Major Ethical Philosophies

Confucius (A Contented, Moral, And Happy Life)

551 BCE

Confucius's philosophy, also known as Confucianism, stressed personal and governmental values, social interaction honesty, fairness, humility and sincerity. Also emphasised is the necessity for benevolent and frugal rulers, the importance of inner moral harmony and its direct connection with harmony in the physical world and that rulers and teachers are important role models for wider society.
(https://www.biography.com/scholar/confucius)

Socrates (Have the Courage to Disagree)

470 BCE

Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher considered to be the main source of Western thought. He attempted to establish an ethical system based on human reason rather than theological doctrine. Socrates pointed out that human choice was motivated by the desire for happiness. He is known for creating Socratic irony and the Socratic method (elenchus). (https://www.biography.com/scholar/socrates)

Plato (The Power to Rule)

428 BCE

He was a Socratic (or Classical) period Greek philosopher and mathematician of enormous importance. He may be the most well-known, widely studied, and influential philosopher of all time.In many dialogues of the middle period, Republic and Phaedrus Plato advocate a belief in the soul's immortality, and several dialogs end with long speeches imagining the afterlife. It compares awareness and opinion, interpretation and truth, nature and tradition, and body and soul in more than one dialogue.

Aristotle (Let People Seek Fulfillment)

384 BCE

He has made contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, astronomy, biology, botany, ethics, politics, economics, medicine, dance and theatre.He was a Plato of student who was studying under Socrates in effect. The philosophy of Aristotle stresses biology rather than mathematics such as Plato. He also defined the supreme good as a virtue-based activity of the rational soul. (https://www.iep.utm.edu/aristotl/)

Epicurus (The Art of Happiness)

341 BCE

Epicurus developed an unsparingly materialistic metaphysics, empiricist epistemology, and hedonistic ethic The teachings of Epicurus—about life and death, religion and science, physical sensation, happiness, morality, and friendship—attracted legions of adherents throughout the ancient Mediterranean world and deeply influenced later European thought.(https://www.iep.utm.edu/epicur/)

Epictetus (Build a Flexible Mindset)

55 BCE

Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher. Epictetus taught that philosophy is a way of life and not just a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events are beyond our control; we should accept calmly and dispassionately whatever happens. However, individuals are responsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epictetus)

Plutarch (Be a Good Role Model)

46 BCE

L. Mestrius Plutarchus, better known simply as Plutarch, was a Greek writer and philosopher who lived between c. 45-50 CE and c. 120-125 CE. A prodigious and hugely influential writer, he is now most famous for his biographical works in his Parallel Lives which present an entertaining history of some of the most significant figures from antiquity. (https://www.ancient.eu/plutarch/)

Musonius Rufus (Keep Track of Ones Ethical Progress)

30 BCE

Gaius Musonius Rufus was one of the four great Stoic philosophers of the Roman empire, along with Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. Renowned as a great Stoic teacher, Musonius conceived of philosophy as nothing but the practice of noble behavior. He advocated a commitment to live for virtue, not pleasure, since virtue saves us from the mistakes that ruin life. (https://www.iep.utm.edu/musonius/)