---
title: "History of ethics"
chunk: 3/4
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ethics"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:59:35.737272+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

The foundation of Hinduism is in the epic of Mahabharata, which contains the concept of dharma, a conception of natural law and the duties required for the upholding of the natural order. Hinduism itself is viewed by its followers as Sanātana Dharma, or the 'Eternal Law', which binds everyone. The four aims of Hinduism are moksha (enlightenment), artha (wealth), kama (pleasure), and dharma. The significance of moksha is that only it can break through maya, the illusion hiding reality, which requires both understanding the impermanence of material reality as well as the attainment of an understanding of the unity of the Self (atman) and the foundation of being (brahman). Moksha also means breaking free from the cycle of reincarnation which is governed by karma, the accumulated balance of good and bad actions by an individual. This was in turn used as a justification for the caste system. During the Axial Age, asceticism and becoming a hermit increased in popularity, sometimes being a reaction to the prevailing social structures. Two significant belief systems emerged from this reaction. Jainism, formalised by the ascetic philosopher Mahavira, according to which enlightenment came through a perfectly ethical life that necessitated a complete renunciation of the killing of any living beings, including the smallest of insects. The other one was Buddhism, founded by the Buddha. Other responses to the era included materialist schools such as Charvaka, which embraced hedonism and rejected spirituality.
The most important of the Buddha's teaching was the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, at the core of which were the Four Noble Truths. The first of these was duḥkha, the suffering that is part of life. This is also one of the three marks of existence which define life, the others being anitya, the impermanence of everything, and anatman, or the non-existence of the self across time. The second Noble Truth was that all human suffering is caused by desire that cannot be satisfied, and that only by renouncing the desire could the suffering be ended, which was the Third Noble Truth. The final Noble Truth was that desire could only be relinquished by following the Noble Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi ('meditative absorption or union'; alternatively, equanimous meditative awareness). The Middle Way refers to major aspects of the teaching of the Buddha, either to the spiritual practice that steers clear of both extreme asceticism and sensual indulgence, which is defined as the Noble Eightfold Path, or the Buddha's avoiding of eternalism (or absolutism) and annihilationism (and nihilism). In Mahāyāna Buddhism, śūnyatā ('emptiness') refers to the tenet that "all things are empty of intrinsic existence and nature (svabhava)".

== Chinese ethics ==
Confucius, who lived around the same time as the Buddha, was focused mostly on ethical philosophy. He was especially interested in how to create a harmonious society, which he believed was based on two human qualities: ren and li. Ren, the highest principle, describes humaneness, encompassing all the qualities required for ideal behaviour between people. Confucious argued that a form of the Golden Rule should be the guiding principle of all actions. However, he also believed that different forms of behaviour were appropriate in different relationships. The second principle of li embodied this by establishing the need to follow tradition, rituals and other conventional norms.

== Natural law ethics ==

In the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas developed a synthesis of Biblical and Aristotelian ethics called natural law theory, according to which the nature of humans determines what is right and wrong. For example, murder is wrong because life is essential to humans so depriving someone of it is inherently an evil. Education is needed for humans, and is their right, because their intellectual nature requires developing. Natural law theory remains at the heart of Catholic moral teaching, for example in its positions on contraception and other controversial moral issues.
The Catholic practice of compulsory confession led to the development of manuals of casuistry, the application of ethical principles to detailed cases of conscience, such as the conditions of a just war.

== Kantian ethics ==

Immanuel Kant, in the 18th century, argued that right and wrong are founded on duty, which issues a Categorical Imperative to us, a command that, of its nature, ought to be obeyed. An action is only truly moral if done from a sense of duty, and the most valuable thing is a human will that has decided to act rightly. To decide what duty requires, Kant proposes the principle of universalizability: correct moral rules are those everyone could adopt.
Kant's philosophy marks a number of important conceptual shifts in philosophical thinking about ethics. Kant argues that questions about happiness should not be a focus in ethical thought, because ethics should be universal while happiness may involve very different modes of life for different individuals. He also believed this approach was necessary if an ethical theory was to avoid becoming 'heteronomous'; that is, locating the source of proper moral motivation outside of properly moral concerns.

== Utilitarianism ==

In 19th century Britain, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill advocated utilitarianism, the view that right actions are those that are likely to result in the greatest happiness and well-being of the greatest number. Utilitarianism remains popular in the twenty-first century.
Both Kantianism and Utilitarianism provide ethical theories that can support contemporary liberal political developments, and associated enlightenment ways of conceiving of the individual. Various variants of utilitarianism have developed this ethical system further, such as two-level utilitarianism, which combines considerations of the outcomes of principles and rules alongside those of individual acts or decisions, and negative utilitarianism, which is focused on minimizing the total amount of suffering rather than maximizing well-being.