When a person is asked what morals and ethics are to them, they would most likely reply by stating that ethics are ideas on how a person should act and morals are an idea on what is right and what is wrong. However, a person does not just know what morals and ethics are, let alone know how to live moral and ethical lives; people usually tend to be taught these ideas. People taught morals and ethics to others, no matter what time period they were in. It doesn’t matter if that person was Hammurabi during the 18th century BC Mesopotamia, the Buddha in late 400’s BC, or even Confucius in 500’s BC China. Hammurabi taught his people how to live morally just lives by writing laws that his people were to follow. The Buddha taught his people how A well-known writing that is connected to Hammurabi was the Code of Hammurabi, which is a large stone pillar that contains hundreds, maybe even thousands of laws and codes that the people of Mesopotamia were to follow. It is believed that Hammurabi believed in a black-and-white justice system (Hill 8-26-15). Law 196 in the Code states that, “If a man has destroyed the eye of another free man, his own eye shall be destroyed” (The Judgements of Hammurabi, 16). This brings a literal demonstration to the saying “an eye for an eye”. Even though this seems to be a harsh penalty to some, this shows that Hammurabi believed in his own take of equality in punishment. This is an example of Hammurabi’s teaching to his people of morals and ethics; if a person were to do a wrong action to another that same action would be done to him or her in response. However, the “eye for an eye” justice doesn’t only apply towards the offender themselves, but to others in his or her life. Law 230 in the Code of Hammurabi states that in a certain situation that if a person were to build a house for another and the house was not built properly and “the child of the householder is killed, the child of the builder shall be slain” (The Judgements of Hammurabi, 17). Again, another extreme display of “an eye for an eye”; except this form of justice punishes a wrongdoer’s child and not themselves. This is also Originally a man who lived in a life of luxury in his early years, the Buddha changed his beliefs in life after seeing a poor peasant while leaving his home in a chariot (Hill 9-14-15). The Buddha then left the life of luxury to seek the truth about life. The truth Buddha found was that in order to seek enlightenment, or Nirvana, a person was to follow the Four Noble Truths (Hill 9-14-15). In The Buddha, Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law, it states that the Four Noble Truths were: existence is suffering, desire leads to suffering, the absence of desire means the absence of suffering, and in order to get rid of desire and achieve enlightenment, one must follow the Noble Eightfold Path (The Buddha, Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law, 76). The Four Noble Truths aren’t meant to make a person lose hope in life, but more teach people to live their lives following their dharma in order to achieve Nirvana (Hill 9-14-15). And as stated before, a person will achieve Nirvana by following the Noble Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path is listed as, “Right Belief, Right Aspiration, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Means of Livelihood, Right Endeavor, Right Memory, Right Meditation” (The Buddha, Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law, 77). The Noble Eightfold Path is a way of life the Buddha learned from meditation and is now teaching others and spreading the importance of it as well as
Ancient laws were brutal. Babylonian laws, like Hammurabi's Code, included physical torture and death as punishments. The rule behind these punishments was "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."Hammurabi was the name of the king in the city-state of Babylon who ruled for nearly 4,000 years ago.This code was a set of 282 laws that maintained order. Hammurabi's Code was unjust because accidents were punished, punishments for intentional damage was extreme, and it focused on revenge instead of preventing future crime.
In order to understand the concepts of the Four Noble Truths, one needs to understand the aim of Buddhist practice. “The aim of Buddhist practice is to cure craving, the desire conditioned by ignorance that leads to suffering” (Demoss 1).2 Buddhism advocates meditation, and a “…goal of Buddhist meditation is to produce right mindfulness, an alert awareness of what is happening in body, mind, and world at the present moment” (Demoss 318).3 “Traditionally, ‘right action’ is defined in Buddhist ethics by the five percepts: do not kill, do not steal, do not engage in illicit sex, do not lie, and do not become intoxicated” (Demoss 319).4 “According to Buddhism a person does not have an intrinsic permanent changeless identity. There is no core self. The self is empty” (Demoss 1).5 The Four Noble Truths provide a conceptual framework for all Buddhist thought. According to the Four Noble Truths, craving leads to suffering, but craving can cease if one cultivates a path of mental discipline, wisdom, and moral conduct (Demoss 309).6 An understanding of Buddhism is...
