О «негативной этике» академика А.А. Гусейнова и ее границах

Abstract

Abdusalam A. Guseynov is an outstanding modern Russian philosopher, a recog­nized authority in the field of ethics. His systematic development of the concept of “negative ethics” is an important contribution to our understanding of modern moral philosophy. This concept is about a negative act: that is not done, although a person has a desire to commit it, but the person does not do it because and only because it is morally unacceptable. An act becomes negative only when we do not do what we want to do; accordingly, the main maxim becomes “what I should not do”. This concept, which explains a lot in the philosophy of the act, is original, at the same time, similar ideas were expressed in the theoretical con­structions of such philosophers as Kant, Schelling, Adorno and Bernard Williams. “Negative ethics”, according to Guseinov, allows resolving two para­doxes: 1) the more a person is morally perfect, the more imperfect he consid­ers himself to be; 2) good deeds should be done in secret, they should not be flaunted. However, the concept of “negative ethics” cannot be considered per­fect, completely self-sufficient in the theoretical sense of the word. Despite its merits, it can complement, but not replace, traditional normative ethics, and it also contains a number of theoretical difficulties that cannot be overcome within its own framework.