A perspective on History- chapter 12 of Ruggiero's Ethical Issues Ninth edition - Essay Example

A Perspective on History A Perspective on History Ethics has developed over time transforming from one period to the other. The ethical philosophers have overseen this transformation of the ethical issues, especially in the Western traditions. There were ethical, philosophical teachings for the ancient, medieval and modern ethical issues. Ethical thinking started with the Greek Sophists of the fifth century and ended with the downfall of Rome. Medieval ethical thinking is the philosophy of Western Europe for the period between the downfall of Rome and Renaissance period.

The modern ethics starts with the period of Renaissance until the present time. The history of Ethics addresses transformations in ethical issues over periods with popular and normal beliefs, trends and presuppositions shaping the model of thought for each period. The ancient Greek ethics is the oldest ethical thinking model fronted by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Philosophical thinking about ethical codes started with the Greek Sophists in the Western intellectual tradition. The Greek Sophists taught youths about the skills of public speaking in order to become successful in the political struggle of those days (Ruggiero, 2007).

Moreover, earliest Sophists like Plato and Protagoras fronted the virtue of moral relativism. They underscored the fact that particular communities make their specific moral and ethical codes, setting them as customs and practices of the given community. The second stage in the history of ethics is the medieval ethics. Church fathers fronted the medieval ethical thinking. This was the trial to comprehend the Judeo-Christian scriptures in the view of the Greek philosophers (Ruggiero, 2007). St.

Augustine was the major personality that fronted this ethical thinking era. He gave an ethical account of voluntarism and the will. Ethics in the twentieth century has been mainly analytical. It has been majorly concerning the nature and implication of ethical judgments. Modern ethical thinking has mainly focused on meta-ethics rather than normative ethics (Ruggiero, 2007). Modern ethics in the Western traditions draws its connection to the previous ethical thinking stages, that is, the ancient Greek ethics and the medieval ethical thinking.

References Ruggiero, V. R. (2007). Thinking Critically about Ethical Issues. New York: McGraw-Hill.