Abstract
Moral theories may differ not only in the substantive moral principles they assert, but also in their concept of a person or moral agent. Thus, for ex ample, Utilitarianism stresses the ability of a human being to calculate rationally the profit and loss which attend particular actions; and Aristotle bases his Nichomachean Ethics on a moral psychology tied to the notion of harmonious self-development. This essay will focus on the concept of the person in Kierkegaard's ac count of ethical life. I will first indicate how what I describe as his extreme 'ethical individualism' follows from his overall philosophy of human ex istence (I, II). I will then present his account of the limitations of ethical life and the subsequent need to supplement ethics by religion (III). Finally, I will argue that Kierkegaard is wrong in believing that religious life can overcome the limitations of ethical individualism. What is needed, I will suggest, is a collective, rather than an individual, view of ethical life itself (IV).1
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