-
Period: 469 BCE to 399 BCE
Socrates
An Athenian philosopher who mostly tackled on politics and society. He worked to critically examined Greece’s fundamental beliefs, hence the accusation of him corrupting the youth and was sentenced to death. One of his major ideologies is development of personal ethics, the art of measurement – the thought that people only do wrong when the benefits outweigh the costs. -
Period: 428 BCE to 348 BCE
Plato
Most important Philosopher of Western civilization; held objective moral values that exist in a spirit-like realm beyond subjective human conventions. His main concern is to challenge the views most people have about goodness, and thinks that it is incorrect to value virtue as a minor good. -
Period: 384 BCE to 322 BCE
Aristotle
Known as The First Teacher in the Arabs, and coined as The Philosopher in the West, his course is focused on actions conducive to man’s good. His argument on virtues as a result of the good habits people acquire that ultimately regulates one’s emotions and that these said values fall at a mean between character traits – are constituent to his The Golden Mean Principle. -
Period: to
Thomas Hobbes
Introduced Moral Positivism states that humans are naturally selfish, doing whatever means there are available to improve their dispositions. This applies to not only individuals but also to unions as small as towns, to ones that are big as nations. His anticipation that once laws are not abided, there will be chaotic outcomes. Hence, the idea of laws and that subordination of the subjects are necessities to any aspect of life. -
Period: to
Jeremy Bentham
Derived from the Latin words utile bonum or utilis, the Utilitarian philosophy revolves around the usefulness of an object and/or a person. Its argument stating that what makes an act right is its consequences, not the motive. This theory is purely based on the attainment of favorable results, resulting to fulfillment of purpose. The lack thereof makes it otherwise.