Homo Ethos
Written by: Eason Wei
Edited by: Hairong Liu
Since the dawn of the millennium, modern-day philosophy has been dulled with ambiguity. Compared to the widespread practice of philosophy as an activity for all classes in the olden ages, philosophy has grown to be an esoteric study for only academics to study with convoluted theories and monotonous jargon. Introspection. Solipsism. Several branches have detached themselves from the core of philosophy and are now just advanced words, an idea too complex for the layman to understand. But philosophy shouldn’t be hard for people to understand - philosophy should be easy. So let me break it down for you. Philosophy is a way of working out the best way to do things. Now that should seem very important if you want to minimize effort and maximise output . . . right?
Now, what philosophical concept is closest to learning the best way to do things? Let me introduce morality and ethics - but what is ethics? Ethics is in short, a way of deciding what is right or wrong, and what decision should we make in a certain circumstance. It provides a guiding framework for individuals to determine the most morally sound and appropriate course of action in any situation. Let's take a look at the history and evolution of ethics.
Platonic Virtue
4th century BCE, Ancient Greece. The basics of philosophy have already been established and it is increasingly more popular. Plato comes into the picture and becomes famous with his school being renowned - TLDR: both he and his student Aristotle become popular in both Ancient Greece and the future. He wrote his magnum opus named “The Republic”, a dialogue about the relationship between the state and the individual. To discuss the virtues of an ideal individual, Plato discusses the virtues of an ideal state. The rulers of this ideal state are called ‘Philosopher Kings’, basically the equivalent of how reason guides the human soul towards decision making, Philosopher Kings guide the state. As to how improper wisdom of leadership can lead to a fallen state, Plato argues that the main virtue of the ideal state and ideal individual is wisdom - this is defined as understanding the ‘idea of good’. As such, Plato encourages us to gain more wisdom to make better decisions.
Stoicism
Fast forward one century, the Greeks faced a prevailing sense of fatalism (the idea that you cannot stop anything) due to the effects of living in a tightly controlled empire. Since they couldn’t change much in their daily life, they chose to change the way they THOUGHT about life. The Stoics came up with the strategy of emotional disengagement. They thought of their apathy (attitude) as a virtue and as such, they sacrificed their pleasures, for example, alcohol, to avoid unhappiness afterwards, in this context, hangovers. In the way they drove away from short-term ecstasy, the Stoics gained long-term mediocre happiness.
Utilitarianism
Let's move to the industrialised smoggy era of 19th century Britain. Similar to the later Soviet Union leader Lenin who stated that “the ends justify the means”, John Stuart Mill had a similar idea. The Utilitarianists shared a ‘consequentialist’ philosophical idea: the moral rightness of an action is justified solely by the consequences. Although at first, this sounds like a great idea, consider this scenario: Imagine a small town facing economic hardship. The majority of the population is struggling financially, with high unemployment rates and widespread poverty. The town council proposes a plan to attract a large manufacturing company that would bring numerous job opportunities and economic growth. However, the plan requires displacing a small community of indigenous people who have lived on that land for generations. That is pretty tricky.
The Supreme Categorical Imperative and the Golden Rule
Born slightly earlier than John Mill, a German philosopher called Immanuel Kant devised a way of making decisions through the statement “act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”. An example of this would be if you are considering lying to someone in order to benefit yourself. Before doing so, you must ask yourself whether if lying were universally accepted and practised by everyone, would it still be possible for lying to achieve its intended purpose? This is basically a revised version of the old golden rule birthed in China: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
Will to Power
After Kant, Nietzche was birthed in Germany. Nietzche was a radical who detested the Church and God. He believed Christianity domesticated people, and dubbed it ‘herd mentality’. In replacement of Christianity, Nietzche introduced the ‘Will to Power’. It suggests that the driving force behind human actions and aspirations is the desire for personal growth, self-mastery, and the realization of one's potential.
Emotivism
Heading into the 20th century, philosophy evolved. Instead of philosophers asking “How to determine if this action is good?”, philosophers asked, “What does it mean to say that this action is good?” Does saying a particular action is good means that you approve of doing this action? Alternatively, is saying a particular action is good to express an emotion that you feel when you observe or think about a particular action?
Applied Ethics
Let's look at the future, ethics are becoming increasingly more prevalent in society as technology advances. Bioethics, feminist ethics, and animal ethics are just some examples. One large concern is the use of artificial intelligence and self-driving cars. Take, for example, a driver who is incapacitated and the car has two options: 1. Swerve into a wall and kill the incapacitated driver or 2. Run into the green light crosswalk and kill 3 innocent pedestrians. This can be taken into even more complex scenarios: suppose that the driver is still incapacitated, but now there is no wall for the car to swerve into, you can either drive into an infant baby in a stroller or drive into a grandma. On that ethical dilemma, I will leave you to ponder upon it by yourself.