This document provides an overview of historical morality and ethics in Western philosophy. It discusses early Greek philosophers like Pythagoras, Democritus, and Anaxagoras. It then focuses on Socrates and his emphasis on virtue being knowledge. Post-Socratic schools are also summarized, including Cynicism emphasizing simplicity, Stoicism pursuing virtue and indifference, Hedonism viewing pleasure as the good, and Epicureanism seeing mental pleasures as superior to sensual ones.

1. Historical Survey of
Morality
Dr. JVP

2. Western Schools
1. Early Greek Philosophy
2. Christian Ethics: Patristic and Medieval
3. Medieval Jewish
4. Modern Period
5. 20th Century Schools

3.  Dates back to may be 100 yrs before Christ
 Predecessors of Socrates were more cosmological
in their approach.
 The transition of the Greek society from an
agrarian monarchy to commercial and industrial
changed their value system as well.
 Upper class (hereditarily) enjoyed more benefits
 Homer’s poems depicted a nobleman as one who
has discharged his allotted social functions
courageously, cleverly and kingly.
 Plato and Aristotle tried to regain those values of
the past while Athens was moving toward
urbanization.

4. i. Pythagoras: Founder of a religious
brotherhood which continued as a practical
philosophy school. Basic philosophy was of
numbers and its harmonious proportions
constitute all reality.
The nature of transmigration and reincarnation of
the soul after death was conditioned by the
good and evil actions performed in life. They
applied the concept of “mean” form mathematics
to ethics and regarded good moral behaviour
as a mean between mean and extremes.

5. Socrates
 If we relate the imperative “know they self” with “virtue is
knowledge” it seems possible to argue that a person will
never knowingly or purposefully harm himself.
 He will not entertain an evil, if he be well aware of himself
and all possible ill effects it will have o him.
 Socrates says, “It is evident that justice and every other
virtue is wisdom.” The various virtues are simply the
elements of wisdom. Self-control is one of the most
important virtues.
 Good is what is useful or capable of providing happiness for
man. Evil, on the other hand, stems form error, ignorance,
vanity, uselessness, harm and erroneous judgment.
 More than his teaching Socrates’ life itself was a great
lesson in ethics. In Plato’s Apology Socrates states:
“Therefore I say to you, men of Athens, either do as Anytus
tells you, or not and either acquit me, or not knowing that I
shall not change my conduct even if I am to die many
times over.”

6. II. DEMOCRITUS
• In his work “On Cheerfulness” he introduces the
idea of eudaimonia – well-being in Greek Ethics.
• Virtue consists in moderation or in measured activity
and in attaining the serenity of the spirit.
• Medical science heals diseases of the body but
wisdom rids the soul of passions

7. iii. Anaxagoras
• He is known as the originator of the term
“Nous” (mind or intelligence) which is infinite
and self-ruling. This concept had tremendous
influence on the later ethical teaching as the
directive principle of human conduct.

8.  Belonged to the group of Sophists whom neither
Plato nor Aristotle accepted as true philosopher.
 For Plato a sophist is a “rapid hunter after wealth
and youth,” and for Aristotle a Sophist is “one
who makes money from an apparent but unreal
wisdom.”
 Protagoras inclined towards skepticism,
subjectivism, and practical relativism.
 Professed no faith to God. The ethical ideal we can
reasonably draw from him is that for him each
individual man is the sole judge of what is true or
right for himself.
 Relativity and humanism comes up in his ethics.

9. Socratic Ethics
I. Socrates' Life (469-399 BC): Several features of Socrates'
life give some insight into his ethics.
◦ As a young man in battle, he distinguished himself for
bravery several times.
◦ Socrates exhibited a "daimon" (his genuis or demon)--a
sign or inner voice which issued prohibitory messages in
periods of dazes (suggestive of epilepsy).
◦ The Delphic Oracle: "There is no person living wiser than
Socrates." Socrates interpreted this response as indicating
his purported wisdom was simply that he knew he was not
wise.
◦ His persistent questioning of authorities and public figures
was probably aimed not to humiliate but to discover truth
with a view to the good life.
 Socrates considered himself a gadfly annoying the state.
 The "Socratic irony"--the profession of ignorance was probably
sincere but exaggerated because of his presumptions..
 Socrates irreverent cross-examination of prominent persons
aimed not to humiliate but to discover truth with a view to
finding the good life.

