--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the ethical - that is, social…" description: "\"If the ethical - that is, social morality- is the highest ... then no categories are needed other than the Greek philosophical categories.\" — Soren Kie..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/soren-kierkegaard-578_categories_if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-i_1415077.jpg" --- # If the ethical - that is, social morality- is the highest… ![“If the ethical - that is, social morality- is the highest ... then no categories are needed other than the Greek philosophical categories.” quote by Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/soren-kierkegaard-578_categories_if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-i_1415077.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/soren-kierkegaard-578_categories_if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-i_1415077.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/soren-kierkegaard-578_categories_if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-i_1415077.jpg) > “If the ethical - that is, social morality- is the highest ... then no categories are needed other than the Greek philosophical categories.” [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Social morality aligns with ancient Greek categories, suggesting universal ethical foundations beyond modern labels. **In simple terms:** Ancient categories underpin social ethics. Key Takeaway Recognize timeless moral principles. Themes ethics philosophy history Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical academic When to use this quote - legal debates - educational curricula - community standards Key Concepts Greek philosophy social theory Questions to Reflect On - Do ancient moral categories still apply today? - How can we adapt them to contemporary issues? A Different Perspective Modern contexts may challenge the relevance of ancient categories. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) ## Related quotes > [“If the ethical - that is, social morality - is the highest and if there is in a person no residual incommensurability in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierkegaard/if-the-ethical-that-is-social-morality-is-the-highest-and-if-there-is/) [Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kierkegaard/) > [I am certainly open to the idea that this might be used to explain other philosophical categories besides knowledge. I have some real sympathy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/i-am-certainly-open-to-the-idea-that-this-might-be-used-to-explain/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [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/) > [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 > [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/) > [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 > [To attain individual morality in an age demanding social morality, to pride one's self on the results of personal effort when the time demands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/to-attain-individual-morality-in-an-age-demanding-social-morality-to/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [Doing for people what they can and ought to do for themselves is a dangerous experiment. 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But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-davey/as-a-politician-particularly-as-a-politician-in-a-coalition-you/) [Edward Davey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-davey/) > [...the number of saintly men has not yet risen to the level where the census makes them a separate statistical category.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-stigler/the-number-of-saintly-men-has-not-yet-risen-to-the-level-where-the/) [George Stigler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-stigler/) ## More by Soren Kierkegaard > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Christians remind me of schoolboys who want to look up the answers to their math problems in the back of the book rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christians-remind-me-of-schoolboys-who-want-to-look-up-the-answers-to/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [People commonly travel the world over to see rivers and mountains, new stars, garish birds, freak fish, grotesque breeds of human; they fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-commonly-travel-the-world-over-to-see-rivers-and-mountains-new/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“A strange thing happened to me in my dream. I was rapt into the Seventh Heaven. There sat all the gods assembled. As a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-strange-thing-happened-to-me-in-my-dream-i-was-rapt-into-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [That which is truly human no generation learns from the one before it. No generation learns from another how to love. No generation has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/that-which-is-truly-human-no-generation-learns-from-the-one-before-it/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A man may perform astonishing feats and comprehend a vast amount of knowledge, and yet have no understanding of himself. But suffering directs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-man-may-perform-astonishing-feats-and-comprehend-a-vast-amount-of/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Be that self which one truly is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/be-that-self-which-one-truly-is/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I go fishing for a thousand monsters in the depths of my own self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-go-fishing-for-a-thousand-monsters-in-the-depths-of-my-own-self/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [In addition to my other numerous acquaintances, I have one more intimate confidant… My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/in-addition-to-my-other-numerous-acquaintances-i-have-one-more/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [The greatest danger to Christianity is, I contend, not heresies, not heterodoxies, not atheists, not profane secularism - no, but the kind of orthodoxy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-danger-to-christianity-is-i-contend-not-heresies-not/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Future is everything that past has forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/future-is-everything-that-past-has-forgotten/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Without risk, faith is an impossibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/without-risk-faith-is-an-impossibility/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I have only one confidant, and that is the silence of night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-have-only-one-confidant-and-that-is-the-silence-of-night/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A road well begun is the battle half won. The important thing is to make a beginning and get under way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-road-well-begun-is-the-battle-half-won-the-important-thing-is-to/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I have, I believe, the courage to doubt everything; I have, I believe, the courage to fight against everything; but I do not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-have-i-believe-the-courage-to-doubt-everything-i-have-i-believe-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) [Explore all 462 Soren Kierkegaard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## More Categories quotes > [...the number of saintly men has not yet risen to the level where the census makes them a separate statistical category.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-stigler/the-number-of-saintly-men-has-not-yet-risen-to-the-level-where-the/) [George Stigler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-stigler/) > [As a politician - particularly as a politician in a coalition - you quickly realise that compromise is a part of the game. 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For me it \[policy\] is about concepts and substance. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-juncker/i-don-t-think-in-national-categories-for-me-it-policy-is-about/) [Jean-Claude Juncker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-juncker/) > [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) > [We don't need to complicate all the "reasons" behind our emotions. It's much simpler than that. Two categories .. good feelings, bad feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/we-don-t-need-to-complicate-all-the-reasons-behind-our-emotions-it-s/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [I put the truth out there, I put the historical facts into Hip Hop to show us how much history repeats itself and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immortal-technique/i-put-the-truth-out-there-i-put-the-historical-facts-into-hip-hop-to/) [Immortal Technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immortal-technique/) > [I am devoting my lecture in this seminar to a discussion of the possibility that we are now entering a Jewish century, a time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-a-siegel/i-am-devoting-my-lecture-in-this-seminar-to-a-discussion-of-the/) Martin A. Siegel > [A top World War II ace once said that fighter pilots fall into two broad categories: those who go out to kill and those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-top-world-war-ii-ace-once-said-that-fighter-pilots-fall-into-two/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No, I don't like legend. I mean, I don't like the category. And to begin with, to me, a legend is something that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-bacall/no-i-don-t-like-legend-i-mean-i-don-t-like-the-category-and-to-begin/) [Lauren Bacall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-bacall/) > [ I read so ravenously that I would read through whole categories. 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