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Period: 469 BCE to 399 BCE
Socrates
Socrates held that the foundation of moral judgments lay in wisdom and knowledge. According to him, knowledge and wisdom should come before personal desires since "the unexamined life is not worth living." In this way, knowledge is pursued as a tool for moral behavior. He contends that even if we strive for what is good, we often fall short of achieving it due to our ignorance or lack of understanding on how to do so. -
Period: 428 BCE to 348 BCE
Plato
Plato was a philosopher who believed that moral values are objective in the sense that it is viewed in a more celestial realm where human judgement could not intervene. He believed that who you are and what you consider as morally right or wrong is the standard of your ethical beliefs. Virtue ethics says that the reasoning of what is moral is decided by the person instead of by rules or consequences. You decide what’s moral and right, not by what will happen. -
Period: 384 BCE to 322 BCE
Aristotle
According to Aristotle, moral behavior is correlated with emotions. When someone is happy, they reflect that happiness by being kind to themselves or others. He also thinks that everything should be done in moderation in order to live a happy life. Excessiveness of one thing frequently leads to greed, which somehow undermines morals.