Sunday, September 22, 2019
Traditional versus Modern Essay Example for Free
Traditional versus Modern Essay Moral philosophy or ethics is about the individual’s concept or system of right and wrong behavior which becomes his foundation or basis of moral judgment and decisions. Two kinds of ethics which differs in moral judgment are traditional and modern ethics.            Traditional ethics emerge from the religious beliefs of what is morally right and wrong plus some concepts from the early philosophers such as Aristotle, Kant, Mill, Moore, Hume, and many others. The philosophers explained virtues and truths according to what is good and bad. Moreover, the birth and domination of Christianity, the law or concept of ethics (divine law) was about what â€Å"is†right or wrong doings (murder, theft, etc). However, some philosophers like Sidgwick constructed a system according to intention of the individual. Modern ethics is more of the â€Å"reason†or â€Å"motive†of the doer whether it is for the good of many people or for just a few ones that pushed him to do the said unjust behavior. That is why there is a term today as â€Å"legally wrong, but morally right†.            Traditional and modern ethics should not be necessarily considered as different ideas and beliefs that are contrasting each other. Modified traditional ethics can be considered as modern ethics since most of the morals today came from religious beliefs and early philosophies as respected by almost all cultures (specifically the Ten Commandments). Traditional ethics greatly affected our foundation of what is right and wrong or responsibility, which also became the basis of our cultural norms. But, as time passes by, people started to look closer to the different sides of the story that makes us consider the reasons or intentions behind an action that we later decide whether it is wrong or right. For example, when person steal a medicine for his dying mother because he has no enough money to buy it for her, in term of traditional ethics, the person committed a crime. But in terms of modern ethics, he is morally not guilty since he did it to save his mother’s life.            Religion and theology became the foundations of traditional ethics of responsibility and helped it its developments. Modern ethics became more independent from religious views but is still greatly influenced by traditional beliefs as cultural norms were adapted from it which helps a person’s system of judgment. References Moore-Bruder. (2006). Moral and Political Philosophy. Philosophy: The Power of Ideas, Sixth Edition. The McGraw-Hill Companies.  [Electronic Version
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