<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The paper focuses on the ethical teachings of Classical Antiquity philosophers in the poetry of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, especially on the parallels between the author’s work and the Cynics and the Stoics. The syncretic nature of Gregory’s work, reflected in the assimilation of the teachings of ancient philosophical schools and the then expanding Christianity creates conditions for the explanation and highlighting of basic human virtues. Gregory of Nazianzus’ legacy also draws on the teachings of such philosophers as Plato and Aristotle, but he always approaches them from the perspective of a strictly Christian worldview. He understands philosophy as a moral underlying basis from which one can draw inspiration for a virtuous and happy life. Gregory thinks that philosophy cannot harm Christians in the pursuit of a virtuous life. Nevertheless, Christian teachings and God are the highest authority. They stand above all philosophical schools or ideas advanced by specific philosophers. Gregory’s moral poetry thus directs his readers, if they are to deserve eternal life, to follow the commandments, which is possible only if one lives a practical and virtuous life.</abstract>

Faculty of Arts, Institute of Romance Studies

Ethical teachings of Classical Antiquity philosophers in the poetry of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The author studies selected fundamental literary records from Great Moravia of the 9th century (The rules of the holy fathers [Zapovědi svatych otcov], Judicial law for laymen [Zakon sudnyj ljudem], Nomocanon [Nomokanon], Adhortation to rulers [Vladykam zemle Božie slovo velit]) presumably compiled, translated or created by Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, the Thessaloniki brothers. In the context of defining early and medieval Christian ethics, the author concluded that the texts in question contain elements of the Christian code of ethics, by means of which Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, following the model of the Byzantine Emperors Leo III and Constantine V, wished to form the social morality of Great Moravia. Based on this, the author holds the opinion that the history of Christian ethics in Moravia, Slovakia and Bohemia goes as far back as the activities of Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius and the period of Great Moravia.</abstract>

The literary works as a code of ethics in Great Moravia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The article is devoted to the theme of the moral condition during the Black Death epidemic in Florence within Boccaccio’s group of young people in his Decameron. The disease in the region of Florence caused many existential and moral tragedies. A group of young people transferred the joy of life and moral principles to the gardens outside the city of the disease. They describe different moral and philosophical thoughts in their songs at the end of each day.2 These songs represent ten parts of nature and form the basis on which the allegorical character of the works is further developed. They are also carriers of the laws of nature and natural wisdom.</abstract>

Morals and culture at the time of <italic>Decameron</italic>

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><italic>Labyrinth of the world and paradise of the heart</italic> belongs to the jewels of Czech literature. The author – Jan Amos Comenius – consciously uses allegorical narrative for didactic purposes – mainly for his own moral self-reflection in the face of suffering. His method proved to be very effective. The goal of this text is to explore the potential of the literary method from the perspective of moral (trans)formation. The key question is: How did Comenius convey the moral content of his “lesson” in the <italic>Labyrinth</italic>? Or in general: How does allegorical narrative work as a tool of moral (trans)formation – both for the reader and author of the text. Specifically, this paper attempts to show several literary functions of the <italic>Labyrinth</italic> as a tool of moral (trans)formation: the therapeutic function, the emphatic function, the imitation function, the organizational function, the performative function and the plot function.</abstract>

“True peace of mind” allegorical narrative as a tool of moral (trans)formation in J. A. Comenius’s <italic>Labyrinth</italic>

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The work of Hugolín Gavlovič belongs is part of the most influential literary and didactic heritage of 18th century literature in the region of contemporary Slovakia. Even though Gavlovič was not a systematic moral philosopher, the role and importance of ethics in his literary work is significant. He contributed greatly to the debate on moral education, which was (in the context of that time) linked to the fulfilment of God's will and to the accomplishment of a good life. In his extensive poetic work <italic>Valaská škola mravúv stodola</italic> [<italic>Shepherd´s school of morals</italic>], the author not only formulated moral norms but, inspired by classical Greek philosophy, he also defined them in the wider ethical context of virtue, morals, and human nature. In this study, the historical context of his work, marked by the literary and cultural transition to the Enlightenment era, will be presented, concepts related to the understanding of good life (as a goal of moral education) will be identified, and the possibility for further philosophical and ethical analysis of Gavlovič’s work will be offered (through a reflexion of Aristotle’s thoughts referred to in <italic>Valaská škola</italic>). Overall, the paper offers an original point of view on how to interpret the thoughts of Hugolín Gavlovič from the perspective of ethics. This has been, despite the impact of his work, rather omitted.</abstract>

Hugolín Gavlovič on moral education: Enlightenment ideas in baroque literature?

