquette.

Exercise 1. You have a birthday. Guests came to you a little earlier than the scheduled time, the table has not yet been laid. Your actions.

Task 2. You received two identical gifts. What is your reaction?

Task 3. You call a friend to ask him what is given in mathematics. Grandma answered the phone. What will be your conversation with her.

Task 4. A boy asks his classmate for a book that he has long dreamed of reading.

"And what will you give me for this?" he asks.

After long conversations and promises to give him a stamp, the boy receives consent. Assess the situation.

Discussion of lost situations on questions:

In what cases can the behavior of participants in situations be considered moral?

What behavior do you disapprove of?

7. Summary of the lesson. Homework.

What concept did you learn in class? Define this concept.

How would you explain secular ethics to family and friends?

Workbook task number 3

8. Reflection.

Make an offer:

I was in class...

I got acquainted with new terms and concepts ....

I found out that …

Now I know that "secular" means ...

It is not news that the science of the rules of behavior in a decent society originated long ago and, changing over the course of epochs, still continued to live and develop successfully. Today the answer to the question "What is secular ethics?" even children know, because for younger students this subject is included in the compulsory program. Therefore, it turns out to be important and relevant to figure out what a similar lesson is and what the guys learn in it.

ORSE: what is it?

This abbreviation stands for "Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics" and is a subject introduced universally by the Russian Ministry of Education since 2012 in elementary school classes across the country. For all regions, this subject is currently a federal and mandatory component. Fundamentals of secular ethics and religion include 6 modules; of these, the student, together with his legal representatives (parents, guardians), chooses only one at his discretion for further study.

Targets and goals

If everything is clear with what secular ethics is, then the analysis of the provisions on what the introduction of this academic subject is aimed at remains open. The global goal of the general course of the ORKSE includes the formation of a conscious moral behavior and motivation for it in a younger teenager, instilling in the child respect for the religious and cultural traditions of the multinational population of Russia, teaching the student the ability to conduct a dialogue with representatives of other worldviews and views. The more local tasks highlighted in the program of the foundations of secular ethics include:

• nurturing in the mind of a younger teenager ideas about the importance of moral values ​​and norms for a decent existence of the individual, family, and the whole society;
• acquaintance of students with the basic foundations of Christian (Orthodox), Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist cultures, key provisions of world religious movements and ethics;
• systematization of concepts, knowledge and ideas about spiritual self-consciousness, morality and culture obtained by younger teenagers in the early grades of elementary school, based on them the formation of worldview value-semantic guidelines that provide a unified perception of native culture and history and their achievements when referring to the study of subjects from the humanitarian focus on the level of the basic (secondary) school;
• development of students' abilities to cooperate and communicate in a multi-confessional and multi-ethnic environment, where interaction is built on the principles of mutual respect and dialogue in order to maintain public harmony and peace.

The formation of the subject

So, what is secular ethics in schools and what priority tasks it is aimed at today, it has been found out. But how was the introduction into school practice of a completely new, previously unfamiliar discipline for children? This process was carried out in 3 long stages:

1. From 2009 to 2011, this subject area was tested in 21 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
2. From 2011 to 2014, the subject was introduced, without exception, in all regions of the country, supported and accompanied by an information and communication technology system, thanks to a specially created Internet resource that provides an organizational, methodological and information base for conducting the ORSE course.
3. The final stage took place quite recently, namely, it covered the period from 2014 to 2016. At that time, a positive assessment was given to the effectiveness of introducing such a discipline into general educational institutions, in connection with which culture, secular ethics and knowledge of the fundamental provisions of world religions entered the school curriculum as a single, mandatory and unchanging subject.

Directions for future development

At the third stage, it is also planned to gradually develop coordinating activities on the part of the executive authorities in relation to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the field of education. The same applies to other participants, namely:

• parents or other legal guardians who are required to make an informed choice of one of the modules offered within the framework of the RCSE;
• professional staff who organize the process in the field, are responsible for the implementation of effective course study, reinforce the theory with logistical aids, etc.

In addition, it is planned to take under control the holding of events that allow to identify the quality of teaching the subject in municipal and state educational institutions of the Russian Federation. The development of the subject area of ​​the foundations of secular ethics will continue, in this case - primary basic general education (IEO). Corrections and additions will be made taking into account the concept of educating the personality of a Russian citizen and his spiritual and moral development.

What is written in the Federal State Educational Standard of the IEO?

