Six Major Ethical Systems

There exist six vital ethical principles: antinomianism, situationism, generalism, unqualified absolutism, conflicting absolutism, and graded absolutism. All of them are connected through their ethical nature and differ in their approach to a human nature. One of the strands of human thought, a kind of subjectivity that denies the existence of God, is called antinomianism and namely means “against the law”(Hare, 1981). This philosophy goes back to the ancient Greece, namely to the doctrine of Heraclitus. He believed that everything in the world was in a constant flux and change, and, therefore, unchanging absolutes could not exist. Thus, Biblical ethics is relative. However, this ethical principle is the most appropriate for a man living in the 21^st century, when nothing stands still.

Taking a look at other principles, it is clear they are full of flaws and disputable elements. Another kind of philosophical and ethical teachings of a man is situationism which tries to connect with the moral justification legalism. This philosophy holds absolute and sole criterion of love as an ethical category of moral conduct. All other ethical rules should be thrown away, if they are in conflict with the principle of love; love justifies any action: murder, lying, adultery, stealing, etc. However, the term “love” is not defined in situationism which provides a considerable flexibility; this allows a person to choose what to do in a given situation. Proponents of the philosophy of generalism seem to share the Biblical teaching but do not recognize God's Commandments binding. They believe that no one is responsible for their violation (Hare, 1981). The Ten Commandments, in their opinion, are just recommendations for the moral life. “Generalists” believe that a lie, for example, is permissible to save a life, since Ten Commandments are just moral principles, optional for execution. Thus, the philosophy of generalism can be attributed to an ethical system based on the principles of permissiveness. The last three principles are connected with absolutism: unqualified, conflicting and graded (Hare, 1981). All of them are differentiated with clear strict boundaries. Unqualified absolutism states that laws cannot be ever broken, while conflicting absolutism advises on choosing the lesser evil, since sins are unavoidable. Graded absolutism defines a harsh border between the right and the wrong.

Finally, all six principles have their strong and weak sides, but the most appropriate one for a modern man is the principle of antinomianism, since it implies that a change is a vital part of our life.