Possessed of Adyghe Ethics

Adygaghe is a mechanism of mental organisation and ethical rationalisation of the facts and relationships of reality — a socially determined means of constructing social reality.

But it is at the same time the freedom of choice and the realisation of the desired or the possible within the framework of a certain moral continuum, where, for all the diversity of styles of thought and behaviour, the spirit and the general orientation of moral laws are preserved.

The degree to which ethics influences the lifeworld depends on a whole range of objective and subjective conditions and circumstances. For example, the principles of Adyghe ethics may be poorly assimilated, and this in itself creates the threat of entropy.

It is revealing that the term “adygaghe” is used not only in the sense of “Adyghe ethics” but also to assess the actual state or quality of the moral culture of an individual, a group, a society, or a people; cf.: adygaghe khelshch — “possessed of adyghe,” adygaghe khelk’ym — “not possessed of adyghe,” adygaghe shchIague yakhelyzhk’ym — “there is already little adyghe in them,” adygaghe k”ydakhak’ym — “they showed no adyghe,” adygaghe khuzèrakh”er — “they display adyghe.”

What is meant, as we understand, are the moral qualities named above: humanity, respect, modesty, delicacy, courage, generosity, justice, prudence, and so forth.

They may be present, which is assessed positively, but they may be absent or manifest weakly, insufficiently vividly and expressively, which is perceived negatively — as ethical ignorance, a collapse of spirit, a significant defect of an individual or a group.

Hence the admonition: Adygaghe zekheflykhkh’e — “Master adyghe, that is, become or be humane, wise, noble…”

Adyghe ethics, as we see, is a specific expression of the social and individually personal moral code.

The interaction of these codes creates the image of a morally oriented mentality — adyghe kh”el-shchen, and consequently the foundational personality of Adyghe society.

“Adyghe Ethics,” Professor Bgazhnokov B. Kh.