THEO 204 STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS INTRODUCTION TO
CHRISTIAN ETHICS CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY
, Chapter 1
Imagine that you are returning merchandise to a large department store. The value of the
merchandise is $500. As you are returning the goods, you notice what you think is an error
on the part of the clerk. Instead of crediting your account the proper $500 amount, it seems
the clerk has credited your account with $1,000. Identify how the five operations of moral
questioning found in Chapter one play out in this example:
Most of us were taught that morals are rules, regulations, and obligations formulated
by authority figures, which are imposed upon us to force us to act in socially acceptable
ways. As Melchin explains, there are elements of truth in this image, but what it fails to
portray is a more basic interior grounding to morality that accounts both for the origin of
the rules themselves and for how they function in our own lives (Melchin, 24). The basic
operations of moral responsibility involve an examination of different kinds of questions
that can help us better understand the links in the chain of moral obligation. There are two
types of questions that arise in us: "fact" and "act" questions because to act, we must know
the facts. As Melchin demonstrates, there is a further division. "The most basic question
that transforms us from our state of rest and sets us in motion is the what question"
(Melchin, 24). However, the answers to that question can multiply indefinitely. It is crucial
to ask ourselves "Is it so?" or "is it right?" which narrows the range of possible answers by
consulting the data on the situation. Although these questions might seem alike, they are
entirely different. While the fact questions seek to know something that has already
occurred, the act questions come up with strategies for actions that have not yet happened.
To
start, as we have discussed, the first step of the moral operation directs our attention to
what is happening. In this example, as I am returning the goods, I start to think that the
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