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1863 BCE
UTILITARIANSIM - 1863
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes. It is a form of consequentialism. Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number. This would arguably produce the greatest good for the greatest number -
1588 BCE
MORAL POSITIVISM: THOMAS HOBBIES - ( 1588-1679)
Moral positivism is not just the denial of universal, objective and changeless norms in the moral order. But moral positivism also rejects all absolute imperatives in morality, which might then in turn be formulated as changeless norms. No human acts are essentially good or bad. For Hobbes, legal positivism represented a decisive break with the intellectual tradition of common law scholarship which could no longer provide a satisfactory account of political authority. -
469 BCE
SOCRATES - (469-399 BC)
Socrates of Athens is among the most famous figures in world history for his contributions to the development of ancient Greek philosophy which provided the foundation for all of Western Philosophy. He is, in fact, known as the "Father of Western Philosophy" for this reason. He attempted to establish an ethical system based on human reason rather than theological doctrine. Socrates pointed out that human choice was motivated by the desire for happiness. -
428 BCE
PLATO - (428-348 BC)
He is considered by many to be the most important philosopher who ever lived. He is known as the father of idealism in philosophy. His ideas were elitist, with the philosopher king the ideal ruler. In metaphysics Plato envisioned a systematic, rational treatment of the forms and their interrelations, starting with the most fundamental among them (the Good, or the One); in ethics and moral psychology he developed the view that the good life requires not just a certain kind of knowledge. -
384
ARISTOTLE - (384-322 BC)
Aristotle's ethics, or study of character, is built around the premise that people should achieve an excellent character as a pre-condition for attaining happiness or well-being (eudaimonia). The highest good and the end toward which all human activity is directed is happiness, which can be defined as continuous contemplation of eternal and universal truth. One attains happiness by a virtuous life and the development of reason and the faculty of theoretical wisdom.