The work program of the Federal State Educational Standard on secular ethics provides for the compulsory study of the subject, for example, in the 4th grade, for 34 academic hours for the entire academic year. The frequency of the discipline is 1 lesson in 5 working days; a similar provision was approved by the order of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 28, 2012, and enshrined in a special letter from the Ministry of Education and Science with a special provision even earlier - back in August. Initially, the subject was called "Foundations of the Spiritual and Moral Culture of the Peoples of Russia", however, by order of the Ministry of Education and Science of December 2012, a change was made to the Federal State Educational Standard, according to which the academic discipline changed its name to the above-mentioned ORKSE.

On the question "What is secular ethics in schools?" There should be no gaps in knowledge now. However, how is discipline implemented within the walls of each individual educational institution? The standard in this case is loyal: organizations independently form the structures of the main educational school programs and lesson planning according to secular ethics, one of the constituent units of which is, for example, the curriculum. At the same time, management still needs to rely on some documents. These are regulatory legal acts of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the Government, the provisions of the Federal Law and an approximate plan for the main educational program of the Federal State Educational Standard on the basics of secular ethics.

How is monitoring carried out and why is it needed?

It may seem that ORSSE is an extremely inaccurate subject, incomparable, for example, with mathematics or physics, where there are formulas, laws, proven theorems. Is it really impossible to test knowledge in this case? This is not true. The Federal State Educational Standard has a provision according to which, at the regional and federal levels, each subject of Russia annually conducts quarterly monitoring of student knowledge (traditional tests, tests, etc.). It allows:

• determine the needs of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in additional support for the conduct of the course;
• to compare and enrich the accumulated pedagogical experience of teaching in relation to the "young" discipline;
• identify the qualitative effects of the program, build a vector for its correction.

Subsequently, the monitoring results are processed in an automated information and analytical system specially created for this purpose (in short - IAS). The data is stored and gradually form a single database.

Modules

A lesson on the basics of secular ethics for their child is chosen by parents or any other legal representatives who draw up an application in writing and provide it to the school management. 6 modules are offered - these can be the basics:

1. Buddhist culture.
2. Orthodox culture.
3. Islamic culture.
4. Jewish culture.
5. secular ethics.
6. world religious cultures.

At the same time, parents of third grade students are offered consulting, informing, familiarization activities so that they can make a voluntary, free, informed and better choice of a module for their child. According to the law, both the implementation of the course itself and assistance to legal representatives in determining can and should be carried out through the involvement of the relevant centralized religious associations.

Positive value

The ORKSE course allows you to instill in children patriotism, love, including for a small homeland, its representatives and their work, help them learn moral values ​​and develop such qualities as respect for other cultures, tolerance, and tolerance. The ORKSE course is aimed at the development of meta-subject and personal results, which will be useful in the further development of the child as a student.

In addition, it is within the framework of this discipline that the family joins the school: parents and other adults help children understand and correctly interpret the different categories (love, friendship, altruism, guilt, morality, conscientiousness, etc.) embedded in the content of the subject. Consolidation of the efforts of all participants in the educational process allows achieving the most effective results: this is the development of the child's ability to reflect on their own actions, show emotional and moral responsiveness, and work in a team.

For the third decade now, Russia has been in the deepest crisis, not only economic, but also spiritual. The high level of crime, the spread of alcoholism and drug addiction, the destruction of families, the social passivity of the population, low life expectancy... The spiritual crisis also affected the younger generation. Sexual and behavioral promiscuity, drug addiction, beer alcoholism, moral degradation, juvenile delinquency and suicide are widespread among children.

Quite natural in such conditions are attempts to resist these negative phenomena by reviving traditional spiritual and moral values ​​in society. One of these attempts was the introduction of the course in schools in many regions of Russia.

This was done within the framework of the so-called. "regional" component of education. Every year the scale of teaching the defense industry in Russia has grown. More and more regions were involved in teaching in the schools of the military-industrial complex, and the enrollment of schoolchildren by class increased. In schools in the Belgorod region, for example, the OPK course has become mandatory in all schools from grades 1 to 11. The results of the teaching of the GPC have already begun to show, but the sophisticated attempts to eliminate this course have not stopped. In light of this, the idea of ​​liquidating the very regional component of education seems rather curious, apparently undertaken for the sake of abolishing the defense industry.