Hammurabi’s Code was not just b/c of it’s personal injury law. In Document E if you look law 196 and law 218, in those laws they both end in some type of physical punishment. Law 196 states, “If a man has knocked out the eye of a free man, his eye shall be knocked out.” That is a harsh punishment, the could have done it by accident, they should just put that man in some type of jail until the learns his lesson, if does decide to do it again the sould be in jail for the rest of life, so the people have a piece of mind knowing that he is no longer on the streets. In law 218 it says, “If a surgeon has operated with a bronze lancet on the body of a free man for a serious injury, and has caused his death, … his hands shall be cut off. ” I don't think that it was the doctor's fault, he did what he could. The patient did probably get their too late for his life to be saved. In both of these laws you can see that they are very harsh, even for their time, Hammurabi made sure that if you broke you would not do it again, hopefully. I hate that how a lot of Hammurabi's laws usually ended up in death, because
Hammurabi's code was was unjust because of its property law. In law 21 if a man has broken a wall to rob he shall be put to death. this is unfair because they should have not such a harsh punishment and Hammurabi should make the criminal give back the stuff he stole. In law 23 if the criminal is not caught the mayor of the district he is in should pay back what was lost, this is unfair to the mayor because he should not have to replace what was stolen and the man who has been robbed should have to make money and replace what was lost in the first place. Law 48 if a man borrowed money to buy crops and a storm washed away the crops then he shall not have to pay the creditor that year this is unfair because the creditor could be put to death or
Hammurabi’s Code was unjust because of it’s family law. For example law 129 says “if a married lady is caught ( in adultery) with another man, they shall blind them and cast them into the water”( Doc C). That law is unjust because it will scare men and women and make them not want to associate with each other, causing trade to be low and people not wanting to work together. The laws might have been on a steele in the center of the city, but not everyone could read knowing about the laws. In Doc A Hammurabi says that the laws come from the god Shamash. “ They have given them the right to rule.” and in Doc B “ By the command of Shamash the great God and the judge of heaven and earth.” Hammurabi could be lying about getting the laws from the gods,
“Eye for an eye” motto creates an illusion that the rules are equal. However the codes was based on equality in the fact that in Hammurabi codes, rules are not equal for everyone in social structure. There is social class discrimination in the Babylon social system like the other countries during the period that the kingdom of Babylon exist. It depends on gender, which class are you belong in the society, who is your father, all that matter. The class that you are in specify your punishment. For example to social class discrimination in the Babylon social system:
Editors: Elisabeth Ellis and Anthony Esler. Pearson Prentice Hall Publishing. Boston, MA. 2007. Pgs. 79-83.) In other words it explains the morals that one must have to live a good life. "The Buddha saw the Eightfold Path as a middle way between a life devoted to pleasure and one based on harsh self-denial.” (“Buddhism.” World History. Editors: Elisabeth Ellis and Anthony Esler. Pearson Prentice Hall Publishing. Boston, MA. 2007. Pgs. 79-83.) The 4 noble truths are Buddha’s way of explaining the nature of life. It states that all life is suffering and pain, The cause of suffering is non virtue, The only cure for suffering is overcoming non virtue, and the way to overcome non virtue is to follow the Eightfold Path. . Nirvana is the point in the rebirth cycle when you reach enlightenment. It is the moment when you are at full peace. It is the ultimate goal of all people and is challenging to acheive. You must go the cycle of rebirth many times before you can reach nirvana. "For the Buddhist, the final goal is nirvana, or union with the universe and release from the cycle of rebirth." (“Buddhism.” World History. Editors:
No doubt the concept “an eye for an eye” was a big part of the Code of Hammurabi. Although, when it came to women, this principle does not apply equally as it did with men of the Babylonian civilization. For example, if a man were to practice adultery while he was married, he would get a very minor punishment for whatever good reason he came up with. If a woman were to practice adultery on her husband, she and the other man she was having an affair with were both thrown into a river while being tied up to one another. Basically women were constantly addressed as a piece of property just as slaves were treated. Hammurabi’s Code demonstrated how the rights of women individually were not acknowledged as men’s rights were taken. King Hammurabi was the sixth Babylonian king and he gave all of the power to the men in the civilization. It can be proven that a woman, in Hammurabi time didn’t have as many rights, even right to defend herself. There are three major issues that were taken place during the Babylonian civilization. The first issue, was about a woman’s family wealth being controlled by her husband or her father. The second issue was about women’s sexuality being sacrificed to ensure legitimacy. The last issue talked about a woman needing society’s help if she was divorced. The Hammurabi Code describes all of women’s rights and
Throughout history man has always had a longing to find the meaning of life. This search led to buddisms beginnings in India. Buddhism’s founder gave up his privileged life in order to achieve enlightenment, and believed that anyone could achieve this state as well. In india there were definite castes or social classes that separated the rich from the poor, yet in Buddhism nirvana was obtainable regardless of caste, in which one was born. Even today it still focus’ on the eightfold path in many variations, since Buddhism is based on a philosophy that mortal man can obtain a stage of enlightenment.
