MAJOR ETHICAL PHILOSOPHIES

  • Period: 469 BCE to 399 BCE

    Socrates

    Socrates means that unexamined life is deprived of the purpose of existence. In order for us to be a fully humans, we must use our developed knowledge to raise our existence.
  • Period: 428 BCE to 348 BCE

    Plato

    Virtue ethics says that the person is the one who decides what moral is an not by the rules or consequences. Plato believed that human soul is divided into 3 parts: reason, spirit, and appetite. These three should be balanced in order for us to make good decisions and moral choices
  • Period: 348 BCE to 322 BCE

    Aristotle

    Aristotle’s moral virtue says that no human desire is bad if it will be controlled by reason according to a moral principle.
  • Period: 500 to 1500

    Thomas Aquinas

    Aquinas’ ethical philosophy is about deciding the best way to live one’s life. He believes that people need to identify meaningful goals before they act on it.
  • Period: to

    Thomas Hobbes

    Thomas Hobbes said that people would act on their impulses id left alone for themselves; therefore they should not be trusted to make decisions in their own. It tells us that impulsive decisions will lead us to uncertainty and that we should always be serious in doing it.
  • Period: to

    Baruch Spinoza

    His extremely naturalistic views on God, the world, the human being and knowledge serve to ground a moral philosophy centered on the control of the passions leading to virtue and happiness