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“No one commits an evil act knowingly and doing wrong arises out of ignorance.” If a person lacks moral knowledge, he will only commit moral evil. Sometimes, even though a person has information, he willfully commits a bad act to further his concealed motive. Socrates seemed to think otherwise: people only did wrong when at the moment the perceived benefits seemed to outweigh the costs. -
Plato maintains a virtue-based eudaemonistic conception of ethics. Moral values, according to Plato, are objective in the sense that they exist outside of subjective human conventions in a spirit-like realm. He believed they are absolute, or eternal, in the sense that they never change, and universal in the sense that they apply to all sensible creatures everywhere and at all times. -
Aristotle's ethics is concerned with behaviors that are beneficial to man's benefit, not with activities that are right in and of themselves, regardless of other considerations. Aristotle sets out to determine what this good is, as well as the science that corresponds to it. Aristotle claimed that virtues are learned good practices that help us control our emotions. Aristotle went on to say that most virtues are found in the middle of a range of severe character qualities. -
According to Thomas Hobbes, humans are essentially selfish creatures who will do anything to strengthen their status. Hobbes believed that if individuals were left to their own devices, they would act on their bad impulses; hence, they could not be trusted to make decisions on their own. Furthermore, he believed that nations, like persons, are motivated by self-interest. Moral positivism, as defined by Hobbes, foresees a chaotic outcome if laws are not followed. -
“Do whatever produces the greatest good for the greatest number.” The theory contends that it is the effects of an action, not the motive, that determine whether or not it is right. The goodness or badness of an action is determined by its repercussions or consequences. An action is excellent if and when it produces positive effects, if it works, if it leads to success, and if it helps you achieve your goals. Otherwise, it is a disaster.