Module 3
Module 3
Module 3
1. Epicurus,
Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher who founded the school of philosophy known
as Epicureanism. He lived from 341 BCE to 270 BCE and was born on the island of Samos,
later establishing his philosophical school in Athens. Epicurus' philosophical ideas focused
on attaining happiness and tranquility through the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance
of pain, but his concept of pleasure differed from hedonism and involved moderation and
intellectual pursuits.
Key Aspects of Epicurus' Philosophy:
a. Hedonism of the Mind: Epicurus believed that the highest pleasure is intellectual and
tranquil, rather than physical. He argued that mental pleasures, such as knowledge,
friendship, and the absence of fear and anxiety, bring the most profound and lasting
happiness.
b. Ataraxia (Tranquility): Epicurus emphasized the attainment of ataraxia, which is a state
of inner peace and tranquility achieved by freeing oneself from unnecessary desires
and fears. By reducing unnecessary wants and worries, individuals can find
contentment and lead a more serene life.
c. Minimalist Lifestyle: Epicurus advocated for a simple and modest lifestyle. He believed
that excessive material possessions and luxurious desires only lead to discontent and
anxiety, hindering one's pursuit of true happiness.
d. Absence of Pain: Epicurus viewed the absence of pain (aponia) as another essential
aspect of happiness. By minimizing physical and mental pain, individuals can
experience a greater sense of well-being and pleasure.
e. Friendship and Community: Epicurus valued friendship and the importance of a
supportive and close-knit community. He believed that genuine and meaningful
relationships contribute to happiness and provide a sense of security.
f. Materialism and Atomism: Epicurus adopted a materialistic view of the universe. He
believed that everything is composed of atoms and that the natural world operates on
deterministic principles.
g. The Finite Nature of the Soul : Epicurus rejected the idea of an afterlife and believed
that the soul is mortal and ceases to exist upon death. This belief aimed to relieve
anxiety and fear associated with the fear of death.
h. Epicureanism was influential during the Hellenistic period and beyond, attracting many
followers who sought a philosophical path to a tranquil and contented life. Although
Epicurus' ideas faced criticism and misconceptions, his emphasis on the pursuit of
inner peace and the cultivation of true, intellectual pleasures continues to inspire
philosophical discussions on happiness and the good life.
2. Aristotle, an Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath, and Plato’s student for about 20
years.
Aristotle’s ethics begins with the observation that all beings seek their perfection.
He believed that ‘happiness’ is really to be founded in the attainment of human
perfection or self-realization.
He then goes on to distinguish between two kinds of human actions that can help us
attain authentic happiness and these are the moral and intellectual virtues.
The moral virtues are thought to include traits such as courage, justice, honesty,
compassion, temperance, and kindness. Intellectual virtues are thought to include
traits such as open-mindedness, intellectual rigour, intellectual humility, and
inquisitiveness.
He gives pride of place and space to the five intellectual virtues: practical knowledge
(techne), prudence (phronesis) ratiocination or the ability to make arguments and
proofs thanks to logic (episteme) Teleological Ethics Hedonistic (Epicurus, Hobbes)
Ethical Egoism Eudaimonia (Aristotle) Personal Utilitarianism (Bentham) Social
Utilitarianism (Mill) Western Philosophy intuitive insight (nous) and wisdom (sophia),
the highest and noblest of them all.
Eudaimonia Aristotle believed that eudaimonia is attained through living a virtuous
life. Virtues are character traits that promote moral excellence and lead to flourishing.
Examples of virtues include courage, wisdom, justice, and self-control.
3. The golden mean: The Golden Mean is the idea of seeking balance and moderation in
moral virtues, avoiding extremes of deficiency and excess in one's actions and character.
Example: Consider the virtue of courage. If someone lacks courage, they may be cowardly
and fail to take necessary risks. On the other hand, someone who displays excessive
courage might be reckless and put themselves and others in danger unnecessarily. The
Golden Mean, in this case, would involve finding the right balance of courage, being
neither too timid nor too impulsive, but rather displaying courage in appropriate situations
where it is morally justified and required. This moderate and balanced approach
represents the Golden Mean.
