Major Ethical Philosophies

By alyspelias
  • 1800 BCE

    Jeremy Bentham & John Stuart Mill

    Jeremy Bentham & John Stuart Mill
    Ethics is best explained by the maxim, “Do whatever produces
    the greatest good for the greatest number.” The theory argues
    that what makes an act right is its consequences and not the
    motive of the action. The effects or consequences determine
    the goodness or badness of an action. An act is good if and when
    it gives good results, if it works, if it makes you successful, and
    if it makes you attain your purpose. Otherwise, it is bad.
  • 1588 BCE

    Thomas Hobbes

    Thomas Hobbes
    Thomas Hobbes believes that human beings are
    basically selfish creatures who would do anything to improve
    their position. According to Hobbes, people would act on their
    evil impulses if left alone for themselves; therefore, they
    should not be trusted to make decisions on their own. In
    addition, Hobbes felt that like people, nations are selfishly
    motivated. For him, each country is in a constant battle for
    power and wealth.
  • 469 BCE

    Socrates

    Socrates
    Socrates was an Athenian Philosopher whose questions
    and opinions clashed with the current course of Athenian
    politics and society. Socrates worked to critically examine
    the foundational beliefs that were common in Greece during
    his time, and encouraged other citizens to do so as well. He
    was accused of corrupting the youth and disbelieving in the
    gods of the city and was sentenced to death by poison.
  • 428 BCE

    Plato

    Plato
    Plato ranks among the greatest philosophers of
    the world, and is viewed by many scholars as the
    most important Philosopher of Western civilization.
    Plato held that moral values are objective in the sense
    that they exist in a spirit-like realm beyond subjective
    human conventions. He held that they are absolute,
    or eternal, in that they never change, and also that
    they are universal insofar as they apply to all rational
    creatures around the world and throughout time.
    (Racelis, 2017)
  • 384 BCE

    Aristotle

    Aristotle
    In Arabic Philosophy, he was known simply as “The First
    Teacher;” in the West, he was “The Philosopher.”
    The ethics of Aristotle is concerned with action, not as
    being right in itself irrespective of any other consideration, but
    with actions conducive to man’s good. Aristotle sets himself
    to discover what this good is and what the science
    corresponding to it is. (Copleston, 1993).