Curated category
Concepts in ethics
- VirtueVirtue stands at the center of one of humanity's oldest debates: what does it mean to live well? The word itself carries traces of ancient Rome in its bones.
- GreedGreed has a name in almost every language our species has ever spoken. The ancient Greeks called it pleonexia. The Sanskrit texts named it lobha.
- Value (ethics)Value, in the language of ethics and the social sciences, names the degree of importance we assign to something. That single, quiet idea turns out to carry…
- JusticeA 6th-century codification of Roman law called the Institutes of Justinian carried a definition that philosophers still treat as the most plausible core…
- Free willFree will sits at the heart of almost every moral judgment human beings make. When courts decide whether someone deserves punishment, when we praise a friend…
- FriendshipFriendship, at its core, is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It sits above the acquaintance and the colleague on the ladder of human…
- CorruptionCorruption is a form of dishonesty or criminal conduct undertaken by people or organizations entrusted with power, turned to personal gain.
- MoralityMorality is not a single thing. It is a family of phenomena that stretches across every human society ever documented, and across many other social species…
- Trust (social science)Trust sits at the center of almost every human interaction, yet most people never stop to examine it. It is the belief that another person will do what is…
- DignityDignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is a word attested in English from the early…
- HappinessHappiness is a word people use every day, yet philosophers and psychologists have argued over its meaning for centuries.
- LibertyLiberty is the state of being free within society from restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. It sounds simple.
- ViolenceThe economic impact of violence on the world economy in 2024 was estimated at 17.5 trillion dollars. That figure comes from the Institute for Economics and…
- Good and evilGood and evil is a dichotomy that runs through philosophy, religion, and psychology, and almost nobody agrees on what it means.
- Moral blindnessSocrates spoke of moral intellectualism while Plato described emotions clouding moral judgements. Aristotle first used the term ethics for the field of moral…
- AhimsaAhimsa, the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence, insists that "cause no injury" extends not only to physical deeds but to every word and thought a person…