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">When we read <italic>The Trial</italic> and <italic>In the Penal Colony</italic> together, we read about the logic of law, crime, punishment, and guilt. Of course, we cannot know the law, or, as Kafka writes, we cannot enter the law. I interpret the idea in this way: the law opens a gate to the truth. Alas, no one can enter the law, or come to know the truth, as Kafka says. The consequences are devastating: one cannot know the name of one’s own crime, which is to say guilt is eternal and permanent; nothing can absolve us. Only one solution exists. Josef K. in <italic>The Trial</italic> should have committed suicide like the Officer in “Penal Colony.” That is to say, perhaps, that you always are your own judge and executioner. Guilt cannot be doubted and thus, you are doomed. Both narratives are cruel and ruthless in their own way in their moral pessimism.</abstract>

Kafka: Crime and punishment

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In Kafka’s literary world, several animals emerge; they belong to an odd and enigmatic fauna, on the edge between violence and artistry but also between stillness and music; according to the writer, scripture represents both the fault and the punishment waiting for the solitary artist. Animals, especially depicted as hordes of small mice or other rodents, also hint to the heterogeneous structure of the Self, who doesn’t manage to keep under control all the divisions in his ambiguous dentity. Through opposition between the point of view of the subject, who considers his own isolation as indispensable to carry on writing, and the multitude of escaping small animals, Kafka also expresses and experiences his own impossibility of “description” (<italic>Beschreibung</italic>). In the meantime, Kafka’s animals embody the creatural and unconscious sources of imagination the writer draws from that constantly escape his own control and willingness, pushing forwards into an unknown and inhospitable region, towards the wasteland, the eternal winter that can be identified with scripture. In writing, a deep metamorphosis of the Self takes place. Kafka shares this belief with one of the writers he most admired and considered his master, Gustave Flaubert, who firmly thought that, while writing, one loses his previous identity, becoming someone else, even assuming the appearence of the “otherness”. We can state that Kafka’s imagery of animals takes to the extreme the paradox and ambiguity the idea of writing relies on, also reproducing, especially, in his hybrid creatures, the feeling of uncertainty and lack of safety of the assimilated Jewish artist.</abstract>

Kafka’s animals between mimicry and assimilation

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This text presents an assessment of the literary work of Karel Čapek from a perspective that has not yet been discussed. It focuses on analysing Čapek’s works from the viewpoint of their possible inspiration by bioethical issues. Čapek’s philosophy and the powerful ethical charge of his texts tend to be associated with his interest in pragmatism, a subject to which he, however, took an individual and critical approach. One of the most important categories of his way of thinking is <italic>life</italic>. In his prose works and plays we therefore see motifs that may be associated with the thematic definition of bioethics. These are questions concerning the value and quality of human life, issues concerning the dehumanizing impact of science and technology, as well as reflections upon the moral dimension of man’s relationship to nature and also to the relationship between people and animals. Čapek’s work may therefore provide inspiration from the perspective of the history of the gradual formation of the bioethical point of view.</abstract>

Bioethical motifs in the literary work of Karel Čapek

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In the article, the author analyses the impact of the tragic experiences during the Holocaust on contemporary ethics and literature. Such considerations coincide with yet another anniversary – the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, celebrated globally as Holocaust Memorial Day. The article also considers the reasons why testimonies from Holocaust survivors have not had an adequate impact on society. The author argues that trivialisation of the Holocaust tragedy occurred in modern science and it is related to the fact that traditional ethics has not been able to convincingly explain why the Holocaust occurred in the most civilised nations. Thus, Holocaust testimonies should be constantly popularised in society for the good of all mankind. Literature seems to be the best form of mass media for this task and it is also a recorder of human emotions. According to the author, it is essential that humanity is protected this way against the possibility of a similar tragedy occurring in the future.</abstract>

On the testimony of the Holocaust in literature and ethics

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The paper examines the ethical dimensions of Michel Houellebecq’s works of fiction. On the basis of keen diagnostics of contemporary Western culture, this world-renowned French writer predicts the destructive social consequences of ultra-liberalism and enters into an argument with transhumanist theories. His writings, depicting the misery of contemporary man and imagining a new human species enhanced by technologies, show that neither the so-called neo-humans nor the “last man” of liberal democracies can reach happiness. The latter can only be achieved if humanist values, shared by previous generations and promoted by the great 19th-century authors (Balzac, Flaubert), are reinvented.</abstract>

A bitter diagnostic of the ultra-liberal human: Michel Houellebecq on some ethical issues

