Major Ethical Philosophies

  • 469 BCE

    Ancient Greek Philosophy

  • Period: 469 BCE to 399 BCE

    Socrates

    Socratic ethics, emphasis on self-knowledge and virtue
  • Period: 428 BCE to 348 BCE

    Plato

    Platonic ethics, emphasis on the existence of objective moral truths
  • Period: 384 BCE to 322 BCE

    Aristotle

    Aristotelian ethics, emphasis on the concept of the "golden mean" between excess and deficiency
  • 1225

    Medieval Philosophy:

  • Period: 1225 to 1274

    St. Thomas Aquinas

    Natural law, based on reason and human nature
  • Modern Philosophy

  • Period: to

    Immanuel Kant

    Kantian ethics, emphasis on the moral law and the autonomy of the individual
  • Period: to

    Jeremy Bentham

    Utilitarianism, emphasis on the greatest happiness for the greatest number
  • Period: to

    John Stuart Mill

    Utilitarianism, emphasis on the importance of individual happiness and freedom
  • Period: to

    Friedrich Nietzsche

    Nietzschean ethics, rejection of traditional morality in favor of the "will to power"
  • Period: to

    Martin Heidegger

    Heideggerian ethics, emphasis on the concept of "Being-towards-death" and authenticity
  • Contemporary Philosophy

  • Period: to

    Jean-Paul Sartre

    Existentialist ethics, emphasis on freedom and individual responsibility
  • Period: to

    Albert Camus

    Absurdism, emphasis on the human condition of the absurd
  • Period: to

    Amartya Sen

    Development as Freedom, emphasis on the concept of freedom as a means to the development of individuals and societies.
  • Period: to

    Peter Singer

    Ethical theory of animal rights, emphasis on the moral consideration of non-human animals.
  • Period: to

    Martha Nussbaum

    Capabilities Approach, emphasis on the ability to live a flourishing life.
  • Period: to

    Martha C. Nussbaum

    Emotion and reason, emphasis on the role of emotions in ethical thinking.
  • Period: to

    Michael Sandel

    Communitarianism, emphasis on the importance of community and tradition in shaping moral beliefs.
  • Period: to

    Thomas Pogge

    Global justice, emphasis on the moral obligations to address global poverty and inequality.
  • Period: to

    Kwame Anthony Appiah

    Cosmopolitanism, emphasis on the moral obligations that arise from our shared humanity.