> [!todo] > An example is given from The Odyssey where the treatment of slaves was viewed differently in Ancient Greece because of certain ethical criteria applying to certain groups of people. **What has happened to ethical criteria since ancient civilization?** Since ancient civilization, ethical criteria have *expanded to cover more fields of conduct.* > **What has shrunk in response to ethical criteria covering more fields of conduct?** > In response to ethical criteria covering more fields of conduct, *the number of actions which are only judged based on their practicality* have shrunk. > [!note] > Essentially, we judge more situations with ethical criteria today than people who lived in ancient societies. Ancient societies regarded more situations with a cost-benefit perspective than that of morality. # The Ethical Sequence **What is the extension of ethics a process of?** The extension of ethics is a process of *ecological evolution.* > **What is an ethic ecologically?** > Ecologically, an ethic is *a limitation on freedom of action in the struggle for existence.* > > **What is an ethic philosophically?** > Philosophically, an ethic is *a differentiation of social from anti-social conduct.* > > **What is the origin of ethics?** > The origin of ethics is *a result of the tendency of interdependent individuals or groups to evolve modes of cooperation or symbioses.* > > **What are politics and economics?** > > Politics and economics are *advanced symbioses.* > > > > **What have politics and economics replaced and with what?** > > Politics and economics have replaced *the original free-for-all competition with cooperative mechanisms with ethical content.* **What two things have caused the complexity of cooperation mechanisms to increase?** The two things which have caused the complexity of cooperation mechanisms to increase are: 1. Population density. 2. Efficiency of tools. > [!example] Example of the difference in complexity of cooperation mechanisms between ancient society and modern society > In ancient society, it was simpler to define anti-social uses of sticks and stones. In modern society, it is more complex to define anti-social uses of bullets and billboards. **What did the first ethics deal with?** The first ethics dealt with *the relation between individuals.* > **What did later additions to ethics deal with?** > Later additions to ethics dealt with *the relation between individuals and society.* > [!example] Examples of ethics which deal with the relation between individuals and society > * The Golden Rule - Integrates the individual to society. > * Democracy - Integrates societal organization to the individual. **What has ethics not yet extended to?** Ethics has not yet extended to *man's relation to land and the animals and plants which grow on it.* > **What is the land-relation still regarded as today?** > Today, the land-relation is still regarded as *strictly economic.* **What two things does Aldo Leopold claim the extension of ethics to the land-relation to be based on the evidence?** Based on the evidence, the two things that Aldo Leopold claims the extension of ethics to the land-relation to be are: 1. An evolutionary possibility. 2. An ecological necessity. ... **What can an ethic be regarded as and when?** An ethic can be regarded as *a mode of guidance for new or intricate ecological situations when the consequences of them are too delayed for someone to rely on social expediency.* > **What is social expediency?** > Social expediency is *if something seems immediately practical or beneficial.* > > **What are ethics similar to in animals and how?** > In animals, ethics are similar to *instincts in that they help guide the behavior of animals for their benefit.* # The Community Concept **What do all ethics so far evolved rest upon?** All ethics so far evolved rest upon *the single premise that an individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts.* ...