This self-explanatory table presents a simple but instructive comparison of the defining features of thestereotypes of ancient ethics and modern morality (for a similar table see Bayertz 2005: 117).
| No.
| Criteria
| Ancient Ethics
| Modern Morality
|
| 1.
| Basic Question
| What is the good life? What is happiness and human flourishing?
| What should one/I do? The question of the good life plays, at best, a sub-ordinate role.
|
| 2.
| What is the Object of Concern?
| Self-centred: The person’s own interests dominate.
| Other-related: The interests of other people are most central.
|
| 3.
| What is most important?
| Pursuit of Goals: Personal perfection, personal projects, and personal relationships.
| Universal moral obligations & rules: Individuals should seek for impartiality (and hence they alienate themselves from their own personal projects).
|
| 4.
| What is examined?
| Agent: Most important are the acting person and his/her character (agent-centred ethics).
| Actions & Consequences: Most important is the correctness of the action & consequence (action & consequences centred ethics).
|
| 5.
| Central Notions
| Virtues: aretaic notions for example good, excellence, virtue (aretaic language).
| Norms: prescriptive notions concerning rules, duties, obligations for example must, should (deontic language).
|
| 6.
| Rationality is seen as?
| Rationality is seen as a capacity of context-sensitive insight and decision-making.
| Rationality is “mainly” seen as the capacity to (rationally) deduce inferences from abstract propositions.
|
| 7.
| The Goals of human actions
| The goals of human actions are objective (notion of happiness: for example thinking, pleasure).
| The goals of human actions are individually defined by the people (subjectivism). No God, no nature.
|
| 8.
| Scope of Morality
| Adult male citizens with full citizenship.
| Men, women, children, animals, environment.
|
| 9.
| Individual and Community
| The individual is in unity with the community (harmony).
| The individual and the community are rather disconnected from each other.
|
