Timeline of Major Ethical Philosophies

Jean-François Lyotard

1924 BCE

Lyotard is not served by performativity's use of legitimacy. He does not assert that the goal of study should be to produce "the truth," nor does he attempt to revive the metanarratives of modernity to support his position. He views research's function as the generation of ideas.

Immanuel Kant

1724 BCE

Immanuel Kant contends that the sole unqualified good, or the only thing that is good in all circumstances, is "good will." In essence, a good will is a drive to act morally because it is the right thing to do. This kind of motivation comes from a sense of obligation. The 'good will' is excellent due to its own principle of willingness rather than because of the results it produces.

Thomas Hobbes

1588 BCE

When Thomas Hobbes asserted that there is no ultimate or objective good in his landmark work Leviathan (1651), he sparked a heated debate. People naturally view what they are inclined to pursue as good and what they are inclined to avoid as bad because good and evil are relative to their appetites. There is no absolute goodness; good and bad are relative to people's tastes and preferences.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

1070 BCE

A prominent figure in German Idealism during the nineteenth century and one of the most influential philosophers in Western philosophy history. He was a German philosopher. Hegel characterized his approach as speculative in that it examined the dialectic's internal logic to reveal reality's hidden dimensions.

Thales of Miletus

624 BCE

To becoming Anaximander's instructor, he founded the Milesian School of Natural Philosophy. He was a pioneer among Western philosophers who sought to understand the universe through naturalistic explanations he also known as materialism or naturalism without turning to supernatural or mythical explanations, such as the Greek anthropomorphic gods and heroes.

Socrates

470 BCE

Socrates believed that in order to live a good and joyful life, virtues must be both possessed and practiced. The goal of philosophical investigation into the virtues is to show that understanding the interests of other people is a prerequisite for moral behavior. In fact, Socrates appears to have believed that the qualities of restraint, wisdom, and bravery are nothing more than a specific kind of knowledge.

Plato

428 BCE

He is supposed to have stated in Plato's Theaetetus that "whatever the city establishes as just, is just for that city as long as it judges so."
In Plato's Gorgias, Callicles makes the case that customary moral norms are creations of a weak majority in order to oppress the powerful minority. Weak guys advocate for equality because it is the most they can do. Natural law dictates that the strong should have more than the weak.

Aristotle

384 BCE

Aristotle is that a creature's ability to perfect its natural endowments is what leads to happiness (eudaimonia), which is the state of living well. The pursuit of virtue or excellence in reason follows, and for man, this is necessary for the happy life. He makes the point that moral character and intellectual excellence are means of refining reason and, as a result, are necessary for leading a good life. The value of relationships, money, and social standing in a happy existence.