Timeline of Ethical Philosophers

By temporaryacc
  • 469 BCE

    Socrates – (469-399BC) ,Ethical intellectualism

    Socrates – (469-399BC) ,Ethical intellectualism
    Socrates' ethical intellectualism has an eudaemological character. Socrates presupposes reason is essential for the good life. One's true happiness is promoted by doing what is right.
  • 428 BCE

    PLATO – (428-348 BC) ,Virtue-based

    PLATO – (428-348 BC) ,Virtue-based
    Plato maintains a virtue-based eudaemonistic conception of ethics. That is to say, happiness or well-being is the highest aim of moral thought and conduct, and the virtues are the requisite skills and dispositions needed to attain it.
  • 384 BCE

    Aristotle (384-322 BC), Virtue

    Aristotle (384-322 BC), Virtue
    Aristotle's ethics, or study of character, is built around the premise that people should achieve an excellent character
    as a pre-condition for attaining happiness or well-being.

  • Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

    Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
    Hobbes argued that the fundamental principles of morality, or laws of nature, require us to try to establish peace: he says this can only be established through the institution of an absolute sovereign. He contended that the sovereign alone is empowered to make laws regulating our actions.

  • John Locke (1632–1704) Natural Law and Natural Rights

    John Locke (1632–1704) Natural Law and Natural Rights
    Locke wrote that all individuals are equal in the sense that they are born with certain "inalienable" natural rights.

  • Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) ,Deontology

    Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) ,Deontology
    Kant's deontological philosophy stemmed from his belief that humans possess the ability to reason and understand universal moral laws that they can apply in all situations.

  • Henry Sidgwick (1838-1900) ,Utilitarianism

    Henry Sidgwick (1838-1900) ,Utilitarianism
    Sidgwick argued that “It is evident to me that as a rational being I am bound to aim at good generally, – so far as it is attainable by my efforts, – not merely at a particular part of it”.

  • William David Ross (1877-1971) ,Deontology

    William David Ross (1877-1971) ,Deontology
    According to Ross, there will always be one duty that will have a greater urgency or priority than the others, and that will be the right thing to do.

  • John Rawls (1921-2002) ,Utilitarianism

    John Rawls (1921-2002) ,Utilitarianism
    The utilitarian idea, as Rawls confronts it, is that society is to be arranged so as to maximize (the total or average) aggregate utility or expected well-being.