Abstract

The paper has two objectives: First, it focuses on the history of the use of the terms morality and ethics. On this background it differentiates between the understanding of morality in traditional antiquity , where these terms were seen as equivalent and defined through manners and habits, and modern conception, where the core of morality consists in duty. The question is, in which form these divergent inspirative traditions occur in contemporary ethics- and moral discourses and what are the possible resolutions. The argumentation of the first part is based on Aristotle’s and M. de Montaigne’s views, whereas the second part is drawing from P. Ricouer’s project as opposed to the conceptions of M. Conche and R. Misrahi