1. Great Ethical Thinkers
Year 11 R and S Ethics
Great Ethical Thinkers

2. A Chronological List of Great Ethical Thinkers.
Socrates BC
Plato BC
Aristotle BC
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Hobbes
Immanuel Kant
Jeremy Bentham
JS Mill
WD Ross
Charles L Stevenson
Alasdair MacIntyre
Aldo Leopold
Joseph Fletcher
Peter Singer
Larabee
Van Hooft

3. Socrates (Born 469 BC - Died 399 BC)
Socrates was the son of a stonemason, who lived in Athens his whole life and found support from the family business, rather than working for himself. Socrates was a moral philosopher concerned with the conduct of virtuous life. He focused more on how things should be, as opposed to how things are.
Socrates did not document his thoughts, but his philosophy comes to us through his disciple, Plato.

4. Plato (Born 427 BC - Died 347 BC)
Plato was a philosopher in Greece. He was also a mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues and founder of the Academy of Athens.
Plato maintains a virtue-based conception of ethics. That is to say, human well-being is the highest aim of moral thought and conduct, and the virtues are the necessary skills and dispositions needed to attain it.
Quotes:
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something”

5. Aristotle Born in Greece 384 BC and died 322 BC
Aristotle was an Ancient Greek philosopher. When he was 17 he was sent to Athens for higher education where he was taught by Plato.
In 338 B.C., Aristotle went home to Macedonia to start tutoring King Philip II’s son, the then 13-year-old Alexander the Great.
Aristotle started his own school in Athens, called the Lyceum. On and off he spent most of the remainder of his life working as a teacher, researcher and writer at the Lyceum in Athens.
One of the main focuses of Aristotle’s philosophy was his systematic concept of logic. Aristotle’s wanted to come up with a universal process of reasoning that would allow man to learn every conceivable thing about reality. He liked to make detailed observations of the world, taking notes and records of what he saw. In this way Aristotle laid the foundation of science today.
Aristotle’s philosophy not only provided man with a system of reasoning, but also touched upon ethics. In Nichomachean Ethics, he prescribed a moral code of conduct for what he called “good living.” He asserted that good living to some degree defied the more restrictive laws of logic, since the real world poses circumstances that can present a conflict of personal values. That said, it was up to the individual to reason cautiously while developing his or her own judgment.
“Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time.”

6. Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas was born on January the 28th 1225 and died on March the 7th Thomas Aquinas was a saint, he also was a priest and doctor of the catholic church in Italy. Aquinas' Ethics are the ethics derived from Saint Thomas Aquinas. For Thomas Aquinas, philosophy is simply thinking about what one should and should not do. This family was against his religious life but he didn't care he stayed a catholic, his family sent
a woman to tempt him but he rejected her and
god gave him the title of “Angelic Doctor”.

7. Thomas Hobbes Born April 5th, 1588 Died December 4th, 1679
Thomas Hobbes called for an all-powerful sovereign who would serve the interests of the larger political community
Thomas Hobbes was a thinker with wide-ranging
range of thinker consisted of materialist,( (physical wellbeing, material Possessions) (nominalist,(only particluar objects exist) and empiricist (knowledge) views against Cartesian and Aristotelian alternatives.
Thomas Hobbes is now widely regarded as one of a handful of truly great political philosophers
“social contract theory” this was a quote he wanted to follow
Laws of nature-Hobbes argues that the state of nature is a miserable state of war in which none of our important human ends are reliably realizable. Happily, human nature also provides resources to escape this miserable condition.

8. Immanuel Kant - Jack Hudson
D.O.B - April konigberg Germany
D.O.D - February konigberg Germany
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher who is widely considered to be a central figure of modern philosophy. He argued that human concepts and categories structure our view of the world and its laws, and that reason is the source of morality. Kant argued that our experiences are structured by necessary features of our minds
Area of ethics - Morality
Type of ethical thinker - systematic thinker

9. Jeremy Bentham Name: Jeremy Bentham D.O.B: 15th February 1748
Background: Born in Houndsditch, London into a rich family. Was very literate from a young age and began studying Latin when he was 3 years old. Went to The Queen’s College in Oxford. Wrote the British argument against the Declaration of Independence. He advocated individual and economic freedom, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and the decriminalisation of homosexual acts. He called for the abolition of slavery, the abolition of the death penalty, and the abolition of physical punishment, including that of children
Areas of Ethics: Law
What type of Ethical Thinkers was he: Utilitarian

10. JS Mill DOB-Born in 1806 BOD -Died 1873
He was an English philosopher political economist and civil servant
Utilitarianism began with the philosophies of Jeremy Bentham ( ) and also John Stuart Mill ( ) so that means that JS Mill began the process of Utilitarianism.
John Stuart Mill modified the philosophy and developed it apart from Bentham’s hedonistic foundation. Mill focused on maximization of the general happiness by calculating the greatest good for the greatest number instead of Bentham’s theory
His areas of ethics was law
JS Mill was a Utilitarian thinker

