The
importance of moral philosophy in philosophy
Moral Philosophy is one of the
major schools of philosophy. Moral philosophy relates to practical philosophy,
while metaphysics refers to theoretical philosophy. Morality thus speaks of
action (and answers questions such as “May war be fair? Is the death penalty
moral?), Some focusing on intentions that preside over actions, others on the
consequences of our actions.
Moral philosophy ultimately
attempts to answer the following question: What should I do?
Moral
Philosophy or Ethics?
We must distinguish moral
philosophy from ethics. If the first refers to intersubjectivity (the relation
to others), the second refers to personal actions, to the relation of the
subject to himself. We often use one for the other in a wrong way.
In some thinkers, ethics is a
philosophy derived from ontology (Plato, Sartre), in others derived from
politics (Aristotle). Some even reverse the theoretical/practical relationship:
moral philosophy is the first philosophy (Levinas), it is from it that the
other branches of philosophy must flow.
The
origin of morality
There are two ways to look at
the source of morality:
the heteronomous theory of
morality: the man receives morality from elsewhere that of himself (God, moral
law, society). This is the position of St. Thomas, Kant (Critique of Practical
Reason), Schopenhauer, Bergson or Durkheim.
the autonomous theory of
morality: man creates, invents himself the principles of his action (Nietzsche,
Sartre, Camus)
Schools
of moral philosophy
Here is a brief overview of
the main branches of moral philosophy, from ancient times to the present day.
Formalism or Deontology:
Kant’s practical philosophy is related to this current. Formalism asserts that
the morality of an act depends on the form of the act, and not on its content.
Individualism: Individualism,
in morality, posits the primacy of the individual over the social totality:
values emanate from the individual. Nietzsche or Dumont are representatives of
moral individualism.
Eudemonism: According to
eudemonism, the goal of action is the search for happiness.
Pessimism: Pessimism, in
morality, consists in thinking evil prevails over good, so man is condemned to
act badly.
Utilitarianism: Utility must
be the criterion of action. According to the utilitarians, the principle of
utility supposes a calculated search for pleasures (arithmetic of pleasures).
In both quantitative and qualitative terms.
Hedonism: Happiness is
immediate pleasure. Happiness is enjoyment.
Stoicism: It is the concept of
destiny (fatum) that governs the morality of the Stoics. The actions of man
must be guided by the acceptance of destiny. The man only mastering his view of
things, not the things themselves.
Epicureanism Epicurean
morality consists in satisfying only the natural and necessary pleasures.
Consequentialism: Only the
consequences of an act make it possible to qualify it in terms of moral or
immoral.
Cynicism: Cynicism consists of
despising morals, conventions or even traditions.
Ethical Relativism: The
relativists consider that no morality can claim to the universal, that the
cultures have a proper morality, equivalent to each other.
Altruism: Altruism affirms
that only moral acts guided by disinterestedness and the love of others.
Nihilism: Nihilism defends a
conception according to which there is no absolute, transcendent morality.
Existentialism: Man invents
his way and his morality freely. The bastard, on the contrary, guided by the
spirit of seriousness, hides behind a legacy morality.
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