Ethics

Ethics (from Greek: ἠθική [ἐπιστήμη] ēthikē [epistēmē] "the moral (understanding)" resp. ἠθικός ēthikós "concerning one's character") has been a philosophical discipline since Aristotle, which deals with the knowledge, based on reason, of the right, moral action of human beings and seeks to establish an ethos (Greek: ἦθος ēthos "manner, habit, custom, usage, character, moral nature", originally "accustomed place, habitual seat") based on this. The ethical attitude is rooted in the activity of the consciousness soul directed towards the spiritual, which Aristotle called the dianoetikon.

Basically, a distinction can be made between an ethics of ought, which determines the individual through instructions from outside, and an ethics of aspiration, which builds on the individual's own moral competence. In addition, three different basic forms of ethics are commonly distinguished, although there are overlaps:

• Virtue ethics, which focuses on the pursuit of virtue, such as in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.
• Deontological ethics or ethics of duty (from Greek: δέον deon "the necessary, the intended, the duty"), especially in Immanuel Kant's work.
• Teleological ethics (from Greek: τέλος télos "goal"), which assumes that humans strive for natural goals (e.g. hedonism, eudaemonism or utilitarianism).

Since the beginning of the 20th century, a line of research known as a meta-ethics has been established, particularly in the Anglo-American world, which does not make any statements about the content of moral values, but rather seeks to determine the nature of morality in a very general and formal way, for example through semantic analysis of moral judgements. In this context, the following questions are discussed in particular: "Do objective values exist at all beyond subjective value concepts and desires?", "Can ethical values, should they exist objectively (or at least intersubjectively), be recognised as such?", i.e. are they capable of truth in a logical sense, and finally also the crucial question: "Should we be moral at all? And if so, why?"

Literature

• Rudolf Steiner: Einleitungen zu Goethes Naturwissenschaftlichen Schriften, GA 1 (1987), ISBN 3-7274-0011-0 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Die Philosophie der Freiheit, GA 4 (1995), ISBN 3-7274-0040-4 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.