Tag: #Ethics

Ancient

Aristotle: 'All Human Beings by Nature Desire to Know' — The Master of Those Who Know Who Classified and Systematised the World

Aristotle critically inherited Plato's theory of Forms and single-handedly constructed a comprehensive system spanning metaphysics, logic, ethics, natural philosophy, and politics. Through the four causes and the framework of potentiality and actuality he explained being and change, and with the doctrine of the mean and eudaimonia he laid the foundations of Western ethics.

Ancient

Zeno (Stoic): 'Live According to Nature' — The Philosopher Who Accepted Fate and Held Virtue Alone to Be Good

Zeno of Citium made 'living in accordance with nature' the foundational principle of ethics and founded Stoic philosophy, which holds virtue alone to be good. His thought passed through the Roman Empire to influence modern ethics and cognitive behavioural therapy.

Ancient

Epicurus: 'Pleasure Is the Beginning and End of the Good' — The Philosopher Who Dispelled Fear and Taught the Gentle Life

Epicurus inherited Democritus's atomism while placing 'pleasure' as the criterion of the good, and founded a philosophy that dispels the fear of death and dread of the gods. His thought connects deeply to modern science, utilitarianism, and existential inquiry.

Ancient

Seneca: 'Life Is Long Enough, If You Know How to Use It' — A Stoic Practitioner Caught Between Power and Philosophy

As Nero's tutor and de facto regent, Seneca stood at the centre of imperial power while dispensing Stoic prescriptions for time, anger, and death. The contradiction between his vast wealth and his sermons on frugality is precisely where his practical philosophy — philosophy that refuses to stay in the study — draws blood.

Ancient

Seneca's De Ira: Anatomy and Cure of Anger — A Chapter-by-Chapter Reading

Seneca's De Ira condemns anger as 'a brief madness,' breaks down its mechanism into three stages, and sets out concrete techniques for prevention and cure across three books.

Ancient

Diogenes: 'Deface the Currency' — The Dog Philosopher Who Gave Civilization the Finger

Diogenes lived in a storage jar, held up a lantern in broad daylight and said 'I am looking for a human being.' He stripped away property, honor, and shame, proving through his body alone that philosophy is a way of life.

Ancient

Plato's Apology of Socrates: Philosophy on Trial — A Record of the Man Who Argued for the Examined Life at the Cost of His Own

In 399 BCE Socrates stood before an Athenian jury of over 500 citizens, charged with impiety and corrupting the youth. Plato's Apology records how, facing a death sentence, the philosopher declared that 'the unexamined life is not worth living' and refused to abandon his mission of inquiry to the very end.