The history of ethics

The emergence and development of human ethical thought has its relatively independent history. From the perspective of the whole history of ethical thought, there are mainly three different forms of development:

(1) The ancient Confucian ethical tradition in China took benevolence as the core, filial piety as the main content, attached importance to personal moral cultivation, and linked self-cultivation with housekeeping, governing the country and leveling the world;

(2) The ethical thoughts from ancient Greece and Rome to the modern West have formed an ethical tradition characterized by emphasizing personal happiness, that is, human perfection;

(3) The ethical thoughts that took place in ancient Egypt and India mainly discussed the meaning of life and people's spiritual life, and were often combined with religion, from which the requirements of religious precepts were implemented and strongly supported by religious forces. China is one of the countries with the earliest civilization in the world. It is famous for its "ancient civilization" and "state of etiquette" and has a very rich moral and ideological heritage. The ethical ideology of feudal landlord class, represented by Confucianism, has been in a dominant position in the feudal society for more than two thousand years, and has become an ethical tradition with national characteristics with the ultimate goal of maintaining patriarchal hierarchy. A traditional feature of China's ethical thought is that it was closely combined with political and philosophical thoughts from the very beginning. After Song and Ming Dynasties, Neo-Confucianism tried to integrate philosophy and ethics, making philosophy a moral philosophy.

Development Clues The development of China's ethical thoughts can be roughly divided into three stages: ① The beginning of China's ethical thoughts and the stage when feudal ethical thoughts replaced slave owners' ethical thoughts. After Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States, the history is called the Pre-Qin period (2 1 century ~ 21/year BC). Some moral concepts have appeared in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Ji Dan, the Duke of Zhou, put forward an ethical thought with "respecting morality and protecting people" as the core, and at the same time, there were moral norms or categories such as filial piety, filial piety and respect to maintain the hierarchical system, which laid the foundation for the development of China's ethical thought. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, hundreds of schools of ethics contended. Confucian ethics, initiated by Confucius and developed by Mencius and Xunzi, basically reflects the long-term interests of the landlord class. Mohist ethics represented by Mozi reflects the moral requirements of small producers. The Taoist ethics thought represented by Laozi and Zhuangzi emphasizes "returning to nature" and advocates inaction and no desire, which reflects the negative and birth psychology of a few declining or frustrated classes and strata in the era of great social change. Legalists, such as Shang Yang and Han Fei, emphasize that people are "doing their own thing", that people are "calculating", and deny the social role of morality, which represents the interests of the radical landlord class. The whole pre-Qin ethical thought involves a series of important ethical issues such as the origin of morality, the good and evil of human nature, the highest principle of morality, the standard of moral evaluation, and the relationship between morality and interests. It is a peak of the development of China's ancient ethics. Almost all the later ethical theories can find the theoretical prototype or ideological origin from the ethical thoughts of this period.

② The development, evolution, maturity and even decline stage of feudal ethical thought. From Qin and Han Dynasties, Wei and Jin Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties, Song and Yuan Dynasties, Ming and Qing Dynasties, to the Opium War of 1840, it lasted more than two thousand years. At this stage, the Qin and Han Dynasties were a period of further development, consolidation and systematization of China's feudal class ethics. With the establishment of feudal centralization of authority and the development of feudal economy, Confucian ethics occupied a dominant position. The moral application of Dong Zhongshu's theory of "the unity of man and nature" made the dominant ethical thought in this period take on the color of theological teleology. "Three cardinal guides and five permanents" became the eternal moral principles and norms of feudal society, and feudal ethics such as "filial piety" and "loyalty" were further strengthened; The establishment of eight items in the three programs has made "self-cultivation" the basis and basic principle of family, country and world peace. "From Tian Zi to Shu Ren, cultivation is the foundation". (See ethical thoughts in Qin and Han Dynasties)