4. Thomas Aquinas OP, an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential
philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism.
He was arguably the greatest catholic luminary of the Middle Ages.
His Christian convictions led him to believe that only with the help of God’s grace – a
free, supernatural gift – could we attain our fullest encounter with our last end, in the
next life.
Aquinas believes that natural reason can demonstratively prove God’s existence.
Saint Thomas Aquinas believed that the existence of God could be proven in five ways,
mainly by: 1) observing movement in the world as proof of God, the "Immovable
Mover"; 2) observing cause and effect and identifying God as the cause of everything;
3) concluding that the impermanent nature of beings proves the existence of a
necessary being, God, who originates only from within himself; 4) noticing varying
levels of human perfection and determining that a supreme, perfect being must
therefore exist; and 5) knowing that natural beings could not have intelligence without
it being granted to them it by God.
5. Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher who is best known for his 1651 book Leviathan,
in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory.
In his classic book Leviathan named after the gigantic monster mentioned in the book
of Genesis and which was his image of the all-powerful state, Hobbes gave us his
description of “man in the free state of nature”.
Indeed that is why humans established the state: its primary aim was to prevent
humans from attacking each other, take away each other’s’ property and tear each
other to shreds.
The price each had to pay to attain this measure of peace and order was the sacrifice
some of his freedom and his natural desire to possess everything for himself.
The ethical teachings of Hobbes have been qualified in various ways. Some call it
“Ethical Egoism” in as much as it is based on the allegedly natural and reasonable
human urge to seek pleasure and self-preservation. Others prefer to dub it “Social
Utilitarianism” because it grounds law on the desire of humans to live in peace and
harmony with each other.
6. Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the
founder of modern utilitarianism.
Bentham was less a philosopher than a critic of law and of judicial and political
institutions. Unfortunately, he was not aware of his limitations.
He seems to have believed both that people are completely selfish and that each
person ought to promote the greatest happiness, no matter whose.
Bentham saw the ethical issue from a more individualistic point of view. His argument
was that, since society is made up of individuals, it would be quite in order to view the
whole subject from the perspective of individual utility-seeking as the basis of ethics.
Drawing apparently on Hobbes, he takes it as a clear datum that the seeking of
pleasure and the avoidance of pain are the chief human motives in decision making.
He advocated individual and economic freedoms, the separation of church and state,
freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and (in an
unpublished essay) the decriminalizing of homosexual acts.
7. Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers,
who is also known as “sage of Konigsberg” due to his major impact on the development of
contemporary western thought.
For Kant, the only thing that can be called “good” without qualification is a “good will”
– all other “goods,” such as health, wealth and long life can be used for bad ends: they
are only relatively “good”.
A will which acts for the sake of duty alone (and no other motive) is a good will. This is
perhaps Kant’s way of telling us that a “good will” does not act out of self-interest.
He derived three “postulates” from the undeniable fact of the categorical imperative:
human freedom, the immortality of the soul, and the existence of God.
Kant attributes moral worth only to action done from duty, not from disposition. For
example, Kant appears to condemn all lies as violations of a duty to oneself.
8. John Stuart Mill, an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP)
and civil servant, who is considered as one of the most influential thinkers in the history of
classical liberalism.
He widens his criterion to involve not just “the happiness of mankind, but “rather, of all
sentient beings”.
He suggested that what the individual seeks not his personal or private happiness but
the common happiness of all.
9. Emile Durkheim
A French positivist, whose thinking was affected by the rise of the natural sciences , he
is also hailed as the father of Sociology.
He concluded that religious rites, worship and dogma were nothing but various ways
and means to make people accept and submit themselves to the laws and customs of
their closed tribal group.
Moral laws, then, are nothing but positive laws enacted by a given society to ensure its
stability and preservation. In other words, the norm of morality is plainly and simply
concrete positive law. He considered them as sociological positivism.
Durkheim was most interested in the glue that holds society together, which means he
focused on the shared experiences, perspectives, values, beliefs, and behaviors that
allow people to feel that they are a part of a group and that working together to
maintain the group is in their common interest.