Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Translators' Note
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Preliminary Matters
- Part II Psychology
- Part III Logic
- Part IV Ethics
- 55 Definition and Divisions of Ethics
- 56 On Moral Responsibility
- 57 On Moral Law. The History of Utilitarianism
- 58 Critique of Utilitarianism. The Morality of Sentiment
- 59 The Morality of Kant
- 60 The Moral Law
- 61 On Duty and the Good. On Virtue. Rights
- 62A Division of Practical Ethics
- 62B Individual Morality
- 63 Domestic Ethics
- 64 Civic Ethics
- 65 General Duties of Social Life
- 66 General Duties of Social Life. (1) The Duty of Justice
- 67 General Duties of Social Life. (2) Charity
- 68 Summary of Ethics
- Part V Metaphysics
- Appendix: Biographical Glossary
- Index
55 - Definition and Divisions of Ethics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Translators' Note
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Preliminary Matters
- Part II Psychology
- Part III Logic
- Part IV Ethics
- 55 Definition and Divisions of Ethics
- 56 On Moral Responsibility
- 57 On Moral Law. The History of Utilitarianism
- 58 Critique of Utilitarianism. The Morality of Sentiment
- 59 The Morality of Kant
- 60 The Moral Law
- 61 On Duty and the Good. On Virtue. Rights
- 62A Division of Practical Ethics
- 62B Individual Morality
- 63 Domestic Ethics
- 64 Civic Ethics
- 65 General Duties of Social Life
- 66 General Duties of Social Life. (1) The Duty of Justice
- 67 General Duties of Social Life. (2) Charity
- 68 Summary of Ethics
- Part V Metaphysics
- Appendix: Biographical Glossary
- Index
Summary
Ethics is the science that studies what humans should do in the various circumstances in which they find themselves.
When ethics poses this question in a general way – not concerning itself with particular cases – it's called general or theoretical ethics. When it seeks to understand how a general ethical law, once established, should be applied in particular situations, it's called particular, applied, or practical ethics.
The former is a pure science, whereas the latter is both a science and an art – thus paralleling the distinction between general and applied logic. Insofar as either ethics or logic is concerned with abstract and general laws, the term “science” applies to it. These forms of inquiry become art when they consider how these laws apply in practice.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Durkheim's Philosophy LecturesNotes from the Lycée de Sens Course, 1883–1884, pp. 229Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004