Ethics: Origin and Development

Robert A. Kominar is a professor of law and justice at Laurentian
University.

This reprint of a work that originally appeared in English in 1924 would
be a welcome addition to the library of anyone interested in the history
of ethics in Western culture. Peter Kropotkin was a Russian anarchist
whose life was just ending as the Bolshevik terror was beginning. The
clash between the worldviews of communism and anarchism can be easily
seen in this work, a history of Western ethics, from the pre-Socratics
up until the end of the 19th century. Kropotkin intended to write a
second volume that would have articulated the ethical principles
underlying his version of anarchism, but he did not live to complete the
project. The primary value of the text is that it is a well-written and
generally well-researched history of Western European ethical thought,
and would be accessible to a reader who had no prior knowledge of the
subject.

The book is not neutral. Kropotkin had a highly developed vision of
anarchism. He believed that human beings were naturally social
creatures, and that this sociability ultimately precluded the need for
artificial constraints on behavior (e.g., law and government). Yet
Kropotkin was no individualist. He labored to show why human nature was
something we all have in common, contrary to current postmodern
attitudes. This book serves to illustrate and confirm the author’s
fundamentally naturalistic views on human nature. To this end, it wears
its ideology on its sleeve. The chapter on the Christian era is short,
glosses over the Middle Ages in a few sentences, and concentrates on the
excesses of the Church, totally ignoring the positive moral
contributions that Christian thinkers have made. Given his naturalistic
bent, Kropotkin’s treatment of the Christian era is understandable,
but is it justified?

Provided that one remains conscious of the author’s personal agenda,
this book can be read as an interesting introductory historical
analysis.