Major Ethical Philosophies

By gaillianuy
  • 399 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.
  • 348 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)
  • 322 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).

  • 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.

  • Classical Utilitarian: Jeremy Bentham

    Classical Utilitarian: Jeremy Bentham
    The Classical Utilitarians, Bentham and Mill, were concerned with legal and social reform. If anything could be identified as the fundamental motivation behind the development of Classical Utilitarianism it would be the desire to see useless, corrupt laws and social practices changed. Utilitarianism is a species of consequentialism, the general doctrine in ethics that actions (or types of action) should be evaluated on the basis of their consequences.