@article{article_1644292, title={Sustainability as the Foundation of Secular Morality and Legal Responsibility}, journal={Marmara Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Hukuk Araştırmaları Dergisi}, volume={31}, pages={124–157}, year={2025}, DOI={10.33433/maruhad.1644292}, author={Nacar, Abdulkadir}, keywords={sürdürülebilirlik etiği, metaetik, olasılıksal özgür irade, felsefi inşacılık, hukuki sorumluluk, teamül hukuku}, abstract={This study explores the foundation of morality through the lens of sustainability, diverging from traditional approaches such as utilitarianism and deontology. It argues that sustainability itself underpins moral and legal responsibility, proposing it as a guiding principle for both. Building on Aristotle’s concept of phronesis, the study addresses linear time, will, and causality as essential components, with free will assumed due to the probabilistic nature of physical reality rather than determinism. The framework of morality is thus constructed around sustainability, with tools and methods from sustainability impact assessment applied to moral evaluation. This approach offers a metaethical foundation for normative ethics and provides a novel analytical link between sustainability and morality. Finally, it connects legal responsibility to sustainability, explaining how behaviors evolve into norms through customary law. Accordingly, the foundation of legal responsibility lies in preventing unsustainable practices from becoming normative. The study establishes sustainability as an essential principle in moral and legal philosophy.}, number={1}, publisher={Marmara Üniversitesi}