The Four Noble Truths (ārya-satya) are the foundation upon which Buddhist teachings are built off of. The attainment of Nirvana is impossible without understanding what aspect of life each Noble Truth really pertains to. The Noble Truths outline the reason for reincarnation and path of escape from the undesirable cycle of continuous death and re-birth. The Four Truths are:
A core teaching of Buddhism is the Buddha’s eightfold path. According to the Buddha and the four noble truths, eightfold path is the only way to achieve nirvana. Thus the eightfold path plays an important role on both the Buddhism’s ethical teaching and the lives of Buddhist. The second step of the eightfold requires one to have
The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism capture the ethos of the spirituality and its teachings. By just these four lessons, Buddha preaches the principles of tranquility within meditation, not mere concentration. From these truths he developed a guidance referred to as the Eightfold Path, a series of principles that lead to awakening when practiced and understood. He preaches that inevitable suffering comes from desire, however he concludes with a solution to a life lived in nirvana. The first two of the Four Noble Truths are Dukha and Avidya, focusing on the primitive presence of suffering within day to day life.
Shramanas believed that this life consists of a countless series of rebirths, and these are determined by an individual’s karma, this eventually is shed through moral perfection and a state of liberation can be attained. The variety of ancient accounts about Buddha’s lives, provide a systematic library that recounts the stories many practitioners use today as guidelines for the ideology. Among the many forms and paths to take in learning about Buddhist practices the Eightfold Path and Four Nobel Truths are the core essences of achieving the realized state of nirvana. World Religions Today notes, “The eightfold path emphasizes that moral progress is the essential foundation to successful meditation and that the measure of a successful mediation is the awakening and deepening of prajna” (415). Between the Nobel Truths and The Eightfold Path the foundational goal of improving ones moral, social, material, and lifestyle lies in the deconditioning and reconditioning of the
This describes a life that doesn’t involve indulging and pleasures but also doesn’t mean the person has to be in pain and self- torment. The best way to describe this lifestyle is to live moderately. Buddha came to this conclusion because he had lived life on both sides of the extreme. At first, in his father’s palace, he lived in luxury but once he became a monk he lived in self torment and even starved himself. Both of these lifestyles taught him a lesson on how a person should actually live to reach peace and happiness. The next part of this truth is the steps of the Eightfold Path. These were created by Buddha to help cure both physical and mental suffering. He made sure people knew that it would only work for them if they were responsible and applied it to their lives. The Eightfold Path involves eight steps that are divided into three main groups: good conduct, mental development, and wisdom. Under the group of good conduct the three steps are right speech, right action, and right livelihood. Speech is unique to mankind and should be used appropriately. By following this step Buddhists are expected to control their speech from lies and harsh words but instead speak the truth and sensibly. Right action is exactly what it sounds like, it involves
The real meaning of Buddhist thought involved the following; four noble truths, the eightfold path and the middle way. The four noble truths contained four statements of logic. Stating that life is sorrow, sorrow is the result of selfish desire, selfish desire can be destroyed, and it can be destroyed by following the eightfold path. The eightfold path is eight steps to a peaceful mind. The eight steps included right views, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.