11. WD Ross - Josh Rushton Name: Sir William David Ross
Born: 15 April 1877
Death: 5 May 1971
Background information: Sir William David Ross known as WD Ross was a Scottish philosopher known for his work in the area of ethics. He married in Completed studies at Balliol College, Oxford. Joined the Army in Received the Order of the British Empire in His wife died in 1953.
Ross critically edited and translated a number of Aristotle's works, and wrote on Greek philosophy.
Sir William David Ross was a moral realist, a non-naturalist and a intuitionist.
A moral realist is someone who doesn’t base his thinking on theory but rather what is actually occurring in the world at the time of the decision.
A non-naturalist is someone who adheres to the supernatural laws, God is the most important, doesn’t use science in decision.
He had notable ideas such a “Pluralist or “Generalist”.
The right and the good writen by WD ross was arguably his most important
piece he wrote.
Click this link!

12. Charles Leslie Stevenson
Birth: June 27, 1908
Death: March 14, 1979
Background: Charles Stevenson was an American analytical philosopher, best known for his work in metaethics.
Area of Ethics: Charles Stevenson’s main area was the study of the relations among moral language, thought, reality, and knowledge.
Type of Ethical Thinker: He was an emotivism ethical thinker which is a meta-ethical view that claims that ethical sentences do not express propositions but emotional attitudes.

13. Alasdair MacIntyre Born: 12th January, 1929 (Current Age 84)
Background: He is a scottish philosopher primarily known for his contribution to moral and political philosophy. He has a master of arts from the university of manchester. He was born in glasgow in the United Kingdom.
Areas of Ethics: A key figure in the virtue of ethics which has had a recent serge which is the central question of morality. Politically, MacIntyre's ethics informs a defence of the Aristotelian 'goods of excellence' internal to practices against the modern pursuit of 'external goods', such as money, power and status, that are characteristic of rule-based
Type of ethical thinker: MacIntyre emphasizes the importance of moral goods defined in respect to a community engaged in a 'practice'—which he calls 'internal goods' or 'goods of excellence'—rather than focusing on practice-independent

14. Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 - April 21, 1948)
Andrew Conway
Aldo Leopold
(January 11, April 21, 1948)
Aldo Leopold was an American author, scientist, ecologist, forester and environmentalist. After being a hunter in his younger age he grew respect for the animals he was hunting and instead turned towards creating ethics to help look after the animals and the environment.
His aim was wildlife management of the united states’ wilderness systems, and the preservation of animal and wildlife.
Click to add notes
WEBSITE

15. Joseph Fletcher Joseph Francis Fletcher
Born: April Newark, New Jersey Died: October
Was an American professor who founded the theory of situational ethics in the 1960s and was also a pioneer in the field of bioethics. Situational ethics basically states that sometimes other moral principles can be cast aside in certain situations if love is best served; "Love is the ultimate law." Fletcher was also a leading academic involved with abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, eugenics and cloning. He was originally was a Episcopal priest, but later identified himself as an atheist.
Quotes:
"We ought to love people and use things; the essence of immorality is to love things and use people."
"We need to educate people to the idea that the quality of life is more important than mere length of life. Our cultural tradition holds that life has absolute value, but that is really not good enough anymore. Sometimes, no life is better."

16. Peter Singer
Peter Albert David Singer was born on the 6th of July in He is an Australian Philosopher who is currently a professor of Bioethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. He approaches ethical issues through utilitarian and secular perspective. He is a believer in biocentrism and animal rights. He founded the centre for Human Bioethics.
“All arguments to prove man’s superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering the animals are our equals.” - Peter Singer
Website:

17. Mary Jeanne Larrabee
Mary Jeanne Larrabee has been a professor of philosophy since 1997, She is currently the director of peace, conflict and Justice studies program, She has published numerous articles in phenomenology, Husserl studies, Feminism, Asian philosophy and gender studies, and is currently researching theories of experience and the self within multiply and the self within multiply cultural contexts.