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, social unrest, frequent wars, long-term division of the country, the increasingly serious deviation between the moral requirements of the landlord class and its actual behavior, coupled with the introduction of Buddhism and the prevalence of metaphysics (see Wei and Jin Dynasties), made the feudal morality with Confucianism as the orthodox shaken, and there was a discussion on the relationship between Confucianism and nature in the ideological circle, which raised more important issues of moral integrity (see the study of talents) and hedonism. (See Wei-Jin Ethical Thought)

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, China's feudal society was unified again. Ethically, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism complement each other, absorb each other and gradually merge. On the one hand, the thinkers of the feudal landlord class strongly rejected Buddhism, on the other hand, they "stole" the contents of Buddhism about self-cultivation explicitly or implicitly, further supplementing and enriching Confucian ethics and consolidating its authentic position in feudal society. (See Ethical Thoughts of Sui and Tang Dynasties)

During the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the ethical thoughts of the feudal landlord class moved from maturity to rigidity and gradually declined. The Cheng-Zhu School, represented by Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi and Zhu, established a huge and exquisite ethical thought system with reason as the highest category in order to further safeguard feudal rule. The Lu Wang School, represented by Lu Xiangshan and Wang Yangming, established the "Mind Learning" with "Conscience" and "Unity of Knowing and Doing" as its main contents, in an attempt to more effectively safeguard the rule of the declining feudal landlord class. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, with the emergence of the budding capitalism, the moral dogmas and ethical principles of the feudal landlord class, such as "three cardinal guides and five permanents", "loyalty and filial piety" and "preserving righteousness and destroying human desires", were exposed and criticized by some thinkers with enlightenment consciousness. From then on, the ethical thought of feudal landlord class began to decline. (See Ethical Thoughts in Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties)

③ The formation and development stage of bourgeois ethics in China. After the Opium War, China became a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country. Under the influence of western bourgeois ethics, China bourgeois thinkers put forward immature and incomplete ethics such as freedom, equality, fraternity, harmony in the world and serving the public, which replaced feudal moral theory and ethical principles and had a certain influence on the history of modern ethical thoughts in China.

From the May 4th Movement of 19 19, China entered the historical period of new-democratic revolution and socialist revolution. With the spread of Marxism in China and the development of revolutionary practice in China, Marxist ethics has gradually developed into Mao Zedong ethics with China characteristics in China, which has brought China ethics into a new stage of development.

China's ethical thinkers have long discussed and debated the following issues, which embodies the traditional characteristics of China's ethical thought:

① About the origin and essence of morality, including the origin of morality, the relationship between morality and material life, the good and evil of human nature, the relationship between Confucianism and nature, and the basis of moral evaluation. Ancient thinkers in China put forward various viewpoints and theories on these issues. Thinkers who insist on materialistic philosophy generally explain moral phenomena from the perspective of nature and experience, and think that people's moral level is restricted by material level, or that moral phenomena are generated from natural "heaven", that the goodness and evil of human nature are not given by gods first, but formed after tomorrow, and that the standard of moral evaluation is not in the heart, but in the interests of society. On the contrary, idealist thinkers often regard will and mysterious "heaven" as the root of morality and "justice" as the only, absolute and eternal basis to guide people's behavior. They believe that human nature of good and evil is natural, and deny the role of human sensory experience, especially material interests, in morality.

(2) The highest principle of morality. The so-called "debate on righteousness and benefit" in the pre-Qin Dynasty and the "debate on reason and desire" in the Song and Ming Dynasties are both debates about the supreme principle of morality. Confucianism emphasizes that "righteousness" is more important than "benefit", regards benevolence and righteousness as the highest moral principle, and establishes a complete normative system with this as the core; Mohism advocates "universal love" and "emphasizing profit", emphasizing "equal emphasis on righteousness and profit", while Legalism emphasizes clear rewards and punishments, attaching importance to agriculture and neglecting war, and attaching importance to profit and neglecting righteousness; Taoism advocates inaction and simplicity, and advocates transcending all righteousness and interests.

