Common Morality as a Part of the Objective Spirit: Nicolai Hartmann’s Insights concerning the Cultural and Historical Dimension of Morality

The aim of this paper is to explore the cultural and historical dimension of morality, seldom discussed in contemporary moral philosophy. Referring to Nicolai Hartmann and his theory of the spiritual being, I show how morality fits into the totality of objective spirit and which general and specific features of morality may be discerned therein. Next, I discuss several promising insights following from that approach: regarding the relation between common morality and conscience, the emergence of generational conflicts concerning moral principles, and interactions between morality and other areas of culture and society.