ETHICS

JEAN-FRANÇOIS LYOTARD (1924–1998)

1924 BCE

French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard once said, "Scientific knowledge is a kind of discourse." Often to his dismay, The Postmodern Condition from 1979 is his most well-known work. Lyotard maintained that events constantly take place in the face of what is not presentable to a phenomenology, discourse, language game, or phrase regimen, starting with his early work on phenomenology and continuing through Discourse, Figure, Libidinal Economy, and The Postmodern Condition.

GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL (1770–1831)

1770 BCE

Hegel, the most significant representative of German idealism, once said, "Too fair to worship, too heavenly to adore." In essence, Hegel compares the evolution of human societies to that of an argument. Furthermore, he held that our minds only had access to ideas about the world—images, perceptions, and concepts—rather than actual experiences of the world or anything inside it.

IMMANUEL KANT (1724–1804)

1724 BCE

Knowledge is organized in science. Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher who played a major role in the Enlightenment, once said, "Wisdom is structured life. He contends that human reason provides the moral law, which serves as the basis for our beliefs in God, freedom, and immortality, as well as the general laws of nature that organize all of our experiences. Kant is one of the most significant figures in contemporary Western philosophy, and his works are thorough and systematic.

THOMAS HOBBES (1588–1679)

1588 BCE

Hobbes is best renowned for his political ideas, and with good reason—"Words are the money of fools." His main focus is the issue of social and political order, namely how people can coexist peacefully without running the risk of or being afraid of armed confrontation. According to a positivist perspective, laws are legitimate because they are enacted by a legal authority and recognized by society, not because they were derived from natural law.

THALES OF MILETUS (620 BC–546 BC)

620 BCE

The prominent pre-Socratic and Ancient Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus once said, "The past is certain, the future obscure." He was recognized historically as one of the fabled Seven Wise Men, or Sophoi, of antiquity. His water-based cosmology, which depicted Earth as a flat disk floating in a vast sea, is what most people remember him for. Thales' theories were innovative and daring, and by removing supernatural explanations from observations, he helped to advance science.

SOCRATES (469 BC–399 BC)

469 BCE

Socrates, a classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher often recognised as the father of Western Philosophy, once said, "An unexamined life is not worth living." His most famous works are the dialogues of Plato, which have made a significant impact on the study of ethics and education. Although he did not claim to know it personally, he felt that virtue could be known and that those who conduct badly only do so because they are unaware of or misunderstand the true nature of virtue.

PLATO (428 BC–348 BC)

428 BCE

Plato was a philosopher in classical Greece and the founder of the Academy in Athens, which is regarded as the first university in the Western world. He once said, "Never discourage someone who consistently makes progress, no matter how slow." When it comes to virtue and human fulfillment, Plato's philosophy is concerned with how people try to live happy lives. The wise person, according to Plato, uses the mind to comprehend moral truth and then applies it to her everyday life.

ARISTOTLE (384 BC–322 BC)

384 BCE

Aristotle was regarded as one of the most influential philosophers who made a significant contribution to logic, mathematics, ethics, etc. He said, "The law is reason, free from passion." According to Aristotle, virtues are constructive habits we develop that control our emotions. In contrast to Plato, he did not view virtues as being merely knowledge. He described it as something that ought to be carried out by acting moderately and in accordance with nature.