Ethics

Historical Origins

Ethics includes rights, obligations, benefits to society, and fairness, and many have evolved and changed during the United States’ history. An abbreviated synopsis of the Western foundational concepts delineates the dominance of individualism in American society, compared to group-centered collectivism of other populations. It is not surprising, therefore, that the root of Western moral philosophy is virtue ethics, which emphasizes the virtues of an individual.

Virtue ethics often begins with Socrates (5th century b.c.e), who held the teleological view that humans have a purpose. Morality was not about obeying laws but about understanding oneself sufficiently to know how best to behave. Plato believed in both empirical knowledge and reason, which he deemed “real” knowledge because it required deep thinking. U.S. citizens have traditionally questioned their lawmakers in his model and often affirm that this right is not similarly allowed in other nations.

Aristotle postulated an examination of the ends: if one chose to do wrong, one must be punished. Decades later the Stoics and Epicureans emphasized pleasure and passion in contrast to Aristotle, but Christianity supplanted these and other early doctrines, and St. Augustine and his contemporaries underscored theology rather than morality until humanism reestablished the importance of the usefulness of one's life.

John Locke believed in natural law, which ultimately inspired the Declaration of Independence concept of “inalienable rights” from Locke's principles of human nature as defined by an inborn ability to reason. From this followed the natural law tenets of freedom, rights to possessions, and the right to life, above even a government's rules. Thomas Hobbes, however, replaced Locke's doctrine with his social contract because he did not believe in society's ability to govern itself without fighting over goods and power.

Hobbes declared that people were selfish, fundamentally unethical, feared misery caused by material desires, and that government was essential to establish strict laws to punish those not in compliance. Immigrants from countries with recent histories of socialism and communism are familiar with and may adhere to this dogma. By contrast, Thomas Jefferson espoused the tenets of Locke's Second Treatise of government because it asserted that people are created equal with equal rights. It remains the cornerstone of American ideology today.

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