THE EDGES OF ETHICS: AN EVALUATION OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF MORALITY

Abstract

The foundations of morality have been a subject steeped in philosophical inquiries for centuries. This paper investigates the conventional frameworks that have inuenced our comprehension of ethics, from ancient philosophical traditions to contemporary moral theories. Arguably, the philosophical literature on moral philosophy is largely occupied by the scholarly mist on the ethical issue of “why human beings ought to be moral.” It is one of the most controversial questions in moral philosophy. Thus, the question of whether there are reasons to justify why a moral agent ought to be moral; and by extension, will life be meaningful without ethics or morality; simply put, “Why must I be moral?” This paper argues that life will be meaningless without ethics or morality. Sequentially, and with the intent of understanding, this paper is set about qualitatively by a denition and critical discussion of the classical understanding of “morality” and “ethics” and then it delves briey into the demerits of a society without morality or ethics. It then proceeds to discuss three indispensable foundations on which morality is hinged, and to critically evaluate these foundations and their convictions. In all, it is the thesis of this paper that it is intrinsically embedded in every moral agent to ascribe to moral principles knowingly or unknowingly. Having discussed at length the foundations associated with “Why be moral?” this paper contends that Aristotle's virtue ethics or eudaimonia is an ideal guiding light for moral agents.