Ethics and Philosophy: From Aristotle to Stoicism
Aristotle: The Pursuit of Happiness
Aristotle is considered the father of ethics, as he was the first to dedicate a book almost exclusively to ethical considerations (Nicomachean Ethics). According to Aristotle, every action aims at some good. He also states that some ends are more important than others, creating a hierarchy of goals. Thus, he concludes that the “ultimate aim” of human beings, which everyone agrees upon according to Aristotle, is happiness. Happiness is sought for its own sake, while other things are sought as means to achieve happiness.
However, not everyone agrees on what constitutes happiness. Some believe it lies in honor, others in wealth. Aristotle counters these views by referring to his conception of nature: the purpose of each thing lies in fulfilling its proper function. Therefore, human virtue is achieved when humans perform their characteristic functions well.
Identifying the functions characteristic of human beings is complex for two reasons. First, functions vary with age, sex, and other factors. While performing these functions is crucial for happiness, simply possessing them does not guarantee it. Second, human beings are complex, possessing three distinct functions: vegetative, sensitive, and rational. The latter two are the most important. Adequately performing the sensitive function requires the rational human being to control impulses and desires. The rational function, especially when engaged in intellectual activity and wisdom, is paramount. These two functions are the primary sources of happiness.
If all functions are performed well, happiness will follow. However, wisdom, being the highest activity humans can engage in, provides the greatest happiness. Not everyone can devote themselves to the contemplative life of wisdom. Women, slaves, and those “brutalized” by manual labor are excluded from this life.
Kant: The Ethics of Duty
The Enlightenment Context
Kant embodies the spirit of the Enlightenment, a period of transformation in European societies from the sixteenth century onward. Capitalism revolutionized the production system, the bourgeoisie emerged as the ruling class, and the feudal system transitioned to absolute monarchy. Religion ceased to be the dominant ideology, and humans gained intrinsic value in politics, science, art, and morality.
Reason and Autonomy
Kant builds his philosophy on confidence in the power of reason, advocating for reason’s dominance in all aspects of life. His motto is “dare to think for yourself.” Laws cannot be imposed from the outside because Kant believes that obeying external commands reduces individuals to mere tools, violating their autonomy. Kant seeks a morality where humans act according to the mandates of their own reason, not because of external pressures.
Obeying commands from others is not moral; it is against human dignity (heteronomy). Dignity is essential for moral behavior. Without dignity, a person cannot act morally. Moral behavior requires dignity and actions that are ends in themselves.
The Categorical Imperative
Kantian ethics can be summarized as duty for duty’s sake. Kant’s morality is a formal morality. What matters is not the action itself but the intention, the form, the way one acts. The goodness or evil of actions depends on the intention behind them. If a person’s motivation deviates from the line of duty, their action will not be morally good because it is not rational, even if it satisfies the law.
Kant’s imperatives do not dictate specific actions but rather indicate how we should act. Kant believes that reason is the same in all human beings. Since moral imperatives are expressions of reason, and all humans are rational, they share the same imperatives. Kant’s morality is universal, common to all humankind. One of Kant’s imperatives states: “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”
Stoicism: Living in Accordance with Nature
Origins and Principles
Stoicism was founded by Zeno of Citium, who opened a philosophical school in Athens around 300 BC. His philosophy is more practical than theoretical, responding to the new living situation in Greece after its conquest by Philip II of Macedon. Greek city-states lost their independence and became subject to distant authorities and imposed laws.
The Stoics conceive of the universe as material and governed by two principles: one active and one passive, both tangible and inseparable. The passive principle is pure, inert matter, while the active principle is reason or logos.
Logos, Fate, and Happiness
Therefore, a reason (logos) governs the universe, transforming it into an ordered cosmos. This all-governing reason is identified with God, resulting in a pantheistic worldview. Since all events are governed by the logos, everything that happens in the universe is determined by fate. Events follow one another with iron necessity. The world undergoes cyclical periods—the Great Year—culminating in a conflagration, followed by rebirth when the stars return to their initial positions. All events recur in the same order. This deterministic view supported the practice of divination, which was widespread in the Roman world where Stoicism flourished.
Human life is immersed in this universal destiny. There is no point in rebelling against fate; what is destined will happen regardless. Humans must accept their fate. The Stoic ideal of life is “living according to nature,” meaning living in accordance with reason. This is where humans find happiness because, being guided by the logos, every event is rational and represents the best possible outcome.
Inner Freedom and Cosmopolitanism
The Stoics believe that the wise person lives according to Nature and remains free from insistent and powerful desires, such as the desire for power, wealth, or excessive food and drink. Being dominated by these desires leads to unhappiness. Likewise, the wise person overcomes any misfortune that may occur—disease, economic hardship, or natural disaster—by maintaining inner peace. In the face of life’s misfortunes, the only recourse is to overcome them and maintain inner control. Those who live in this way achieve self-sufficiency (autarky) and an inner freedom that brings true happiness.
The Stoics were the first to advocate for being “citizens of the world” (cosmopolitanism). They extended the concept of citizenship from the city-state to the entire world, creating the concept of humanity. They saw all humans as brothers, children of the same universal reason. The Stoic’s homeland was the world, and they believed that humans were destined to live in community and should cultivate feelings of love (philanthropy) toward all other human beings.