Editing Karma (section)

====Ethicization====
The second theme common to karma theories is ethicization. This begins with the premise that every action has a consequence,<ref name="jbowker" /> which will come to fruition in either this life or a future life; thus, morally good acts will have positive consequences, whereas bad acts will produce negative results. An individual's present situation is thereby explained by reference to actions in his present or in previous lifetimes. Karma is not itself '[[Reward system|reward and punishment]]', but the law that produces consequence.<ref>Francis X. Clooney, Evil, Divine Omnipotence, and Human Freedom: Vedānta's Theology of Karma, The Journal of Religion, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Oct. 1989), pp. 530–548</ref> [[Wilhelm Halbfass]] notes that good karma is considered as ''[[dharma]]'' and leads to ''[[Punya (Hinduism)|punya]]'' ('merit'), while bad karma is considered ''[[adharma]]'' and leads to ''[[Pāpa|pāp]]'' ('demerit, sin').<ref name=halbfass1998>Wilhelm Halbfass (1998), "Karma and Rebirth (Indian Conceptions)", ''Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', Routledge, London.</ref>

Reichenbach (1988) suggests that the theories of karma are an [[ethical theory]].<ref name="brucer" /> This is so because the ancient scholars of India linked intent and actual action to the merit, reward, demerit, and punishment. A theory without ethical premise would be a pure [[causal relation]]; the merit or reward or demerit or punishment would be same regardless of the actor's intention. In ethics, one's intentions, attitudes, and desires matter in the evaluation of one's action. Where the outcome is unintended, the moral responsibility for it is less on the actor, even though causal responsibility may be the same regardless.<ref name="brucer" /> A karma theory considers not only the action, but also the actor's intentions, attitude, and desires before and during the action. The karma concept thus encourages each person to seek and live a moral life, as well as avoid an immoral life. The meaning and significance of karma is thus as a building-block of an ethical theory.<ref>see:
* James Hastings et al. (1915), Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (Hymns-Liberty), Volume VII, Article on Jainism, pp 469–471;
* [[Christopher Chapple|Chapple, Christopher]] (1975), Karma and the path of purification, in Virginia Hanson et al. (Editors) – Karma: Rhythmic Return to Harmony, {{ISBN|978-0-8356-0663-9}}, Chapter 23;
* Krishan, Y. (1988), The Vedic origins of the doctrine of karma, South Asian Studies, 4(1), pp 51–55</ref>