-
Self-knowledge, according to Socrates, is a sufficient requirement for living a decent life. He associates virtue with knowledge. Virtue, like knowledge, can be learned. "No one commits an evil act consciously, because doing wrong arises out of ignorance," he argues, adding that a person will only conduct moral evil if he lacks moral knowledge. Even if a person possesses information, he may willingly conduct terrible behavior in order to further his hidden motive.
-
Plato believed that moral standards are objective in the sense that they exist outside of subjective human conventions in a spirit-like realm. He held that they are absolute, or eternal, in that they never change, and also that they are universal insofar as they apply to all rational creatures around the world and throughout time.
-
Aristotle's ethics are concerned with behaviors that are beneficial to man's benefit, not with activities that are right in and of themselves, regardless of other considerations. According to Aristotle's "Golden Mean Principle," living a life of moderation is the key to happiness. We should avoid extremes in everything we do. For instance, when eating, we must consume the appropriate amount of food in relation to our bodies' requirements.
-
According to Thomas Hobbes, humans are essentially selfish creatures who will do anything to strengthen their status. Moral positivism, as envisioned by Hobbes, foresees chaos if laws are disobeyed. Businesses, for example, must abide by laws and government regulations, businessmen and managers must be law-abiding individuals, and business organizations must support the common good and the majority's interests.
-
According to economists Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, utilitarianism is the underlying concept of morality or natural laws, which requires us to seek peace. The maxim "Do whatever creates the greatest good for the greatest number" epitomizes utilitarian ethics, which contends that the effects of an action, not the motive for the activity determines its morality.