10.  Originator of Western secular ethics. He found
himself confronted with the peculiar cultural
relativism of the Sophists and the moral
conservative vocabulary based on the social
attitude of the Homeric Period and the heroes and
Gods of Greek religious mythology.
 Socratic method had three phases: Asking
questions, Profession of ignorance, and a common
search for definitions.
 “Virtue is knowledge.” “no one errs willingly.”
 Ignorance is the cause of all evil.”

11. Socratic Ethics
◦ The great example of the trial and death of Socrates
demonstrated, as well, the agreement between his
character and his philosophy.
 Socrates was found guilty of impiety (not worshipping the
gods the state worships), corruption of the youth (infusing
into the young persons the spirit of criticism of Athenian
society), among other accusations.
 Socrates refused to leave Athens, although he could have
escaped: (1) escape would have been contrary to his
moral principles and (2) escape would have been an
injustice to the state which was his parent, education, and
origin of law.
 Apology [28B]: "You are mistaken my friend, if you think
that a man who is worth anything ought to spend his time
weighing up the prospects of life and death. He has only
one thing to consider in performing any action--that is,
whether he is acting right or wrongly, like a good man or a
bad one" trans. Hugh Tredennick.

12. Socratic Ethics
II. Socrates was predominantly interested
in ethics.
◦ Self-knowledge is the sufficient condition to the
good life. He identified knowledge with virtue.
If knowledge can be learned, so can
virtue. Thus, virtue can be taught.
◦ The unexamined life is not worth living. One
must seek knowledge and wisdom before
private interests. Knowledge is sought as a
means to ethical action.
◦ What one truly knows is the dictates of one's
conscience or soul: the philosophy of the
Socratic Paradox.

13. Socratic Ethics
III. Socrates' ethical intellectualism has an
eudaemological character.
A. Socrates presupposed reason was the
way to the good life.
 Our true happiness is promoted by doing what is
right.
 When your true utility is served (tending your
soul), you are achieving happiness. Happiness is
evident from the long-term effect on the soul.
 The Socratic ethics has a teleological character --
mechanistic explanation of human behavior is
mistaken. Human action aims toward the good,
and there is purpose in nature.

14. Socratic Paradox
B. The Socratic Paradox: People act immorally, but they
do not do so deliberately.
 Everyone seeks what is most serviceable to oneself or
what is in one's own self-interest.
 If one [practically] knows what is good, one will always act
in such manner as to achieve it. (Otherwise, one does not
know or only knows in a theoretical fashion.)
 If one acts in a manner not conducive to ones good, then
that person must have been mistaken (i.e., that person
lacks the knowledge of how to obtain what was
serviceable in that instance).
 If one acts with knowledge then one will obtain that which
is serviceable to oneself or that which is in ones self-
interest.
 Thus, for Socrates…
◦ knowledge = [def.] virtue, good, arete
◦ ignorance = [def.] bad, evil, not useful
 Since no one knowingly harms himself, if harm comes to
that person, then that person must have acted in
ignorance.

15. Socratic Ethics
 Consequently, it would seem to follow we are
responsible for what we know or for that matter
what we do not know. So, then, one is responsible
for ones own happiness.
 The essential aspect of understanding the Paradox
is to realize that Socrates is referring to the good
of the soul in terms of knowledge and doing
what's right—not to wealth or freedom from
physical pain. The latter play no role in the soul
being centered.

16. Socratic Ethics
C. No one chooses evil or chooses to act in
ignorance.
 We seek the good, but fail to achieve it by
ignorance or lack of knowledge as to how to
obtain it.
 No one would harm themselves. When harm
comes to us, we thought we were seeking the
good, but we lacked knowledge.
 Aristotle's criticism: an individual might know
what is best, yet still do what's wrong.

