Introduction
In the ethical debates that begin with Socrates, some questions receive different answers and new questions arise from the old. (1) Some theories of morality take the good to be prior to the right. Others argue that the right is to be defined independently of the good. (2) Some conceptions of the good are subjective, in so far as they suppose that a person’s good consists in some subjective state of the person, such as pleasure, tranquillity, or the satisfaction of one’s desires. Other conceptions are objective, since they hold that one’s subjective states do not wholly determine whether or not one is well off. (3) Some views hold that one’s own good includes or requires the good of other people. Other views maintain that the good of others does not necessarily promote one’s own good.