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Summum bonum is a Latin expression meaning the highest or ultimate good, which was introduced by the Roman philosopher Cicero [1] [2] to denote the fundamental principle on which some system of ethics is based — that is, the aim of actions, which, if consistently pursued, will lead to the best possible life.
For morality to be binding, God must exist. [4] In its most general form, the argument from moral normativity is: A human experience of morality is observed. God is the best or only explanation for this moral experience. Therefore, God exists. [4] [failed verification]
Christian ethics, also referred to as moral theology, was a branch of theology for most of its history. [3]: 15 Becoming a separate field of study, it was separated from theology during the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Enlightenment and, according to Christian ethicist Waldo Beach, for most 21st-century scholars it has become a "discipline of reflection and analysis that lies between ...
The term morality originates in the Latin word moralis, meaning ' manners ' and ' character '. It was introduced into the English language during the Middle English period through the Old French term moralité. [7] The terms ethics and morality are usually used interchangeably but some philosophers distinguish between the two. According to one ...
[5] In the views of some, morality and religion can overlap. [6] One definition sees morality as an active process which is, "at the very least, the effort to guide one's conduct by reason, that is, doing what there are the best reasons for doing, while giving equal consideration to the interests of all those affected by what one does."
Philosopher Simon Blackburn writes that "Although the morality of people and their ethics amounts to the same thing, there is a usage that restricts morality to systems such as that of Immanuel Kant, based on notions such as duty, obligation, and principles of conduct, reserving ethics for the more Aristotelian approach to practical reasoning ...
The Right and the Good is a 1930 book by the Scottish philosopher David Ross.In it, Ross develops a deontological pluralism based on prima facie duties.Ross defends a realist position about morality and an intuitionist position about moral knowledge.
(Nevertheless, like Plato he eventually says that all the highest forms of the moral virtues require each other, and all require intellectual virtue, and in effect that the most eudaimon and most virtuous life is that of a philosopher.) [9] Aristotle's analysis of ethics makes use of his metaphysical theory of potentiality and actuality.