Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy

Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy Comparison

Moral, Social, Political Philosophy Comparison

The early Greeks were the first ones to question moral standards and argue that moral judgments be supported by reason and logic. The Sophists attacked the traditional values of the Greek aristocracy and demanded that there be justification for the rules that the aristocracy dictated. This movement along with Socrates’ dialectic method was the beginning of philosophical reasoning about the government and how citizens interact within that government and their community. (University of Phoenix, 2005) Today philosophy involving values can be divided up into three basic groups; moral, social, and political philosophy. This paper will define each of the basic groups and determine how each group differs from each other.

Moral philosophy is the basic study of what is good versus bad and right versus wrong. Where the complications begin is determining who decides what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Philosophers though out the ages have tried to determine if there is a universal code for ethics and if that code is the same though out every culture. This debate includes the question if there is such a thing as morality. Moral philosophy is divided into three major branches meta-ethics (the study of the concept of ethics), normative ethics (the study of how to determine ethical values), and applied ethics (the study of the use of ethical values). (Ethics, 2006)

Social philosophy is an extension of moral philosophy. “Social philosophy is the study of society and its institutions; concerned especially with determining the features of the ideal or best society.” (University of Phoenix, 2005) Without determining what is morally acceptable for the individual, standards for society can not be placed. This brings into question free will. Free will is a concept that questions whether a person’s actions are consciously controlled or merely a...