To the question "What is a good, proper way to behave?

The question "What is good and proper behavior?" has a long history of reflection and controversy. This question has been pondered and disputed for a long time, resulting in the formation of different ethical thoughts and ethical positions. Broadly speaking, these ethical positions can be summarized as: utilitarianism, contractualism, deontology, and deontology.

I. Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is famous for its principle of "the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people", which holds that moral norms must be directly conducive to the realization of the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people, and that they can be used for the benefit of the greatest number of people and make the greatest number of people happy, free, and happy. Actions that make the greatest number of people happy, free, healthy, or otherwise intrinsically valuable are justified.

II. Contractarianism

The basic thesis of contractarianism is to describe the emergence of the state as the result of a contract that people enter into with each other or between the people and their rulers, i.e., that the state is the product of an *** agreement. This was the most influential doctrine of the origin of the state during the period of rising capitalism.

Third, deontology

Also known as "deontology", "deontology", "deontology" or "non-consequentialism". In modern Western ethics, refers to human behavior must follow a certain moral principle or in accordance with some kind of justification to act moral theory, and the "purpose theory" "utilitarianism" opposite.

Deontology

Deontology refers to virtue ethics, which is one of the theories of normative ethics, and it is a theory that takes the judgment about human character as the most basic moral judgment. Virtue ethics focuses on the moral subject, the agent of behavior, and the character of the moral subject as the agent of ethical behavior.

The main features of the Western ethical thought tradition:

1. The tension structure of bifurcation of values

The Western ethical thought tradition has been characterized by bifurcation of tensions from the beginning of its formation.

2. The ethical competition between God and man

The source of the two traditions has actually booked the Western ethical thought not only can never really overcome the dual-track parallel thinking track, but also have to face the competition between the two traditions from time to time.

3. Individual and Priority of Rights

Individual-centeredness and priority of rights are by no means what people imagine, but are only the essential features of modern Western bourgeois ethical thought.

4. Moralism and Purpose Dichotomy

Moralism and purposivism are two different or mutually antagonistic basic orientations of ethics. They take moral justice and purpose as the tenets of ethical thought respectively.