Why does Ethics Defines Civilization?

Why does Ethics Define Civilization?

The Beastly Life and the Search for Meaning

Famous German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “To live like beasts and to make the filling of one’s stomach and the satisfaction of lust the aim of life, to remain incapable of pondering its true purpose is indeed a most dreadful torment. To be a creature devoid of thought is to cling blindly and frantically to life itself, as though one was being punished without knowing the reason for one’s punishment, and to hold on to this painful existence with foolish desire, as though such living was a source of joy.”

What Ethics Truly Concern

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, concerns itself with how a person ought to behave, and what is right, good, or just. At first glance, it seems like a simple matter of how to be good, and why goodness matters. However, this very simplicity has captivated and tormented moral philosophers for over two thousand years.

Ethics as Life’s Practical Philosophy

Moreover, ethics is that branch of philosophy which touches our daily lives directly. Philosophy asks grand questions. Examples include questions like, is there any God? or why are we here? But it does not always address how one should live. So, ethics bridges the vast cosmic wonder and the concrete reality of human existence. If philosophy asks the great “why”, ethics seeks the “what” and “how”, turning abstract questions into the moral conduct by which life is truly lived.

The Architecture of Civilization

Besides, ethics is the architecture of civilization itself, born of humanity’s primal need to make sense of the world. As Socrates said, “True wisdom comes when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.”

From Savagery to Virtue

Furthermore, the ancient Greeks knew that humanity began at a crude and savage stage. Protagoras attributed mankind’s survival to divine providence. It was a concept that when Zeus saw human beings struggling, he sent Hermes to earth with a sacred command that “Bestow upon them the gifts of conscience and justice, and destroy those who cannot embrace nobility, decency, or fairness.”

Thus, civilization was born from education, law, and the cultivation of virtue. Plato and Aristotle both regarded the city-state as the natural outcome of social evolution, yet such evolution is impossible without moral growth.

To Homer, goodness rested on the four cardinal virtues of courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. Humanity, among all creatures, perceives the difference between what is and what ought to be. Hence, a society stripped of morality is destined for ruin, for all the failures of human history have been moral failures. Until we grasp this truth, destruction shall remain our fate.