③ About moral cultivation. This is an important feature of China's ethical thought. In China's ethical thoughts, "self-cultivation" is closely related to "governing the people", "self-cultivation" and "governing the country". Related to this, what is the meaning of life has also become a concern of ethicists. From ancient Greece and Rome to modern times, western ethical thoughts have evolved several times, and many complex theories and doctrines have emerged, forming a completely different tradition from eastern ethical thoughts. Throughout the development of western ethical thoughts, various ethical theories can be roughly divided into three categories according to their system structure: ① Practice or normative ethics. It is believed that ethics points out to people what kind of behavior norms should be followed and what kind of obligations should be fulfilled by studying moral phenomena. This kind of ethics attaches importance to practical application, and often divides into some specific applied ethics, such as various professional ethics. (2) Theoretical or pure ethics. This kind of ethical theory attaches great importance to the discussion of moral theory, which is often intertwined with philosophical ontology. It holds that ethics is moral philosophy, that is, pure philosophical speculation about good and evil. When it comes to specific codes and standards of conduct, it will lose its significance and dignity as a moral philosophy.

③ Ethics of analysis. This is a very popular ethics in Britain and America since the 20th century, namely "meta-ethics". This kind of ethical theory does not study ethics in an empirical and historical way, nor does it attach importance to the theoretical generalization of experience or historical narrative, let alone put forward specific norms. Its outstanding feature is trying to analyze moral concepts and judgments from the aspects of logic and linguistics.

Clues to development The clues to the development of western ethics can be divided into four stages according to social changes: ancient Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages, modern times and modern times;

(1) the ethics of ancient Greece and Rome. After the 6th century BC, with the rise of ancient science and the deepening of the struggle between various classes in Greek society, especially the struggle between the democrats and optimates within the slave class, many thinkers gradually turned their attention from nature to man himself. Protagoras, a wise man, famously said, "Man is the measure of all things", which reflected people's understanding of their status and value at that time. Socrates and his student Plato discussed the problem of "the best" from the idealism of idealism, and established the moral theory system of idealism. Aristotle synthesized the achievements of predecessors' ethical thoughts and formally used the name "ethics" as a discipline. He inherited and developed the ethical thoughts of democritus and others, and established a relatively complete ethical thought system of happiness theory based on the overall interests of the polis. During the Hellenistic period, Epicurism with naturalism and Stoicism with rationalism appeared. The former regards happiness and happiness as the purpose of life pursuit, while the latter requires people to follow the laws of nature and lead a rational ascetic life. The struggle between the two is very sharp.

(2) medieval theological ethics. Due to the rule of feudal absolutism and church theocracy, supernatural Christian ethics occupied an absolute dominant position in the whole European Middle Ages. Augustine first laid the theoretical foundation for theological ethics. Later, Thomas Aquinas, an Italian scholastic philosopher, transformed Aristotle's ethical thoughts in ancient Greece, making the theological ethical thoughts in the Middle Ages systematic and theoretical.

③ Modern western ethics. With the rise of capitalism in Europe, ethical thoughts are gradually liberated from the imprisonment of theology. Starting from the requirements of developing capitalism, bourgeois thinkers emphasize the satisfaction of personal needs and interests in ethics, deeply discuss the issues of human value, human dignity and freedom, the essence of goodness and the basis of moral evaluation, and put forward moral principles to mediate the relationship between individuals and others, individuals and social interests in different ways. During this period, various ethical theories reflecting the interests and demands of the bourgeoisie appeared, such as18th century French materialist's egoistic moral theory,19th century British Bentham and Mill's utilitarian thought, I Kant's self-discipline ethics based on transcendental rationality, G.W.F Hegel's principle of overall interests and L.Feuerbach's happiness theory.

