Influence of Consequentialism and Ethics of Debt on the Formation of Constitutional and Legal Institutions in the Ara of Consumption

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the influence of two ethical theories that emerged in ancient Greece—the consequentialism and the ethics of debt—on contemporary institutions of the State and the law. The author presents a short historical survey concerning differences in approaches to the hierarchy of human needs in the teachings of Aristippus, Epicurus, Plato, Aristotle and other thinkers. The paper investigates some aspects of the teachings of ancient philosophers concerning the balance between realization of individual’s desires nd his political and legal life. Based on the comparison of the consequential concepts (hedonism, epicureanism, utilitarianism) and Plato and Aristotle ethical approaches, the author concludes that the latter are instrumentally significant. Their ideas of the common good and the golden middle, combined with the pursuit of such values as justice, moderation, empathy, trust in other members of society, can form the basis of a constitutional and legal system that unites general public. Today, the transformation of a legal strategy can only be functional if it is driven at a depth level by social reforms that, in turn, are based on the ethics of debt and are aimed at overcoming the essential risks of the consumption society.

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