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Book Name – An Introduction to Ethics (William Lillie)
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. The History of Ethics
2. Greek Ethics
3. Medieval Ethics
4. Modern Ethics
5. Classification of Theories of the Moral Standard
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The Development of Ethical Theory
Chapter – 5
The History of Ethics
The history of European ethics can be divided into three periods, each with distinct characteristics.
The Greek period lasted from around 500 B.C. to A.D. 500.
The medieval period lasted from A.D. 500 to A.D. 1500.
The modern period began from A.D. 1500 onwards.
In the Greek period, the Greek city state formed the background of moral life.
A man who performed his duties as a citizen was considered a good man.
In the medieval period, morality was dominated by the Church.
The good life was identified with the holy life or the religious life.
In the modern period, neither Church nor state play as central a role in moral life.
Morality is now more concerned with the free individual and his rights and duties in relation to other free individuals.
These periods can be seen as the period of the city state, the period of the Church, and the period of the free individual.
Differences between periods should not be exaggerated.
Present-day ethical thinking is still influenced by Greek free reflection and the moral tradition of Jews and Christians taught by the Church of the Middle Ages.