The name of the module immediately leads to bewilderment: what kind of "secular ethics" is this? Since the time of Aristotle, who coined the term "ethics" (from the Greek "ethos" - temper, custom), nothing has been said about "secular ethics", nothing has been written. The term "secular ethics" was not used by philosophers. In modern philosophical books one can find something on "medical ethics", "professional ethics" and "social ethics", one can read about "ethics of values" and "ethics of action", one can find extensive studies on "Christian ethics" and "Jewish ethics”... But the phrase “secular ethics” for some reason is absent in philosophical and ethical dictionaries. Apparently, it was invented by the authors of the module in the same way as other authors invented “developed socialism”, “Eurocommunism” and “perestroika” in their time. Well, what meaning did the authors of the module attach to their term “secular ethics”?

We take the textbook “Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics. Fundamentals of secular ethics. Grades 4-5: a textbook for educational institutions "(M.: Prosveshchenie, 2010). The following statement can be found in it: “A distinction is made between religious and secular ethics. The word "secular" means "worldly", "civilian" (page 7, lesson 2). Obviously, according to the authors of the module, “secular ethics” is “non-religious ethics”. But the assertion that the word "secular" is synonymous with the word "civil" is completely wrong. This may characterize the level of Russian language proficiency of the authors of the manual as insufficiently high. The authors of the textbook, by the way, are anonymous. Only the author of the 1st and 30th lessons is indicated, a certain Danilyuk A.Ya. However, this circumstance is secondary. The main thing is that the idea of ​​creating a course of some "non-religious" ethics, opposed to religious ethics, is visible.

And here the following question arises: what kind of "non-religious" ethics? The fact is that in the last hundred years, at least three non-religious ideas, three non-religious concepts have been operating with varying degrees of success in the world:

Firstly, the socialist-communist idea, familiar to the inhabitants of the former USSR. Its main principles:

Life is determined on the basis of a single, strictly rationally developed plan, to which everyone must obey;

In its most concrete form, this is the country's economic plan for several years, and in its most general form, it is a plan for the development of all mankind; such a global plan (building communism all over the world, for example) is the only acceptable and obligatory ideology of society, and economic plans exclusively determine its economy.

Secondly, the liberal-democratic idea. In our view, it is more connected with America, with the West. Its main provisions:

Extreme individualism, everyone is legally free to make his own choice, but has no reason to rely on the support of others;

Complete freedom and even the cult of competition, the market as the main regulator of the economy;

Universal and equal suffrage; political power, as it were, is divided into millions of formally identical pieces, each full-fledged citizen receives his own piece - a vote in the elections; then they unite around parties that influence society through the media.

Thirdly, the national idea. Let's leave it without comment for now.

These three non-religious concepts interact with each other, sometimes fancifully combined (for example, German National Socialism), more often they are at enmity. But it can be argued that each of these three concepts should have its own system of ethics. What is good for the Americanized liberal is bad for the Sovietized communist. And the Nazi system of life values ​​certainly differs from the above-mentioned master and comrade. Thus, we can assume the existence of at least three non-religious systems of ethics. Question: are all three of them studied in the "Fundamentals of Secular Ethics" module, or only one, chosen? Knowing the legislation of the Russian Federation, we can assume that Nazi ethics cannot be studied in our school. This means that one "secular ethics" immediately disappears. Two more remain: the communist-socialist “secular ethics” and the “liberal-democratic “secular ethics”.

Let us immediately note one fact: in the above-mentioned non-religious concepts, ethics has never occupied such an important place as in religious teachings. Both in the socialist idea and in the liberal one, economics and politics occupy more significant places. Ethical values ​​in these concepts are not constant. They can be reversed depending on the political or economic situation. For example, Marx asserted the community of wives, and the communists of the 60s severely punished party comrades for immoral behavior. If in the 30s, along with the “enemy of the people”, a dozen completely innocent people were shot by mistake, then they said: “They cut the forest - the chips fly!” And during the years of "stagnation" they began to talk about the "greatest value of human life." In the 1920s, churches were destroyed and priests were killed, and today Zyuganov himself can come to Sergiev Posad. The variability of the “secular ethics” of socialism-communism was frankly declared by Lenin in “The Tasks of the Youth Union”: “... In what sense do we deny morality, deny morality? In the sense in which the bourgeoisie preached it, which derived this morality from the commands of God... We deny any such morality, taken from an extrahuman, extraclass concept. We say that this is a deceit, that it is a swindle and a swindling of the minds of the workers and peasants in the interests of the landowners and capitalists. We say that our morality is completely subordinated to the interests of the class struggle of the proletariat. Our morality is derived from the interests of the class struggle of the proletariat.” These words contain the whole essence of the variability of the socialist "secular ethics", which can change dramatically due to the change in the form of the class struggle at the present stage. Liberal "secular ethics" is also not constant. Probably even more fickle than the communist-socialist one. This is not surprising. In any religious ethics, the main authority is God. The commandments of God are established forever. The choice for a person is small: either you live according to the commandments of God, or you sin. In socialist "secular ethics" the highest authority is the party. The course of the party may change from time to time. In liberal "secular ethics" the highest authority is the individual himself. And people are different. But now we will not discuss this further. Let's try to determine: what kind of non-religious concept will be taught to Russian schoolchildren on the "Fundamentals of Secular Ethics"?

