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469 BCE
SOCRATES (469 -399 BC)
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." Socrates is an ancient Greek philosopher who gave a profound influence in Western Philosophy and also known as Father of Western Philosophy. He developed the Socratic method which laid the groundwork for Western systems of logic and philosophy. Socrates claims that he is aware of his own ignorance. "An unexamined life is not worth living." His main focus in his philosophies was also on how to live a good and virtuous life. -
428 BCE
PLATO (428 - 348 BC)
"Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion and knowledge." Plato is considered as the Father of Idealism. He founded the Academy in Athens which is considered as the first university in the Western world and where he taught philosophical doctrines. Plato believed in virtue ethics where the reasoning of a moral action is decided by the person instead by the rules or consequences. He also believed that eudaimonia or happiness is the ultimate goal of moral thought and conduct. -
384 BCE
ARISTOTLE (384 - 322 BC)
"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life: the whole aim and end of human existence." Aristotle was an ancient Greek Philosopher and first genuine scientist. He was also a student of Plato but contradicted the teachings of his teacher. His ethical theory mainly centers around Eudaimonia or happiness that every individual ultimately seeks in their lives. He argued that the best way to achieve this is by embodying virtues or the golden mean like honesty, courage and temperance. -
THOMAS HOBBES (1588 - 1679)
"It is not wisdom but authority that makes a law." Thomas Hobbes was the founding father of modern political philosophy. His main concern is the problem of social and political order. He became well-known through his development of social contract theory, the method of justifying principles by the appeal to agreement made among rational, free and equal persons. -
IMMANUEL KANT (1724 - 1804)
"We are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without." Immanuel Kant is a German philosopher and one of the foremost thinkers of Enlightenment. He synthesized early modern rationalism and empiricism and believed that there was a supreme principle of morality, “The Categorical Imperative” which determines what our moral duties are. -
JEREMY BENTHAM (1748 - 1832)
"Create all the happiness you are able to create; remove all the misery you are able to remove." Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher, economist, jurist and political radical. He is the founder of modern utilitarianism wherein an action is evaluated based on its consequences. Happiness, according to Bentham, is a matter of experiencing pleasure and lack of pain. -
JOHN STUART MILL (1806 - 1873)
"A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury." John Stuart Mill was an English philosopher and a classical utilitarian, naturalist and liberal. His theory which mostly portrayed in his classical text Utilitarianism (1861) which justifies the utilitarian principle wherein actions are considered right if they promote overall human happiness. -
JOHN RAWLS (1921 - 2002)
"The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance." John Rawls was an American political philosopher in the liberal tradition. He is best known for his defense of egalitarian liberalism in his work “A Theory of Justice” that defends “justice as fairness”.