Plurality in ethics and moral conflicts in Agnes Heller

The author briefly introduces to the Czech public the little known Hungarian philosopher Agnes Heller. After sketching her philosophical and political development (including her role as a significant figure in central European critical social theory), the author puts the question of moral conflicts into the wider contexts in which Heller developed her ethico-moral conception and her assumptions in a theory of justice. She emphasises the meaning of plurality in the ethical sphere, stemming from the fact that in post-traditional societies one cannot be guided by a substantial conception of good, nor by the connected ideas of a given collection of morals in the sense of Hegelian "Sittlichkeit". The moral and evaluative orientation of people here must be always examined anew and checked, since man realises his idea of the good, or rather a life of integrity, in many different ways. This pluralisation also affects the area of virtues and their relation to values; the author especially appreciates Heller's analyses of the social virtues under the conditions of non-freedom of the individual where normal virtues become "military", as the basic values of freedom and life are threatened. The plurality of the ethical universe is transmitted into the area of moral conflicts where, for the most part, concern is with "powerful" conflicts between various positive possibilities of moral conduct. The author appreciates Heller's minute analyses of the various ways of using reason in these conflicts, the role of judgement (phronesis) above all. He also treats as important the interpretation of the ambivalent position of consequentialism and utilitarianism in moral decision-making. At the same time a critical attitude is expressed towards Heller's interpretation of the instrumentalist-teleological model in analysing Kant's application of the categorical imperative, which is treated as "pointillistic". The author looks upon Heller as a significant, critical representative of the humanistic project of the enlightenment.