--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the ethical - that is, social morality…" description: "\"“If the ethical - that is, social morality - is the highest and if there is in a person no residual incommensurability in some way such that this incom..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/718/kierkegaard-40190_character_if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-i_2661412.jpg" --- # If the ethical - that is, social morality - is the highest… ![“If the ethical - that is, social morality - is the highest and if there is in a person no residual incommensurability in some way such that this incommensurability is not evil then no categories are needed other than what Greek philosophy had... and what their wisdom amounts to is the beautiful…” quote by Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/718/kierkegaard-40190_character_if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-i_2661412.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/718/kierkegaard-40190_character_if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-i_2661412.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/718/kierkegaard-40190_character_if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-i_2661412.jpg) > ““If the ethical - that is, social morality - is the highest and if there is in a person no residual incommensurability in some way such that this incommensurability is not evil then no categories are needed other than what Greek philosophy had... and what their wisdom amounts to is the beautiful proposition that basically everything is the same.”” [Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that if a person's moral framework is absolute and free of contradictions, then only the traditional Greek categories are necessary, implying a universal sameness of all things. **In simple terms:** If morality is absolute, only old Greek categories suffice, showing everything is fundamentally the same. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of moral categories. Themes ethics philosophy universality Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical theoretical When to use this quote - academic debate - personal moral reflection - cross‑cultural ethics - policy making Key Concepts Greek philosophy ethical absolutism metaphysics Questions to Reflect On - Do you think all moral systems can be reduced to one? - How does this view handle moral conflict? A Different Perspective Assumes moral uniformity, ignoring cultural differences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Ethical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethical/) [Ethical Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethical-social-2430783/) [Greek philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greek-philosophy/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Morality Highest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality-highest-1434525/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Philosophy Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-wisdom-1279238/) [Social Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-morality-1508274/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [If the ethical - that is, social morality- is the highest ... then no categories are needed other than the Greek philosophical categories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-is-the-highest-then-no/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [We also have issue oriented storylines which are an examination of an issue, be it ethical or social.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-kelley/we-also-have-issue-oriented-storylines-which-are-an-examination-of-an/) [David E. Kelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-kelley/) > [Morality is of the highest importance - but for us, not for God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/morality-is-of-the-highest-importance-but-for-us-not-for-god/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I am not aware that payment, or even favors, however gracious, bind any man's soul and conscience in questions of highest morality and highest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kingsley/i-am-not-aware-that-payment-or-even-favors-however-gracious-bind-any/) [Charles Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kingsley/) > [My religiosity consists in a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself in the little that we, with our weak and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/my-religiosity-consists-in-a-humble-admiration-of-the-infinitely/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Avoid the crowd, avoid mass audiences, keep your own counsel, which is the counsel of philosophy of wisdom you can acquire and make your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/avoid-the-crowd-avoid-mass-audiences-keep-your-own-counsel-which-is/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/science-gives-us-knowledge-but-only-philosophy-can-give-us-wisdom/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“First, anyone who seriously intends to become a philosopher must "once in his life" withdraw into himself and attempt, within himself, to overthrow and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-husserl/first-anyone-who-seriously-intends-to-become-a-philosopher-must-once/) [Edmund Husserl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-husserl/) > [Science without philosophy, facts without perspective and valuation, cannot save us from havoc and despair. Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/science-without-philosophy-facts-without-perspective-and-valuation/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [Let us give something to each person we meet: joy, courage, hope, assurance, or philosophy, wisdom, a vision for the future. Let us always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/let-us-give-something-to-each-person-we-meet-joy-courage-hope/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [The first principle of my own philosophy is that wisdom is meant for anyone who wishes to reach for it. It is the servant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/the-first-principle-of-my-own-philosophy-is-that-wisdom-is-meant-for/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [Belief, thus, in the supernatural, great as are the services which it rendered in the early stages of human development, cannot be considered to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/belief-thus-in-the-supernatural-great-as-are-the-services-which-it/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [To love our neighbor as ourselves is such a truth for regulating human society, that by that alone one might determine all the cases…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/to-love-our-neighbor-as-ourselves-is-such-a-truth-for-regulating/) [John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/) > [The revolutionary despises public opinion. He despises and hates the existing social morality in all its manifestations. For him, morality is everything which contributes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergey-nechayev/the-revolutionary-despises-public-opinion-he-despises-and-hates-the/) [Sergey Nechayev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergey-nechayev/) > [There must be some point, at which the lawyer's own personal and social morality will rebel against his traditional allegiance to his client.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-jones/there-must-be-some-point-at-which-the-lawyer-s-own-personal-and/) [Harry Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-jones/) ## More by Kierkegaard > [“To relate oneself expectantly to the possibility of the good is to hope. To relate oneself expectantly to the possibility of evil is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/to-relate-oneself-expectantly-to-the-possibility-of-the-good-is-to/) [Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/) > [“By seeing the multitude of people around it, by being busied with all sorts of worldly affairs, by being wise to the ways of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/by-seeing-the-multitude-of-people-around-it-by-being-busied-with-all/) [Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/) > [“Only the person who is essentially capable of remaining silent is capable of speaking essentially.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/only-the-person-who-is-essentially-capable-of-remaining-silent-is/) [Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/) > [“And although this (marital love) cannot be portrayed artistically, then let your consolation be, as it is mine, that we are not to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/and-although-this-marital-love-cannot-be-portrayed-artistically-then/) [Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/) > [“The surest of stubborn silences is not to hold one's tongue but to talk”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/the-surest-of-stubborn-silences-is-not-to-hold-one-s-tongue-but-to/) [Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/) > [“Ask me what you wish; just do not ask me for reasons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/ask-me-what-you-wish-just-do-not-ask-me-for-reasons/) [Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/) > [“What is a poet? A poet is an unhappy being whose heart is torn by secret sufferings, but whose lips are so strangely formed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/what-is-a-poet-a-poet-is-an-unhappy-being-whose-heart-is-torn-by/) [Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/) > [“The greatest hazard of all, losing one's self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/the-greatest-hazard-of-all-losing-one-s-self-can-occur-very-quietly-4/) [Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/) > [“I shall be as willing as the next man to fall down in worship before the System, if only I can manage to set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/i-shall-be-as-willing-as-the-next-man-to-fall-down-in-worship-before/) [Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/) [Explore all 10 Kierkegaard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) [David Hudgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hudgins/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If the ethical - that is, social morality - is the highest and if there is in a person no residual incommensurability in some way such that this incommensurability is not evil then no categories are needed other than what Greek philosophy had... and what their wisdom amounts to is the beautiful proposition that basically everything is the same.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kierkegaard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-is-the-highest-and-if-there-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-is-the-highest-and-if-there-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/718/kierkegaard-40190_character_if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-i_2661412.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/718/kierkegaard-40190_character_if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-i_2661412.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/718/kierkegaard-40190_character_if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-i_2661412.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If the ethical - that is, social morality - is the highest and if there is in a person no residual…” — Kierkegaard", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Kierkegaard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If the ethical - that is,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-is-the-highest-and-if-there-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-is-the-highest-and-if-there-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```