④ Modern western ethics. /kloc-in the middle and late period of the 0/9th century, especially since the 20th century, the high development of western capitalism and the complicated social problems it brought, the new scientific and technological revolution and the two world wars have caused many changes in the objects and theories of western ethics. There are many schools of modern western ethics, which can be roughly summarized into three major ideological trends: one is meta-ethics or analytical ethics, which is greatly influenced by empirical science, including intuitionism ethics, emotionalism and linguistic analysis ethics, and is mainly popular in Britain and the United States. It puts aside realistic moral problems and focuses on the meaning and function of moral language and the logical proof of moral judgment and normative theory, which has the characteristics of formalism. The other is mainly popular in continental European countries, which is greatly influenced by humanities and is often dismissed as a metaphysical school by analytical ethicists, such as existentialism and so on. It takes people as the main body, pays attention to people's situation, destiny and way out, rejects people's rationality and appeals to feelings or intuition. Its main feature is irrationalism and often falls into pessimism. Another trend of thought follows the tradition of Christian theological ethics, including neo-Thomas doctrine and neo-orthodox ethics. Although some of them are also under the banner of "respecting science" and "caring for people", in fact, they still attribute the essence of goodness, the origin of morality and the highest standard of moral evaluation to God, arguing that only by believing in God can people be completely saved.

In the development of western ethical thoughts, ethicists mainly discussed the following issues and established different ethical thought systems, which reflected the gradual deepening of people's understanding of their own moral relations and the traditional characteristics of western ethical thoughts. (1) What is good? If people can know the best, what is the essence of this kind of goodness? Some ethicists pay attention to the relationship between goodness or perfection and social material living conditions, and attach importance to and emphasize the relationship between morality and interests, morality and happiness. Other ethicists often look for the source and essence of goodness from providence, transcendental rationality and human subjective consciousness, thus obliterating or denying the relationship between morality and social material living conditions in one way or another, showing a thorough idealistic tendency. The study of goodness or supreme goodness is also called the theory of goodness or moral axiology in the west. Different schools of ethics and ethicists have different answers to what is the best. Some ethicists regard knowledge or wisdom as the best, some regard happiness as the best, some regard honor and power as the best, and so on. In addition, there is a theory that self-realization is the best, which is often manifested in multiple values. (2) What kind of behavior is justified? What kind of character is moral? When evaluating people's behavior and personality, what should be the standard? What obligations should life fulfill? How to make people behave ethically through training and education? The key to solve this problem lies in how to treat and deal with the contradiction between individuals and society, individual interests and overall interests. Some ethicists emphasize that satisfying personal desires, denying or obliterating people's behavior should be restricted by the overall interests of society; Other ethicists emphasize the importance of obligations and responsibilities to society and others. Because it mainly involves the problem of obligation, it is also called virtue theory or obligation theory in the west.

In the history of western ethical thoughts, the above two issues are often intertwined. Because when people judge a person's behavior or quality, they always secretly or openly base themselves on some established standard of goodness, that is, the established value of goodness. From this perspective, ethics is usually called value science; When people discuss the value of good and evil, they always try to influence people's behavior consciously or unconsciously. In this sense, ethics is usually called normative science. However, the purpose of people's research on value or perfection is to make people have an ideal moral quality, and at the same time, to influence and standardize people's behavior with perfection as the goal. Therefore, western ethicists generally call the traditional ethics before19th century as normative ethics.

Since the 20th century, western ethics has shown a non-standardized tendency different from traditional ethics. Some ethicists deny the normative characteristics of ethics, only take the meaning analysis of moral concepts and the logical discussion of moral judgments as their own tasks, and call their own ethics "meta-ethics" or analytical ethics. On the other hand, some ethicists not only oppose the normative requirements of ethics, but also ignore the value of so-called perfection. They only emphasize the purely objective description of moral phenomena, the transcendental and humanistic description of people's situation and destiny, and explore how people can obtain real existence and how to transcend it.