Classical Ethical Philosophies

 An Introduction
The unexamined life is not worth living .

-Socrates

He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good

commander .
-Aristotle

Life is really simple,but we insist on making It

complicated .
-Confucius
 Ethics and Philosophy

 The term ethics has several meanings. One of the meanings given to it by the
dictionary is: “the principles of conduct governing an individual or a
group.” We sometimes use the term personal ethics, for example,when referring
to the rules by which an individual lives his or her personal life. We use the
term accounting ethics when referring to the code that guides the professional
conduct of accountants.
 A second and for us more Important meaning of ethics according to dictionary
is this: “the study of morality.”Just as chemists use the term chemistry to refer
primarily to the study of morality. Although ethics deals with morality, it is not
quite the same as morality.
Philosophy, on the other hand, comes etymologically from
two Greek words; Philia, which means love and Sophia,
which means wisdom. It is the “study of the fundamental
nature of knowledge, reality, and existence “(New Oxford
American Dictionary, 2005).It helps us better understand
who we are, why we are here, and where we are going
Three Branches og philosophy

1.Metaphysics- answers the question “what is the

nature of reality?”
2.Epistemology-answers tje question " what is the
nature of knowledge?”
3.Axiology-answers the question “what is the nature of
values?”
 Three Branches of philosophy

• Metaphysics- is concerned with reality and existence. It is the philosophy of being. It can be subdivided into two
categories. (1)ontology, which deals with the nature of existence; and (2) cosmology, which inspects the origin
and organization of the universe.

• Epistemology- raises questions about the nature of knowledge. Logic is the key dimension to epistemology. We
can distinguish between: (1)deductive logic (moving from general to specific);and (2) inductive logic (that is,
from specific facts).

• Axiology – explores the nature of values. This can be subdivided into:(1) ethics, which studies human conduct
and examines moral values ; and (2) aesthetics, which values beauty, nature, and aesthetics experience .
 Strands of Philosophy

IDEALISM- this is Considered as the oldest

philosophy of western Culture. It refers to the world
of mind and idea’s, where reason is primary. Leading
proponents of idealism are:
Socrates
(Greek philosopher)

Socrates was
a Greek philosopher
from Athens who is
credited as the founder of
Western philosophy and
among the first moral
philophers of
the ethical tradition of
thought.
Plato
(Greek philosopher, “Father of
idealism”

Plato was an ancient Greek

philosopher of the Classical
period who is considered a top
thinker in Philosophy. Plato
founded the Academy, a
philosophical school
in Athens where Plato taught the
doctrines that would later
become known as Platonism
Augustine (Theologian of the
4th and 5th centuries)

Augustine of Hippo was a

philosopher and theologian born
in Roman Africa (present-day
Algeria). He followed the
Manichaean religion during his
early life, but converted to
Christianity in 386. His two
major works, Confessions and
City of God, develop key ideas
regarding his response to
suffering ...
Reńe Descartes

Descartes' dualism of mind and

matter implied a concept of
human beings. A human was,
according to Descartes, a
composite entity of mind and
body. Descartes gave priority to
the mind and argued that the
mind could exist without the
body, but the body could not
exist without the mind.
Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant was a

German philosopher and
one of the
central Enlightenment thin
kers.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Hegel

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

was a German philosopher and
one of the most influential
figures of German idealism and
19th-century philosophy.
Strands of Philosophy

REALISM- this can be considered as the

antithesis of idealism, whereby “the Universe exist
whether mind perceives it or not. “ The leading
proponents of Realism are:
Aristotle
(Greek philosopher, “Father of
Realism”)

Aristotle was an Ancient Greek

philosopher and polymath. His
writings cover a broad range of
subjects spanning the natural
sciences, philosophy,
linguistics, economics, politics,
psychology, and the arts.
Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St

Alban known as Lord
Verulam between 1618 and 1621,
was an English philosopher and
statesman who served as Attorney
General and Lord Chancellor of
England under King James I. Bacon
led the advancement of both natural
philosophy and the scientific
method and his works remained
influential even in the late stages of
the Scientific Revolution.
John Locke