The anonymous authors on page 2 define the purpose of their manual in terms of educational goals and objectives in the following way: “The manual introduces students to the basics of secular ethics. What is good and evil, virtue and vice, altruism and selfishness? What does it mean to be moral? Secular ethics will help schoolchildren to understand these and other issues. Students will learn about what a true friend is, honor and dignity, shame and conscience, etiquette, and much more. Secular ethics will provide knowledge that will help students to independently perform moral acts, which means to make their lives and the lives of other people better.”

Promising. But, here we will see what exactly Secular Ethics teaches schoolchildren in these key issues. So, in order. How does "Secular Ethics" define the concept of "good"? That's how:

“Good is a moral value that relates to human activity, a model of people's actions and relations between them” (p. 12, lesson 5).

An incomprehensible, non-binding set of words. However, on the next page you can find something more meaningful:

“So, good is:

Actions that help overcome disunity between people, contribute to the establishment of humanity (philanthropy, mutual understanding and mutual respect);

Actions that help develop the person himself and the people around him ”(p. 13. lesson 5).

It's kind of foggy. Indefinitely, indefinitely. Although the key goals are visible: to overcome disunity between people, to affirm humanism, to develop oneself and help others to develop. Good, but somewhat limited. Something is missing. Let's see how a textbook on Secular Ethics defines "evil":

“Evil is the opposite of good, it is what morality seeks to eliminate and correct. Evil can exist in different actions of people. Here are the most common examples of the manifestation of evil: deliberate humiliation of other people, which most often manifests itself in disrespect and intolerance towards them; deceit, because of which those who are deceived do wrong things; violence that suppresses a person's freedom, deprives him of his ability to be independent, or makes him unkind” (p. 13, lesson 5).

After the vague definition of "good" comes the vague definition of "evil" as the opposite of vague good. When it comes to specific examples of evil, the list is again very limited. Suspicious is the circumstance that the anonymous authors of the manual on "Secular Ethics" teach that evil is not deception in itself, but only such deception, after which deceived people commit "wrong things." It is difficult for an adult to understand such “secular ethics” either. For example, some scammers deceived a naive person, for example, by 100,000 rubles. And he sued the scammers. Is suing the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do? Evil committed by scammers, or not evil? A rather interesting conclusion can be drawn from all this: it is possible to deceive, but it is better to deceive in such a way that the deceived person does not guess about it. And if he guesses - so that he does not commit a "wrong act." And if the deceived person does the “right thing”, then the deception is not considered evil.

Another example of evil is "violence that suppresses a person's freedom, deprives him of his ability to be independent, or makes him unkind." Violence that harms human health is obviously not considered evil by anonymous authors. What about life threatening violence? By the way, "violence that suppresses a person's freedom, depriving him of his ability to be independent, or makes him unkind" - this is imprisonment, a fairly common modern form of punishing criminals! Conclusion: law enforcement agencies, courts, the prosecutor's office, the system of execution of punishments - this is a priori evil for the anonymous authors of the manual on "secular ethics", and not the violence of criminals that threatens human health!

It is curious that all our reasoning for the anonymous authors of the manual on "secular ethics" will be absolutely indifferent. They have their own attitudes, and they simply will not hear our arguments. They also want to teach Russian schoolchildren the following:

“Secular ethics assumes that a person can determine for himself what is good and what is evil” (p. 7 lesson 2).

Obviously, the anonymous authors are convinced of this. There is a preaching of extreme individualism, the most important attribute of the liberal-democratic idea. Thus, we were convinced that the "Secular Ethics" module works to form the moral attitudes of hypertrophied individualism in schoolchildren, to educate future followers of a non-religious liberal concept. Not socialist-communist, not national, namely liberal. Further analysis of the content of the textbook only confirms this conclusion.

“Virtue expresses a person’s desire for goodness, the desire to be like a moral person ... a parent, teacher, friend, astronauts, polar explorers, military men, athletes, artists, literary characters (heroes, musketeers, knights) can be a role model” (p. .17 lesson 6).

