A moral philosopher simply cannot discuss any of the moral problems without giving full consideration to the History of Ethics. And for this reason that I have made an effort to present a historical survey of Ethics. It is almost inconceivable to say anything worthwhile or valid on Ethics of G.E. Moore and A.C. Ewing without drawing on the reflections of previous thinkers. To quote Felix Grayeff:
"We distinguish the following Nine types of Moral Theory: (1) Ethics of perfect virtue or saintliness, (2) Ethics of achievable virtue, (3) Ethics of rational selfishness, leading to utilitarianism, (4) Naturalistic Ethics, (5) Ethical Formalism, (6) Material or Value Ethics, (7) Intuitive Ethics, (8) Relativistic Ethics, (9) Moral Scepticism." Although by its very nature Ethics is concerned with conduct or the behaviour of people towards one another, Ethical theories have from the beginning been marked by their tendencies to direct attention to the individual by himself than to the qualities or virtues of the persons and his conduct towards other persons. How is this to be explained ? In the first place through a historical accident, namely the emphasis placed in early Greek society and in particular aristocratic society on virtue, arete as the goal of true Hellenic Education however varied the meanings of this word are. In its early stages arete signified not only decency and goodness, but also valour, courtly manners and chivalry. Then it came to mean ability, craftsmanship, competence and only through the impact of philosophy did it acquire the meaning of moral virtue and finally of perfect Moral virtue. The book Greek Ethics by Pamela M. Huby, Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Liverpool, gives a short account of the Ethical Thought of the Greeks from the Sophists to the Stoics and Epicureans, with particular emphasis on Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Socrates for his persistent enquiry into the nature of goodness, Plato for the metaphysical and political considerations. And Aristotle for his scholarly ranging from the whole field of Ethics. The Stoics and Epicureans continued the tradition, but adapted their teachings to the needs of their disturbed lives. As we all know Greek Philosophy traditionally begins with Thales of Miletus in the sixth century B.C. But the first philosophers are not known to have been interested in Ethics. Ethical problems first became prominent among the Sophists a class of professional teachers of wisdom who flourished in the 5th century. In the series of Greek Ethics first and foremost we begin with the Peripatetics from Felix Grayeff- A Short Treatise on Ethics. The Peripatetic thinking on Ethics consists of (1) a biologically conceived Ethics; (2) an Ethics concerned with political and sociological problems; and (3) an Ethics of pure contemplation derived probably from Plato, or even from Eastern Religious Thought. Aristotle's Ethics of the mean derives from the scientific strain in the Peripatetic School whereas the philosophy of pure.
Dr. (Mrs.) Neena Chandra. M. A. (Gold Medalist) Ph. D. was born on the 28th July, 1951 and she left this world for her eternal abode on the 23rd of March, 2002. She was a lady committed to her work. This publication pertains to her research work on the basis of which she was awarded Ph. D. degree. She joined as a Lecturer, Deptt. of Philosophy, Patna College, Patna in the year 1979 and was transferred to Patna Women's College in the year 1983 where she continued till her last. She became Reader in the year 1989. She was committed to her job and she commanded affections and blessings of her teachers. She was famous in her college as Neena and in her family as Munni.
G. E. Moure is an epoch making thinker. He is a trend-setter. Contemporary analytical ethical thinking has its roots in him. Before starting to answer the basic questions of ethics as to what things are good or bad, etc. he recommended to clarify the meaning of the ethical concepts such as good-bad, right-wrong, etc. After analysing he concludes that thoroughly Good is a natural quality and that out of these basic concepts good-bad are fundamental and all others right-wrong. duties, etc. can be derived from them. Moore is supposed to be an analytical thinker and arrived at the conclusion that good is indefinable. Any attempt by any one to convert good in terms of any natural quality lands his argument in a logical fallacy known as naturalistic fallacy. Good is a non-natural quality. He held good to be indefinable. Ross and Ewing, two famous thinkers of his time followed in his footsteps but arrived at different conclusions. This work of Mrs. NEENA CHANDRA presents a comparative study of Moore and Ewing. The first two Chapters of the work deal with the broader features of Moore's ethical thoughts relating to the proper subject matter of Ethics, the use of analytical method, analysis of the concept of Good and the conclusion that good is a non-natural attribute is indefinable. In the next two Chapters Ewing's views have been elaborately dealt with. Ewing also starts with discussing the proper subject-matter of Ethics and with the criticism of all the previous Naturalists and subjectivists. His main contribution is that he holds the ethical terms not indefinable like Moore's finding but interdefinable and the consideration of ought as the basic concept and not good as Moore thought. In the last Chapter a comparative and critical account has been presented.
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