18. Name: Van Hooft Date of birth-22/06/1945 and is still alive today
Background-Stan Van Hooft was born in the Netherlands and migrated with his family to Australia in He attended school at nudgee college in Brisbane. He began his philosophical studies at the University of Melbourne in 1967 and went on to become a lecturer at Deakin university.
Bio-Stan van Hooft is a Professor of Philosophy at Deakin University in Australia. He is the author of Caring: An Essay in the Philosophy of Ethics, (Niwot, University Press of Colorado, 1995) and numerous journal articles on moral philosophy, bioethics, business ethics, and on the nature of health and disease. He is also a co-author of Facts and Values: An Introduction to Critical Thinking for Nurses, (Sydney, MacLennan and Petty, 1995). His Life, Death, and Subjectivity: Moral Sources for Bioethics, was published by Rodopi (Amsterdam and New York) in Stan published two further books in 2006: Caring about Health, (Aldershot, Ashgate), and Understanding Virtue Ethics, (Chesham, Acumen Publishers). Acumen Publishers published his Cosmopolitanism: A Philosophy for Global Ethics in July, This book was shortlisted for the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Research in Ethics in Also in 2010, Springer Verlag in Dordrecht published a collection of essays edited by Stan and Wim Vandekerckhove entitled Questioning Cosmopolitanism. His most recent book, Hope was published by Acumen in 2011.
His current research centres on Virtue Ethics, the concept of caring in contemporary moral theory, and the role of hope in politics and religion.
Area of ethics-Virtue ethics
What type of ethical thinkers were they-He bases his ethical thinking on the concepts of human nature and human rights rather than any metaphysical doctrines
The justification that ''charity starts at home'' is, however, deeply flawed. Charity knows no borders or boundaries. Charity requires that we should help anyone who is in need simply because they are a fellow human being.

19. Codes of Ethics
in Society

20. Australian Journalist Ethics
-Honesty
-Fairness
-Independence
-Respect the rights of others
-Do not Plagiarise
-Report and interpret honestly
-Do not place unnecessary emphasis on personal characteristics
-Do not allow personal interest or any beliefs in writing
-Identity yourself
-present pictures and sounds that are true and accurate
-Respect private grief and personal privacy
-Do your utmost to achieve fair correction of others.

21. Media Council- Advertising
Advertising shall:
- Comply with Commonwealth law and the law of the relevant state or territory
- Be truthful and not misleading or deceptive
- Clearly distinguishable
- Advertisements of a controversial nature shall disclose their source
- Scientific or statistical research in advertisements will be truthful and relevant
Advertising shall not:
- Encourage breaches of Commonwealth law or the law of the relevant state or territory
- Encourage dangerous behaviour or encourage illegal or unsafe road usage
- Engage in lawful discrimination and shall not demean the dignity of men , women or children
- Contain anything that says one community is better than another and cause a offence to the community
- Not exploit the superstitious
- Misleading or treat services unfair way

22. Business Ethics
Business Ethics, also known as corporate ethics, is a type of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral and ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of an individual or an entire organisation. These ethics reflect the philosophy of business, one who aims to determine the fundamental purposes of a particular company
Code of conduct for Victorian Employees-
- The purpose of the code is to promote adherence to the public sector values and the public sector commissioners may determine who the code applies to
- Public sector values include;
- Responsiveness - Impartiality - Respect - Human rights
- Integrity - Accountability - Leadership

23. A.M.A: Australian Medical Association
The A.M.A. code of ethics articulates and promotes a body of ethical principles to guide doctors’ conduct in their relationships with patients, colleagues and society.
Because of their special knowledge and expertise, doctors have a responsibility to improve and maintain the health of their patients who, either in a vulnerable state of illness or for the maintenance of their health, entrust themselves to medical care.
Each state and territory has laws regulating the prescription of medicine that determine: who can prescribe, what medicines, in what circumstances, in what manner, for what purpose, as well as additional conditions. As laws vary in each jurisdiction, doctors must be careful they understand and comply with the laws in force where they practice.
Doctors are trained to think independently, to make decisions, and to discharge their duty of care in the best interests of the patient.
The code of conduct for the A.M.A holds many expectations of ethical behaviours of doctors. Some of which include the doctor is to maintain the confidentiality of the patient, treat your patient with compassion and respect, when a personal moral judgement or religious belief prevents the doctor from recommending some form of therapy, they must inform their patient so they can seek help elsewhere, and they must keep themselves up to date on relevant medical knowledge, codes of practice and legal responsibilities.
Australian Medical Association Full code of ethics:

24. Victorian Police Emily Forrest
Victoria Police employees are expected to commit to the highest ethical standards.
I uphold the right in my role within Victoria Police by acting impartially, with integrity and by providing service excellence to everyone.
Employed in this field, there are many encounters that may be a complex situations. You need to be able to make professional and ethical decisions whilst upholding the legislation and organisational policy rules and guidelines., You also need to interpret and apply the values of human rights. Ensure that any of your decisons suit the human rights that are presented in the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act Be flexible in your approach, monitor your actions and seek advice from a supervisor if you’re unsure on how to deal with the situation. Use organisational values and also the ‘SELF’ test to guide your behaviour and decisional outcome.
Scrutiny: will your decision withstand public scrutiny by the community, Victoria Police, the Office of Police Integrity and other relevant parties?
Ethical: is your decision ethical and in compliance with Victoria Police policies, practices or procedures? Does your decision comply with our Code of Ethics and our professional and ethical standards?
Lawful: is your decision lawful having regard to the law, regulations and Victoria Police instructions
Fair: is your decision fair on the community, your colleagues, your family, yourself and others?