A Comparative Discourse on the Doctrine of Moderation in Three Philosophical Traditions

Abstract

Man is a social being whose own very being is informed by the existence of the other being. In other words, man realizes his place in the universe in relation to the other. The other in nature includes man’s fellow human beings and other things around him. Due to a limited available resources provided by nature, man is seen always in perpetual state of competition for survival among other beings. Hobbes and other social contracterians describe this as the state of nature which existed before the formation of modern society. What characterized this natural state was the availability of absolute freedom which made conflict inevitable. In man’s effort to institute order amid collision of unfettered freedom and interests, perhaps, saw the invention of some socio-ethical constructs-one of which is the need to strike a balance in human moral conduct and avoid excesses as well as deficiencies. This is otherwise known as moderation. In the light of this, the paper examines the doctrine of moderation in three different civilizations (Western, Eastern and African) to see how it is effectuated in their moral precepts. The aim of this inter-cultural discourseis to reinvoke a global philosophy to guide human conducts. Itdefends a moderate insight suitable for effective personhood, particularly in a contemporary world order where excessive or inadequate actions seem to be costing self and the human society great fortune. In identifying the doctrine of moderation in these three civilizations, the study realizes an inter-cultural guide to human conducts, which has a global import and which all human societies should tap into in the search for a solid ethical bricks with which to erect human conducts and attain moral equilibrium. The methodology suitable in this form of research is hermeneutical interpretation of concepts and their meanings in the three traditions.