The Justification of the Binding Nature of Bahá’í Ethics

Abstract

Since human beings make conscious decisions, there have been questions such as "What is right and what is wrong thing to do?" or "How should I be?" Ethics are of no use, however, if people do not feel bound to adhere to them. So a different set of questions goes like this: "Why should I do the right thing?" Philosophers and religious thinkers have been trying to answer these questions for thousands of years-in many different ways. In this presentation we will look at the Bahá'í justification of the binding nature of ethics. Based on Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Aqdas we will define reasons that make a Bahá'í "do the right thing".