Three Ethical Traditions

The book begins by setting up what Løgstrup calls the main traditions of Western ethics: teleology and deontology. The teleological tradition is the oldest, originating in Plato and Aristotle, but it also includes Utilitarianism along with early twentieth-century thinkers such as Max Scheler and Nicolai Hartmann. The central proponent of the deontological tradition is Kant, but it also includes Kierkegaard. Also, Løgstrup very briefly introduces a third, ontological, tradition with reference to Luther’s idea of natural law, and which is based on the fundamental conditions of our human existence. This tradition is further described in the subsequent chapters of the book.