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469 BCE
SOCRATES - (469-399 BC)
It is not in human nature, according to Socrates (Plato, 1961), to choose to act in a way that one believes to be harmful over a way that one believes to be good. He asserted that all wrong, or evil, is committed out of ignorance rather than with the intent to do evil. This point of view appears to be contentious because people are known to commit seemingly evil acts on occasion, either out of self-interest or on impulse, against their best interests. -
428 BCE
PLATO - (428-348 BC)
Plato is widely regarded as the most influential philosopher of all time. Plato believes in a virtue-based eudaemonistic ethics. In his philosophy, Plato said that happiness is the highest goal of moral thought and behavior, while virtues are the necessary abilities and dispositions to achieve it. Plato believes that virtue is the most important aspect of living a good life. He emphasizes a good understanding of the impact that the virtues have on an individual's pursuit of happiness. -
384 BCE
ARISTOTLE - (384-322 BC)
According to Aristotle, "happiness to live is dependent on the perfection of a creature's innate attributes." Character and intellectual virtues, he claims, are means of refining reason and, as such, are required for a decent human life. Aristotle also stated that a man bears personal moral responsibility for his actions and that moral virtue cannot be attained abstractly; it requires moral action in a social setting. -
MORAL POSITIVISM: THOMAS HOBBES (1588-1679)
When Thomas Hobbes (1588-1659) claimed in his masterpiece, that there is no ultimate or objective good, he sparked considerable outrage. People's appetites naturally shape their perceptions of good and evil, so they grow to see what they want to pursue as good and what they want to avoid as terrible. There is no such thing as objective goodness; good and bad are relative to individual desires and preferences. -
UTILITARIANISM
The philosophy of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill explained by the maxim, "Do whatever produces the greatest good for the greatest number". It is an ethical philosophy that focuses on outcomes to decide what is right and what is wrong.