Liberalism is a political
and moral philosophy based on
the rights of the
individual, liberty, consent of
the governed, political equality,
right to private property
and equality before the law.
Comenius, Rousseau, and
Pestalozzi

France, during the mid 18th century,

Jean Jacques Rousseau put forth a
newtheory of educational pedagogy.
John Comenius (1592-1670) was a
Moravian clergyman, and the first
person torecognize the age
differences in children's ability to
learn.
Some people consider Johann
Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827) to
be the firstapplied educational
psychologist
Strand of Philosophy

Neo-theism- This would date to the time of

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), and is also
known as theistic realism, whereby “God exist
and can be known through faith and reason.”
Thomas Aquinas
(1225-1274)

Thomas was an Italian

Dominican friar and priest, an
influential philosopher and theol
ogian, and a jurist in the
tradition of scholasticism from
the county of Aquino in
the Kingdom of Sicily.
 Strands of Philosophy

Contemporary philosophies

a.Pragmatism- also known as experimentalism

(experience of things that work). The leading
proponents were:
Auguste Comte

Isidore Auguste Marie François

Xavier Comte was a French
philosopher, mathematician
and writer who formulated the
doctrine of positivism. He is often
regarded as the first philosopher of
science in the modern sense of the
term.[2] Comte's ideas were also
fundamental to the development
of sociology, with him inventing the
very term and treating the discipline
as the crowning achievement of the
sciences.[
Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin was

an
English naturalist, geologist and
biologist widely known for his
contributions to evolutionary
biology His proposition that all
species of life have descended
from a common ancestor is now
generally accepted and
considered a fundamental
concept in science.
The Americans:
Charles Peirce

Charles Patrick Pierce[2]

(born December 28, 1953)
is an
American sportswriter, poli
tical blogger, liberal
pundit,[3] author, and game
show panelist.
William James

William James was an American

philosopher, psychologist, and the
first educator to offer
a psychology course in the United
States.[1] James is considered to be a
leading thinker of the late 19th
century, one of the most influential
philosophers of the United States
and the "Father of American
psychology.”
John Dewey

John Dewey was an

American philosopher
psychologist, and educational
reformer. He was one of the
most prominent American
scholars in the first half of the
twentieth century.
Contemporary philosophies

Existentialism- Appeared as a revolt against the

mathematical, scientific philosophies that
preceded it. The leading proponents were;
Soren Kierkegaard

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was

a Danish theologian,
philosopher, poet, social critic,
and religious author who is
widely considered to be the first
existentialist philosopher.[
Martin Buber

Martin Buber was an Austrian-

Jewish and Israeli philosopher best
known for his philosophy of
dialogue a form
of existentialism centered on the
distinction between the I–Thou
relationship and the I–It
relationship.[1] Born in Vienna,
Buber came from a family of
observant Jews, but broke with
Jewish custom to pursue secular
studies in philosophy.
Edmund Husserl

Edmund Gustav Albrecht

Husserl was an Austrian-
German philosopher and
mathematician who established
the school of phenomenology.
Martin Heidegger

Martin Heideggerwas a
German philosopher who is best
known for contributions
to phenomenology, hermeneutic
s, and existentialism. He is often
considered to be among the
most important and influential
philosophers of the 20th century.
Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard

Sartre was a French philosopher,
playwright, novelist, screenwriter,
political activist, biographer,
and literary critic, considered a
leading figure in 20th-century
French philosophyand Marxism.
Sartre was one of the key figures in
the philosophy
of existentialism (and phenomenol
ogy).
 Contemporary philosophies

Analytic philosophy- it sought out to clarify and define

philosophies. This began in post WWI era (the Vienna
Circle) and studied the alienation between philosophy and
science. It established the concept of logical positivism, that
is, there are logical and empirical types of scientific
expression. Analytical philosophy has recently focused on
political philosophy, ethics, and philosophy of the human
sciences.
Thank you