Abstract

The ancient Greeks present a moral outlook which is not without considerable difficulty for contemporary philosophers. This difficulty has origins which may go back as far as the Renaissance, but we can surely trace its sources at least to Descartes. We tend to think that we had best use a moral theory to address problems of morality. What better way to determine how we ought to conduct ourselves than to define, once and for all, some basic principles of action! If only we could get our ethical concepts straight, we would then be able to act properly in almost any circumstances, whether we so act out of duty, for the sake of an overarching end, or in recognition of established norms and customs.