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"What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others." His philosophical teachings, called Confucianism, emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice, kindness, and sincerity.And the main idea of Confucianism is the importance of having a good moral character, which can then affect the world around that person through the idea of “cosmic harmony.” -
"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing." He is best known for his association with the Socratic method of question and answer, his claim that he was ignorant (or aware of his own absence of knowledge), and unlike other philosophers of his time and ours, Socrates never wrote anything down but was committed to living simply and to interrogating the everyday views and popular opinions of those in his home city of Athens. -
"Knowledge is Virtue." Plato maintains a virtue-based eudaemonistic conception of ethics. It says that, happiness or well-being (eudaimonia) is the highest aim of moral thought and conduct, and the virtues (aretê: 'excellence') are the dispositions/skills needed to attain it. -
"We are not studying in order to know what virtue is, but to become good, for otherwise there would be no profit in it." Aristotle emphasized that virtue is practical, and that the purpose of ethics is to become good, not merely to know. Aristotle also claims that the right course of action depends upon the details of a particular situation, rather than being generated merely by applying a law. -
"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." Epicurus’ ethics is a form of egoistic hedonism; i.e., he says that the only thing that is intrinsically valuable is one’s own pleasure; anything else that has value is valuable merely as a means to securing pleasure for oneself. -
"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible". Aquinas believes that we should always follow our conscience, even when it is wrong or causes great harm. Since we have no way of knowing whether our consciences are wrong, they are the best guide we have as to what is the moral thing to do. To go against one’s conscience is to go against the values of truth and reason. -
"We are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without". Kant’s ethics are organized around the notion of a “categorical imperative,” which is a universal ethical principle stating that one should always respect the humanity in others, and that one should only act in accordance with rules that could hold for everyone. -
“Ethics at large may be defined, the art of directing men’s actions to the production of the greatest possible quantity of happiness.” The moral theory utilitarianism, which contends that activities should be judged right or bad to the extent they promote or decrease human well-being or "utility," was founded by Jeremy Bentham.He promoted the idea that an action is moral if the results are positive, and immoral if the results are negative -
"A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction". His major book Utilitarianism (1861) contains the most thorough articulation of his ethical theory. Its objective is to defend the utilitarian principle as the moral compass. According to this idea, deeds are right in proportion to how much they serve to advance general happiness. As a result, Mill places more emphasis on outcomes than on moral principles or rights. -
"The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance". According to Rawls, human beings cannot come to a fair and unbiased agreement (contract) as true equals who are not influenced by their position in society unless they are protected by a "veil of ignorance." They would be forced to make social justice decisions for their society solely using human reason.