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479 BCE
Confucius (551-479 BCE)
Chinese educator, writer, and philosopher Confucius viewed himself as a channel for the theological ideas and values of the imperial dynasties that came before him. Believed in the value of fulling ethical harmony through skilled judgment rather than knowledge of rules, denoting that one should achieve morality through self-cultivation. -
399 BCE
SOCRATES (469-399 BCE)
According to Socrates, “no one commits an evil act knowingly and doing wrong arises out of ignorance.” A person will execute only moral evil if he lacks moral knowledge. Sometimes, a person may have knowledge but he deliberately commits an evil act to satisfy his hidden motive. He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what He would like to have. I believe this quote is a signal to us to study what we want, why we want it, and what exactly takes to be contented. -
348 BCE
PLATO (428-348 BCE)
Plato held that moral values are objective in the sense that they exist in a spirit-like realm beyond subjective human conventions. According to him, it is only being virtuous that we can hope to be happy. In other word, to achieve genuine happiness you have to be kind, honest, accountable etc. to everyone. Plato’s main concern is to challenge the views most people have about goodness, for it is here that they go disastrously wrong in trying to live happy lives. -
322 BCE
ARISTOTLE (384-322 BCE)
The ethics of Aristotle is concerned with action, not as being right in itself irrespective of any other consideration. Aristotle presents the concept of what is usually referred to as the golden mean of moderation. In everything that we do, we must avoid extremes. Aristotle also speaks of eudaemonia, a perfect balance of happiness and goodness interpreted classically. As Aristotle argued that virtues are good habits that we acquire, which regulate our emotions. -
1274
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274
Thomas Aquinas was born in Lazio region of Italy. He is a Dominican friar, theologian and Doctor of the Church in the 13th century. His most important contribution to Western thought is the concept of natural theology. This belief system holds that the existence of God is verified through reason and rational explanation, as opposed to through scripture or religious experience. His proposition also remain central to theological debate, discourse, and modes of worship. -
1560
René Descartes (1596-1560)
Descartes was born in France but spent 20 years of his life in the Dutch Republic, a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. Discards belief in all things that are not absolutely certain, emphasizing the understanding of that which can be known for sure. -
Moral Positivism Thomas Hobbes(1588-1679)
Thomas Hobbes claimed that human beings are primarily selfish creatures who would execute anything to improve their position. Hobbes stated that, people would act on their evil impulses if left alone for themselves. Hobbes’ moral positivism foreknows the chaotic outcome if laws are not abided. We all believe that the purpose of the government is to protect the rights of its people, preserve justice and enforce the laws. -
David Hume (1711-1777)
David Hume is a Scottish-born historian, economist, and philosophe. Hume argued against moral absolutes, instead positing that our ethical behavior and treatment of others is compelled by emotion, sentiment, and internal passions, that we are inclined to positive behaviors by their likely desirable outcomes. -
UTILITARIANISM Jeremy Bentham & John Stuart Mill (1784-1873)
Utilitarianism as an ethical system nowadays, though it has application to numerous areas beyond that simply of lawmaking, holds to this same principle. If the balance of evil outweighs that of good, then the choice is immoral. Due to this emphasis on the outcome of ethical decisions, utilitarianism is classified as a consequentialist theory. The principle of Utilitarianism is used in Cost-Benefit Analysis, for instance, more benefit, less cost, is a good action. -
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Ralph Waldo Emerson is the father of the transcendentalist movement. Wrote on the importance of subjects such as self-reliance, experiential living, and the preeminence of the soul. Referred to “the infinitude of the private man” as his central doctrine. -
Michel Foucault (1926-1984)
Michel Foucault is a philosopher, Historian, and social theorist. He believed oppressed humans are entitled to rights and they have a duty to rise up against the abuse of power to protect these rights.