Perspectives on Morality and Human Well-Being. Syed Nawab Haider Naqvi

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СКАЧАТЬ stranglehold of its traditional religious positions on distributive justice and poverty reduction; but the differences between the old and the new still lie more in the mesmerising appeal of the chosen words and less in substance. Thus, distributive justice is still equated by Christianity and Judaism with the inegalitarian Aristoetlian concept of “commutative justice” – i.e., that which seeks equality in bilateral personal and economic relations – and the right of poor peoples and nations in the wealth of the rich is quietly ignored in intellectual debate as well as in policy-making.¹ The superiority of Islamic ethics in this respect comes out clearly in the recent relative economic performance of Muslim and non-Muslim societies. There is evidence that the (poorer) Muslim countries, on average, have done significantly better than the (much richer) non-Muslim countries on account of distributive justice. This result, which is decidedly related to their respective ethical heritage, is the more remarkable for all the impediments to distributive justice (e.g., feudalism) which Muslim societies themselves erected – and, unfortunately, sometimes justified in the name of religion. Yet, the manifest originality of the Islamic message in this respect notwithstanding, it is still unwise for Muslim thinkers to become excessively complacent and tradition-bound. ‘Secular’ moral philosophy would definitely help in articulating the Islamic thinking on the subject more explicitly and cogently as a guide to practical policy. Thus, for instance, the former makes transparent that Muslim countries have come out badly with respect to attempts at poverty reduction, despite the clarity of their moral message, because the unattended moral hazard and assurance problems would not permit private morality alone to address this issue comprehensively. The success in poverty reduction hinges on a proactive public policy that helps sustain high rates of economic growth and human development for decades at a stretch.

       The Plan of Work

      This work consists of six self-contained, yet logically and thematically connected, chapters. These chapters are developed as follows.

i) Chapter 1 presents an overview of the main theses presented in this study. Chapter 2 argues that an integration of ethics and economics offers a richer view of human motivation and conduct than that provided by value-neutral positivism. The basic premise is that such integration should yield a more accurate explanation of economic and human development strategies to convert material affluence into human happiness. Also, the analysis presented here prominently displays those moral values which quicken the pace of economic progress, help distinguish the better from the worse economic institutions, and emphasise restructuring the latter with a view to producing efficient and equitable solutions of economic and social problems. There is a growing body of literature now – known as public-choice theory – which insists that economists cannot sensibly avoid making moral judgements; and that economics would be the more effective for paying explicit attention to ethical concerns.²

      ii) Chapter 3 demonstrates that the current practice of excluding religion as a source of universally accepted norms of economic behaviour, i.e., truth, honesty, impartiality, individual liberty, justice, equality, rights, fulfilling contracts, etc., has not at all been helpful, even in Western societies. Elaborate nonbinding general frameworks of ethical rules and norms are no substitutes for clearly articulated and voluntarily-held ethical mores which flow from the religious beliefs that are accepted voluntarily by believers as binding. True, the former embellish intellectual discourse; but they seldom spill over into concrete action. In sharp contrast, the latter get ‘internalised’ in individual consciousness. They act as effective sanctions against unethical practices – e.g., ‘free-riding’, ‘moral hazard’, ‘principal-agency syndrome’, ‘fraud’, etc., – which undermine the efficient working of market-based social and economic institutions. The internalisation of moral values has the entirely wholesome effect of reconciling private interests with collective welfare, at significantly lower ‘policing’ and regulatory costs than secular economic and social systems normally incur. Indeed, in the latter case, such costs are not adequately incurred because they tend to be prohibitively high; but this neglect loosens the moral bindings of the socio-economic fabric. Religious ethical values are now accepted as central to “the functioning of an individualist, contractual economy” [Hirsch (1977); p. 141]; yet this remains a minority opinion in the heavily secularised climate of Western thought.

      iii) Chapter 4 asserts that Islamic moral values link the individual to collectivity, by balancing individual freedom with social responsibility; and gives a fairly detailed account of the basics of Islamic morality, especially with reference to central economic issues. Like all religions, Islam can accomplish its social objectives because it does not make excessive demands on the stock of scarce altruistic resources. Performing a morally edifying economic act itself enhances the supply of altruism; and, since it recognises a legitimate role for self-interested objectives (though not self-interested behaviour) in the running of a market economy, the demand for altruism remains manageable. An added attraction here is that, contrary to Western (secular) thought where religion is seen mainly, if at all, as an instrument to achieving better economic results, Islam regards religion to be constitutive of a fuller human life in which material and spiritual urges of humankind coalesce. It then goes on to investigate what that means for a smooth functioning of a market economy.

      iv) Chapter 5 gives a thorough analysis of the Islamic ethical system, and its ‘inner’ logical structure. It shows that the system can be effectively used to spell out and implement Islam’s moral vision, and to broaden it by drawing selectively on ‘alien’ philosophies. Chapter 6 attempts to test the implicit hypothesis of the preceding chapter, namely that an ethics-based economic system need not become altogether dysfunctional and that it may even energise economic agents to work for the betterment of society. The supporting empirical evidence, which is presented here for the first time, gives both the strong and the not-so-strong aspects of Muslim practices, and to some extent, of Islamic ethics. The general points that come out are: (a) morality makes a significant impact on an individual’s economic and social behaviour; but that the microscopic power of religious morality makes it even more effective than secular morality in achieving social goals. (b) Religious moral values guide only if these are explicitly and emphatically stated. (c) They misguide if not properly interpreted and if they do not creatively respond to the needs of society. And, finally, (d) a proactive public policy must supplement private morality to maximise collective good.

These are only a few glimpses of the (admittedly modest) effort to make, as Frank Ramsey put it, “a lot of things clearer” (though “nothing absolutely clear”) as regards the large number of moral, social, and economic problems that human societies in general, and the Muslim society in particular must face and respond to. To this end, it draws on apparently diverse fields of knowledge (economics, ethics, mathematical logic, and doctrinal history) to weave together a logically valid, Islamically authentic, historically correct – and yet a readable – account of the many ways in which humankind has endeavoured to crown its incessant quest for achieving greater material prosperity – and to have an ‘inner’ peace – with success. The present work rejects the intentionally vicious doctrine of the “clash of civilisations”, which has already consigned the world to the flames of a deep moral crisis, fanned by mutual hatred and total anarchy in international, political and economic relations; and which, above all, has benumbed the individual’s sense of compassion and morality. Instead, it seeks to cultivate mutual understanding and trust between peoples, nations, and civilisations. Within the confines of its subject-matter, it proposes an intellectual platform where a minimum inter-religious and inter-cultural consensus can be reached about the relationship between morality and human wellbeing, while leaving plenty of room for discussion, debate, and dissent. СКАЧАТЬ