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1588 BCE
THOMAS HOBBES (1588-1679)
"Words are the money of fools," Hobbes said that each country is in a constant battle for power and wealth. He focuses on the issue of social and political structure. Hobbes' moral positivism anticipates the chaotic outcome if laws are not abided. Laws are valid because they are established by legal authority and accepted by society, not natural law. Thus, to keep countries in order and maintain peace, laws must be made, and their inhabitants must obey them. -
469 BCE
SOCRATES – (469-399BC)
“No one commits an evil act knowingly and doing wrong arises out of ignorance.” Socrates was an Athenian philosopher whose questions and beliefs ran counter to Athens's contemporary political and social climate. He has mastered "the art of measurement," correcting the distortions that skew one's analyses of benefit and cost. Socrates further discussed that if a person lacks moral knowledge, he willfully commits an immoral act to further his concealed motive. -
428 BCE
PLATO – (428-348 BC)
Most people consider the virtue of being a modest benefit or even a hindrance to leading a happy life. According to Plato, this does not seem right; we can only hope to be happy if we are virtuous. Plato is a famous philosopher of Western civilization. Plato's philosophy regarding virtue and human fulfillment focuses on its primary goal to challenge most people's perception of virtue. Here, they go seriously wrong in their attempts to live happy lives. -
384 BCE
ARISTOTLE – (384-322 BC)
Aristotle's ethics is concerned with behaviors beneficial to man's benefit, not with activities that are right in and of themselves, regardless of other circumstances. He went on to say that most virtues are found in the middle of a range of severe character qualities. According to Aristotle's "The Golden Mean Principle," living a moderate life is the key to happiness. We must avoid extremes in everything we do.