23.11.08
Kantian ethics and autonomy
I think you should consider the Kantian ethical system, and especially the question of autonomy. Kant was a ‘believer’ but did not base ethics on belief in divinity. And it is true that ‘approaching god’ leads to a higher ethics.
Precisely the point that it seems to have turned Gurdjieff into some kind of devil. Or perhaps he was not a theist, merely a pretender, having shown his true colors in his silly way of tacking ‘god’ onto Samkhya.
In any case, the Gurdjieff work has a very weak set of discourses (if any at all) on ethics.