more from Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski

Single Idea 20199

[catalogued under 22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 2. Happiness / b. Eudaimonia]

Full Idea

Modern moral philosophers have been considerably more skeptical than were the ancient Greeks about the close association between the flourishing of the individual and that of the community.

Gist of Idea

Nowadays we doubt the Greek view that the flourishing of individuals and communities are linked

Source

Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski (Virtues of the Mind [1996], II 2.2)

Book Reference

Zagzebski,Linda: 'Virtues of the Mind' [CUP 1996], p.99


A Reaction

I presume this is not just a change in fashion, but a reflection of how different the two societies are. In a close community with almost no privacy, flourishing individuals are good citizens. In the isolations of modern liberalism they may be irrelevant.