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Can a good man do evil things? This paper offers a moral philosophical reading of Hilary Mantel’s novels <italic>Wolf Hall</italic> and <italic>Bring up the bodies</italic>, focusing on Mantel’s fictional portrayal of Thomas Cromwell as a good person, in spite of his growing involvement in the dirty work of Henry VIII. The narrative resists interpretations of Cromwell as someone corrupted by power. It also thwarts attempts to read his deeds as results of a deficient capacity for sympathetic imagination, which has been a focalized moral flaw in contemporary moral philosophical discussions of literature. By thus resisting moralized readings of his character, the novels invite intensified attention to the complex dynamics of character and circumstance.</abstract>

<italic>Wolf Hall</italic> and moral personhood

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The paper explores the philosophical treatment of sacrifice in four of Jiří Menzel’s films of the 1960’s, <italic>Closely observed trains</italic> (<italic>Ostře sledované vlaky</italic>), <italic>Capricious summer</italic> (<italic>Rozmarné léto</italic>), <italic>Mr Balthazar’s death</italic> (<italic>Smrt pana Baltazara</italic>), his short film contribution to the anthology film of the New Wave, <italic>Pearls of the deep</italic> (<italic>Perličky na dně</italic>), and <italic>Larks on a string</italic> (<italic>Skřivánci na niti</italic>). The paper argues that Menzel problematizes romanticized versions of messianic sacrifice as they all too easily disregard the moral significance of mundane relations. By analysing the treatment of sacrifice in each of these films, the paper makes a case for the significance of Menzel’s treatment of sacrifice for current philosophical debates.</abstract>

Jiří Menzel’s treatment of sacrifice

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Volume 13 (2023): Issue 3-4 (December 2023)

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Volume 6 (2016): Issue 3-4 (December 2016)

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Ethics & Bioethics

Ethics &amp; Bioethics (in Central Europe) is one of the leading Central European international journals in ethics and bioethics focusing on philosophical ethics, bioethics and applied ethics also including the history of ethics, ethical and moral education as well as professional ethics. The journal publishes theoretical articles and empirical findings concerning all aspects of ethics and morality. Authors can submit research articles and critical review articles (free of charge). We also accept book reviews as well as conference reports; however, they are subject to a fee of 100 EUR.  Ethics &amp; Bioethics (in Central Europe) is published in print as well as electronic format, two issues per year (June and December). Only articles in English are accepted for publishing.  Rejection Rate:   37.5% (2023)   Call for papers: Generational and Period Impulses in the Philosophical and Ethical Kinetics of the 20th century in Central Europe   YOU CAN FIND AN ARCHIVE OF THE JOURNAL HERE.  Why subscribe and read:  The journal offers, to the English-speaking academic community, articles in all areas of ethics, bioethics and applied ethics that originate in Central Europe or that deal with its major ethical traditions.  Many influential authors outside the Central European region have published in the journal: Peter Singer (Princeton University &amp; University of Melbourne), Timo Airaksinen (University of Helsinki), Daniel Brennan (Bond University, Australia), Lubica Ucnik (Murdoch University, Australia), Steven R. Palmquist (Hong Kong University), Bob Brecher (University of Brighton), Jeremy Bendik-Keymer (Case Western Reserve University, USA), Kumar Neeraj Sachdev (Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India), etc.  Why submit:  There is an opportunity to present original papers in ethics, bioethics, applied and professional ethics to a broad English-speaking academic community around the world. The journal was included in the SCIMAGO database in quartile 2 (Q2) in 2018 and 2019, which is a reflection of its high level and citations of published articles.  Articles should be sent to the journal electronically as an e-mail attachment. It is important to accept the requirements for the publication style of the journal (see the latest published articles of the journal). If the article does not meet such requirements, we will ask you to revise it.  Submit journal articles and related questions to:vasil.gluchman@yahoo.com  All submitted articles undergo a double peer-review, from submission to first decision: 30 days and from submission to acceptance: 60 days. The language level of the journal is also important; for this reason, all accepted articles by non-English native authors undergo language proofreading, which is charged depending on the scope of the text and its language level.  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process.    The journal does not have article processing charges (APCs), nor article submission charges. 

Ethics & Bioethics

Volume 9 (2019): Issue 3-4 (December 2019)

Ethical teachings of Classical Antiquity philosophers in the poetry of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus

The literary works as a code of ethics in Great Moravia

Morals and culture at the time of Decameron

“True peace of mind” allegorical narrative as a tool of moral (trans)formation in J. A. Comenius’s Labyrinth