Anthropological foundations of ethics

The belief in the uniqueness of man was shared by many philosophers who have represented different ways of thinking. Plato recognized man as a soul imprisoned in the body. The world of gods and ideas was the homeland of the soul, whereas soul was only a pilgrim in earthly world. Using empirical cognition in accordance with a methodology Aristotle claimed that man is a rational animal. This rationality was so special to Aristotle that he regarded it as divine. Thomas Aquinas inherits the Aristotelian tradition, enriched by the views of Cicero, Augustine and Arab philosophers. Ethics is most often described as "moral philosophy", which seems to indicate that it is about the science of morality, which is an integral part of philosophy. As such, it deals with principles (principles). In the case of ethics these are the principles of choosing the moral good. In this way Aquinas defines the subject of ethics. It is different from the subjects of other philosophical disciplines. In Aquinas's approach, ethics is autonomous in terms of subject, but methodologically it depends on metaphysics and anthropology. Also, the starting points of ethical reflection lies in first philosophy (metaphysics) and human philosophy (philosophical anthropology). According to the anthropological foundations of ethics, these are, according to Thomas, some consequences of human nature as a personal being. At the same time, it is worth noting that the topic of a person and personal relationships goes beyond human philosophy, because God is also a person who establishes personal relationships with other persons. As part of human philosophy, we examine the consequences of being a person that relate to human existence. They have a significant impact on human morality. These are: individuality, rationality, freedom and the already mentioned personal relationships. The consequences of this personal structure in man is having intellect and will, which results in intellectual cognition and free decision making. The very "mechanism" of behavior, which is always individual, is explained by Aquinas by the means of his concept of conscience, which in his ethics is the subjective principle of morality