17. Socrates' influence extended to
almost all areas of the history of
ethics in the West.
Socratic Ethics
Platonism Hedonism Cynicism Stoicism
teleological
character
Aristippus
Epicurus
Diogenes
Zeno of Citium
Epictetus
Marcus Aurelius
"the good" happiness
the example
of Socrates
emotional
independence;
self-knowledge

18. Socratic Ethics - Objections
IV. Objections to the Socratic Ethics
 If evil is never done deliberately or voluntarily, then evil is
an involuntary act and no one can properly be held
responsible for the evil that is done.
 Since the good is that which furthers a person's real
interests, it will follow that if the good is known, people will
seek it. But they don't.
 If moral laws are objective and independent of feelings, and
if knowledge is identified with virtue, then it would seem to
follow that moral problems are always capable of rational
resolution. But they are not.
 Psychiatric evidence is that people behave in an entirely
self-damning manner. St Paul said, "The good that I would
do, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do."
 Freud's disclosure of the unconscious indicates that
reasoning is rationalization.

19. Post-Socratic Ethics
Here we have the following schools of
ethical thoughts:
1. Cynicism
2. Stoicism
3. Hedonism
4. Epicurianism

20. 1. Cynic School
 The founder Antisthemes studied under Gorgian the Sophist and
admired the personal character of Socrates and accepted the
empahsis he gave to practice of virtue in opposition to the
hedonistic elements in Socratic philosophy.
 Other prominent figures in this school were Diogenes Thebes. The
relentlessly preached the need of practicing virtues and
vehemently denounced the common man’s search for pleasure.
 The Cynic ideal of virtue was simplicity of living. Antisthenes
regarded pleasure as evil and declared “Better madness than
surrender to pleasure.”
 Diogenes lived under the shade of a tub and scornfully rejected
the amenities of life. It is reported that he went out at mid-day
with a lighted lantern in search of an honest man.
 Thebes was a wealthy man, found happiness in poverty.
 Cynics developed a negative sort of ethics that showed no
interest in personal and social satisfaction.

21. 2. Stoicism
 Zeno is believed to be the founder of this school. Others
figures are Cleanthes of Assor, Chrysippus of Tasus, Seneca,
Epictetus of Hieropolis, and Marcus Aurelius.
 For Zeno, moral life was attainment of perfect good and
happiness. Hence this theory also was called as
“eudemonism”. Perfect happhiness can be attained only
through the practice of virtues. Virtue is in acting in
accordance with sound reason or living harmoniously with
nature. There four perfect internal goods for them: justice,
courage, temperance and knowledge. The ideal ethical life for
them was freedom fro passion and complete indifference to
joy and grief.
 According to Epictectus “the only real thing is to study how to
rid life of lamentation and complaint.” Spiritual tranquility is
correlated with strict sexual continence. We posses innate
moral principles which regulate our life.
 Marcus Aurelius: Man must live in obedience to nature or in
accordance with reason. They natural is necessary, the
necessary is reasonable, and reasonable is good. Emotions are
cause of misery.

22. Hedonism
 Ethical Hedonism is a form of normative ethics
which holds that pleasure, only pleasure is
intrinsically good and pain is evil.
 Aristippus and Epicurus were its early proponents.
In modern time Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart
Mill endorsed it.
 Aristippus was an admirer and friend of Socrates.
He and his friends Theodores, Hegsias and
Anniceris developed Cyrenaic Hedonism. He
emphazied sensual momentary pleasure resulting
from satisfied will (Stoicism did not do it). He
defined virtue as a sensation of gentle motion and
is of one kind only, and differs only in intensity,
degree and purity.
 Theodorus, being an atheist himself, developed

23. Epicurianism
 As Stoicism was the off shoot of Cynicism,
so was Epicurianism an outgrowth of
Cyrenic Hedonism.
 They stressed the superiority of “mental
pleasures over the sensual one.” Pleasures
ensuing from friendship, contentment,
peace, morality, and art were regarded as
superior in nature.
 Epicurus of Athens: He founded his own
school known as “ Garden of Epicurus.” He
was associated with sensualism.

24. Epicurianism
 Prudence or insight is need for the proper
exercise of virtues leading to pleasant life.
 It is not the possession of enormous quantity
but longer duration followed by moderation that
brings in real satisfaction. Mental pleasures last
longer hence they are better than sensual
pleasures.
 To be truly happy one has to keep away from
artificial desires such as longing for wealth,
excitement, fame, and power.
 Social relationship in friendship is encouraged.
 Pleasure is always good without sufficient
supportive arguments. All forms of pleasures
are not equally good. Or have equal worth.