The Classical Philosophers and Philosophies

and Their Implications on Business

1. Socrates (469-399 BCE)- “The Gad-fly at the Marketplace” is one of the few
individuals whom one could say have shaped the cultural and intellectual
development of the world for without him, history would be profoundly different.
This is Socrates’s philosophical idea:
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates pointed out that human choice
was motivated by the desire for happiness.
Socrates thought of the Entrepreneurs. The Socratic Method is a way of thinking
that allows individuals to define their own purpose of learning and exploring its purpose
through open-minded questioning of what they hold to be true. Socrates insisted on a
right to think of ourselves by introducing the philosophical concept,
“Dare to Disagree”.
2. Plato – “The Philosopher-King” is one of the world’s best known and most widely
read and studied philosophers. He was the student of Socrates and the teacher of
Aristotle. He wrote in the middle of the 4th Century BCE in ancient Greece. This is
Plato’s philosophical idea:
“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad
people will find a way around the laws.”
Plato maintains a virtue-based eudemonistic conception of ethics. That is to say,
happiness or well-being (eudaimonia) is the highest aim of moral thought and conduct,
and the virtues (aretê: excellence) are the requisite skills and dispositions needed to attain
it.
3. Aristotle – “All or Nothing” (384-322 BCE) is a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy,
contributing to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine,
dance, and theater. These are some of
Aristotle’s philosophical ideas:
“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim, and end of human existence.”
“Let people seek fulfillment.”
The word happiness in ethics is a translation of the Greek term “eudaimonia” which connotes success
and fulfillment. For Aristotle, this happiness is our highest goal. In relation to business, Aristotle concludes
that the role of the leader is to create an environment in which all members of an organization can realize their
potential.
4. Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). “Duty based Ethics”. He is one of the most influential philosophers in
the history of Western Philosophy. He was not concerned with the consequences of one’s actions or the
harm caused to one’s individual interests. Instead, he is focused on motives and the willingness of
individuals to act for the good of others, even if the action might result to personal loss. Doing something
for the right reason was more important to Kant than any particular outcome.
For example, business ethics is littered with cases of companies that have suffered damaging crises
due to their leaders’ lack of commitment to act based on goodwill and about what benefits others.
5. Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill- “Utilitarianism” revolves around the concept of “the end
justifies the means”. It believes that outcomes, as a result of an action have a greater value compared to the
latter.

Utilitarianism is a philosophy or belief suggesting that an action is morally right when the majority of
people benefit from it. Also, the doctrine that an action is right as it promotes happiness, and that the greatest
happiness of the greatest number should be the guiding principle of conduct. Utilitarianism is a moral theory

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that advocates actions that promote overall happiness or pleasure and reject actions that cause unhappiness or
harm. A utilitarian philosophy, when directed to making social, economic, or political decisions, aims for the
betterment of society.