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469 BCE
Socrates of Athens (469 – 399 BCE)
A Greek (Athenian) philosopher who is regarded as one of the founders of Western philosophy where he is famous for his “Socratic Method”. One of his great paradoxes was the creation of personal ethics was what he refers to “the art of measurement”, was whether weakness of will, or doing wrong while you know what it right, genuinely existed. Which corrects the distortions of a person’s evaluations of benefit and cost. -
427 BCE
Plato (427 – 347 BCE)
A philosopher in Classical Greece and the founder of the Academy of Athens. Wherein, it is the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Based on his philosophy, moral values are objective. Because they only exist in a spirit-like realm outside of subjective human conventions. They apply to all logical beings making them absolute, eternal, and universal. “Better a little which is well done, than a great deal imperfectly.” -
384 BCE
Aristotle (384 – 322 BCE)
A Classical Greek philosopher and is regarded as the “Father of Western Philosophy. He coined the term ethics to describe a field of study developed by his forebears Socrates and Plato. In particular, he expanded on the concept in his Nicomachean Ethics. The "golden mean" is the desirable middle point between two extremes: excess and deficiency. -
354
St. Augustine (354 – 430 AD)
Augustine considers ethics to be the ultimate good, providing the happiness that all humans seek. In this regard, his moral thought is more akin to the eudaimonistic virtue ethics of the classical Western tradition than to the modern-era ethics of duty and law associated with Christianity. Happiness,is the enjoyment of God, a reward granted in the afterlife for virtue in this life. Virtue is a gift from God, founded on love rather than the wisdom prized by philosophers. -
1224
Thomas Aquinas (1224 -1274)
A Dominican friar from Italy, a Catholic priest, and a Doctor of the Church. All human actionsare governed by a general principle or precept that is fundamental to and required for all practical reasoning: good is to be done and evil is to be avoided. This is not a principle we can ignore or defy. It is, rather, an expression of how practical thought and action occur in creatures like ourselves. -
Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679)
English philosopher, scientist, and historian best known for his political philosophy, as expressed in his magnum opus Leviathan. He is also the first great figure in modern ethical philosophy. According to his theory, “Moral Positivism”, the laws of the state serve as the foundation of all moral laws. Where he states, “Good is what is in accordance with the laws of the state; bad is what the state forbids.” -
Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804)
A German philosopher who was a key figure in the Enlightenment. He believed that there was a supreme principle of mortality and referred to it as “the Categorical Imperative”, which determines an individual's moral obligation. His ethical theory is an example of deontological moral theory, which holds that “the rightness or wrongness of action does not depend on its consequence, but rather on whether it fulfills our duty.” -
Jeremy Bentham (1748 – 1832)
An English philosopher, economist, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism also known as the “Consequence-based theory”. It is an ethical theory that contends with moral behavior and a method for figuring out how to choose morally appropriate actions. Those that tend to increase happiness or pleasure for all those they affect choose morally right actions, while morally wrong actions tend to increase unhappiness or pain. -
John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873)
An English economist, philosopher, and utilitarian advocate. He was a well-known publicist during the 19th century’s reformation and his work as a logician and ethical theorist. His text on utilitarianism contains a comprehensive articulation of his ethical theory. It seeks to defend the utilitarian principle as the cornerstone of morality. This theory asserts that actions are appropriate in proportion to how much they tend to encourage. -
John Rawls (1921 – 2002)
An American political and ethical philosopher best known for his defense of egalitarian liberalism in his major work, “A Theory of Justice,” which upholds “justice is fairness.” He states that “each person shall be equally entitled to the extensive possible basic liberties for others.”