Agathology

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The field that investigates concepts of goodness and ethical ideals examines moral values and their impacts within philosophical discourse
2. This branch of study focuses on understanding what is considered good and the ethical implications that arise from such values in society
3. The discipline that explores the nature of good and the moral frameworks that guide human behavior provides insights into ethical philosophies and societal norms

Etymology: Agathology is a coinage built from two pieces that are both familiar in their own right. The first is the Greek "agathós", meaning "good", and the second is the English suffix "-ology", which comes ultimately from "lógos", a Greek word for word, speech, or reasoning, and which gave English the general sense of "a branch of study". Put together, the term names the study of goodness, a field of inquiry that exists as a label more than as a settled discipline. The suffix itself has a long pedigree. The Greek "-logía" took the sense "study of" from "lógos", passed through Latin "-logia" and French "-logie", and arrived in English as "-logy". English then mass-produced it, so that words such as "biology" and "geology" became standard, and "agathology" follows that pattern exactly, attaching the suffix to a Greek adjective instead of a noun.