Fundamental Texts of Moral Thinking (MoralHeritageTXT)

MoralHeritageTXT — Texte fundamentale ale gândirii morale / Fundamental Texts of Moral Thinking — was initiated in 2003 as a personal project by Cristian Ducu. In 2004, he tried to involved some of his Romanian doctoral fellows hoping they will be thrilled to join such an enterprise. Unfortunately, his ambition to develop a books series including translations of the most representative texts of Western moral thinking hit hard a wall of indifference. The lack of resources, the total apathy of the Romanian researchers and absence of a concrete perspective over such a huge effort, made him drop the project until 2010, when he tried to push it further for a second time. He tasted the same sad story and decided to leave it at a personal stage.

In 2015, his initial idea transformed in a long-term personal commitment to make these texts available in Romania through digital means. This means that the texts will be available as electronic files readable on most digital devices. Anyone will be able to read them in original and in translation, with a critical apparatus.

The purpose of MoralHeritageTXT is to make available the Western moral traditions both to general public and students of Moral Philosophy. Translations, today, similar to Cicero’s time, are the most important way cultures enrich with new ideas and new vocabulary. And we believe that by translating the most important texts of the Western moral traditions we will be able to enrich Romanian moral reflection, not only from an academic perspective, but also at the most basic social level. These traditions, even if we are not aware of them or their influence on academic work, are reflected in our language and moral attitudes.