Major Ethical Philosophies

By joanmilca
  • 469 BCE

    Socrates (469-399 BC)

    Socrates (469-399 BC)
    Socrates believes that a man only do wrong when he does not have enough moral knowledge. It is important that we know how to differentiate between good and bad deeds. He also believes that a man commits bad actions in order to satisfy his own purpose.
  • 428 BCE

    Plato (428-348 BC)

    Plato (428-348 BC)
    According to Plato, it is only by doing virtue that a man can have hope for happiness. When you only do nothing but goodness to other people around you, happiness comes next. Living a life where you seek to be happy but you don’t show kindness to other people and you choose to value money over honesty, for Plato it is impossible to be happy by doing things that are unjust.
  • 384 BCE

    Aristotle (384-311 BC)

    Aristotle (384-311 BC)
    With accordance to Plato’s ethics, Aristotle also emphasizes virtue to be the central on the way of living of the people. Aristotle affirmed that by doing morally good deeds help oversee emotions. Virtues may also fall under extreme traits of human being. Too much of doing something will give you excessive result. For example in business, too much profits can cause greediness and no profit leads to bankruptcy. Aristotle argued a person can be happy when he/she lives a life with moderation.

  • Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

    Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
    His philosophy of moral positivism believes that human beings can be greedy and can do selfish acts for their own sake. If there are no laws or government regulations to be followed, each country will be in a complete disorder and disorganized. People will only think of themselves and do evil acts upon other people for their own happiness. There must be a government for every nation in order to protect the rights of every people which also helps to maintain peace and order.

  • Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill (late 18th- and 19th-century)

    Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill (late 18th- and 19th-century)
    Utilitarianism is an ethic which argues that an action tends to be righteous if its results provide happiness and positive outcome otherwise it is wrong if its results provide unhappiness and bad outcome. This entails that the result of the action identifies if the action taken is right or wrong.