Anonymous authors offer a specific list of personalities as role models. But is it possible a priori to consider an artist or an athlete a moral person, the desire to be like which is a virtue? For example, to be like Ksenia Sobchak or other actors from "House-2"? Within the framework of the liberal “secular ethics”, this turns out to be possible, since the person himself determines what good is. Within the framework of "secular ethics" imitation of Ksenia Sobchak may well be a virtue. And what in this case the textbook calls a vice?

“Actions that result in harm to oneself or others are called vices” (p. 17, lesson 6).

If we take into account that “secular ethics assumes that a person can determine for himself what is good and what is evil,” then the concept of vice turns out to be very individual. The person himself determines what is or is not a vice. Fornication ceases to be a vice if you do not see evil in it. Pornography is no longer a vice. Homosexuality in the liberal concept may also not be a vice, if everything is done out of "love", by consent. Even pedophilia will not be a vice in such a case, if the child "falls in love" with an adult uncle. The list can be continued... But, let's see what else the anonymous authors teach schoolchildren:

“Shame is a difficult, depressed mental state of a person that appears after a discussion of his behavior by others” (p. 44, lesson 21).

What can be said? According to the textbook, if the people around you do not discuss your behavior, then shame will not appear. And since shame is associated with an uncomfortable state, it would be better if these people did not discuss bad deeds, and even better, if they did not know about them at all. And you can live calmly and cheerfully, without shame.

What are the features of "secular" morality?

“Moral norms (rules) are not recorded anywhere... Moral norms are not documented, i.e. there is no single set (list) of moral norms” (pp. 10-11, lesson 4).

It is no longer necessary to be surprised at this attitude of anonymous authors. After all, "man himself determines what is good and what is evil." Such is the liberal "secular ethics": I set moral standards for myself. By the way, in the communist-socialist "secular ethics" moral norms were documented, for example, in the "Moral Code of the Builder of Communism." Moreover, moral norms were documented in religious systems of ethics. But these obvious facts are ignored by anonymous authors: the communists with their code were left out of the “secular ethics”.

“An altruist wants everyone to be well... Altruism is opposed by egoism... Another thing is reasonable egoism. Reasonable egoism is the ability of a person, pursuing his own interests, to promote the common good ”(pp. 30-31, lesson 13).

For the liberal idea, with its focus on extreme individualism, the education of a reasonable egoist is, of course, natural and organic. One can “congratulate” the Russian school, which has to fulfill such an important task: to raise a reasonable egoist out of a child! However, the liberal “secular ethics” will make the Russian school itself not entirely Russian. Anonymous authors, for example, offer students clearly non-Russian characters as moral ideals to follow: “gentleman” (pp. 52-53, lesson 25), “lady” (p. 53, lesson 25). Anonymous authors teach to be ashamed of one's nationality: "It is not customary to ask a person what nationality he is" (p. 57, lesson 27).

Some of the pearls of The Foundations of Secular Ethics are, of course, relatively harmless and even amusing:

“Generosity is the middle between extravagance and stinginess” (p. 20, lesson 8);

"Courage is the middle between cowardice and reckless, thoughtless courage" (p. 20, lesson 8).

Children will later be able to use these ideas somewhere at the school KVN, but the Basics of Secular Ethics module will not help in raising them to be really generous and courageous people. Apparently, the liberal concept, with its reasonable egoism and individualism, simply does not set such a goal.

What can be said in conclusion?

The introduction of the liberal-democratic concept over the past twenty years has led Russia to that tragic state that is well known to all. It is the planting of the stereotype that each individual independently determines for himself the content of the concepts of “good” and “evil”, “vice” and “virtue”, he sets moral standards for himself without taking into account public interests and traditional moral values, which led to a spiritual and economic crisis. our country. Rampant crime, corruption of officials, depreciation of human life, catastrophic levels of alcoholism and drug addiction, millions of abortions annually, family breakdown...

Attempts have been made to counter this crisis, which threatens the very existence of the country, by reviving traditional spiritual and moral values. This was concretely expressed, for example, in an attempt to teach in schools "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture", "Fundamentals of Islam", "Fundamentals of Judaism", "Fundamentals of Buddhism"... But the demon does not sleep. As part of a comprehensive training course, the ORC and SE introduced the teaching of the same liberal democratic concept in the form of a module “Fundamentals of Secular Ethics”. It is proposed to fill the fire with kerosene. Quo vadis, scholae?