St. Augustine: Since we are all together in our miserable condition on earth, and since we are all children of one Creator, we ought to help one another as much as we can. This state exists for penal and not social reasons and was designed this way by God. The evils of this world are therefore to be seen as either goods in disguise or well merited punishments. This is in direct contrast with classical view of human self-control, self-discipline, and self-sufficiency.

St. Thomas Aquinas: Held that human being is created by God (creationism), is guided through life by God (predestination), is saved by or reunited with God (Salvation) and therefore the end of human being is a supernatural end (Beatitude)! The read and highest end for human beings is a final state of blessedness which is granted only by the grace (power) of God and is impossible for humans to achieve by their own efforts. Grace cannot be refused.

David Hume: The great Scottish skeptic. Our individual ethical and moral principles come directly from the society of which we are part. Moral goodness is not something independent and objective. Ethics are universal, social and useful. They are useful to others (justice, honor, allegiance, chastity), useful to ourselves (caution, enterprise, frugality, discretion), agreeable to ourselves (cheerfulness, self-esteem, courage), and agreeable to other people (politeness, good manners, modesty, decency). Planted seeds for Utilitarianism.

Immanuel Kant: Philosopher of German enlightenment. “Rational causality” is called the Will. Not caused by anything other than itself. It is freedom. Reason has the power to override passion. Criteria for moral law: universality (spring only from universal principle), humanity (humans are ends in themselves), autonomy (not imposed on us, we do the imposing). Three pillars of ethics are duty, universalizability, and respect for human beings. Categorical imperative, “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end and never simply as a means.” We must get away from authority of religion because it differs from religion to religion and tends to be dogmatic. Cultural orientation is similar. When we lie, cheat, steal it is not others that we harm nearly as much as ourselves, for in essence we have literally lost our integrity. Problems: 2 universalizing principles can be in conflict (lie to preserve life). Great idea but fails test of everyday decisions and problems.

Soren Kierkegaard: Existentialism. The individual creates himself through individual choices. One does not act ethically because he or she is ethical; one is ethical because he or she acts ethically. Believed God’s commands are ultimate guide to human behavior. Deeply religious. He forgets that to surrender oneself to God, one actually gives up freedom to “choose.”

Friedrich Nietzsche: Spoke by way of aphorisms (short succinct and subtle expressions of principles and precepts). “Live your life as a work of art.” “There is nothing as immoral as morality.” “The self is something which is created. It is not a given.” Ubermensch is Overperson. Vivid, vital, vibrant, and vigorous person whose love and exuberance of life is controlled and sublimated in the way of an eminent intellectual hero who is distinguished by the prominent quality of his character. Major ethical theory centers upon self-discipline, self-mastery, and self-perfection. Individuals are most successful and self-realized when there is a synthesis between Dionysian (passion) and Apollonian (reason). The raw vital power of will which is continually welling up within us must not be denied or suppressed, but controlled positively and constructively. Darwin emphasized external circumstances while Nietzsche focused in internal powers as creators of personality. By personal choice you can become a slave or master. Famous statement “God is Dead.” Not to be taken literally. God as a cultural phenomenon is gone. Since believe in god is absent in modern secular world, there are no absolute values. Ethics are changeable and rise out of social context of life.

Charles Darwin: Survival of the fittest. A natural selection occurs among the offspring of a species. Evolution results for this natural selection. Fitness is an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce. Organisms possessing adaptive feature are fit. Nothing is said about strength, aggression, and competitiveness. None of these features are necessarily conducive to fitness. It depends on the environment. There is no direction or purpose involved in evolution.