Kantian Ethics: Differences Between The Romans And The Greeks

Since the start of time, ethics has played an increasingly large role in day to day life. From some the first ever recorded civilizations such as Babylonia, we are able to see their interpretations and applications of ethics. While ethics are generally consistent among various cultures, there seem to be some differences and variations among each culture’s beliefs. This reflects upon the idea of the collective unconscious. This principle was Carl Jung’s idea that all humans share certain thoughts and emotions that have been “hardwired” into our brains due to our collective ancestral evolution. We can see a clear example of this between Greek and Roman beliefs.

Both the Romans and the Greeks played enormous parts in the formation of ancient

The Greeks were first, they were the ones who settled and flourished, leading a way of life much different than many other cultures. When the Romans came to conquer them, they adapted the same lifestyle that they were living and sought to improve upon it. One type of ethics that the Greeks had adopted was Deontology. Deontology is the ethical system in which morality is determined by duty or laws. This idea is reflected in many things, one such as Kantian ethics. In Kantian ethics, it is believed that the only actions that are moral are those performed out of one's duty to follow the moral law, as opposed to acts performed out of desire. Even more currently, this idea can be related to Christianity, the largest and most popular religion in the world. In Christianity, moral acts are those that obey the ten commandments. Another type of ethics that the

Other may believe otherwise, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, that is thanks to free will. Even though Epicureanism and stoicism have been modified over time, their main principles still apply to life thousands of years later. Kantianism, formed around 200 years ago, is still very relevant within today’s society, however, I find that it has not created the lasting impact that the ideals of Epicureanism and Stoicism have. These two schools were the basis of ethics and Kantianism is simply a modification/ update of these basic