The ethics of the earlier thinkers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The ethics of the earlier thinkers - Essay Example Still others have no real faith and try to build a moral foundation out of their personal experience adding rules and content to it as the years go by. Some philosophers have talked of two worlds existing. One the world we live in and another better, more perfect world that exists somewhere else. This way of thinking is also the foundation of much theological thought too. Plato, like Descartes, believed that the mind and the soul were basically the same thing. However, unlike Descartes, Plato thought that the soul was eternal and didn’t with the body but changed its form and shape, as it was a kind of opposite. One of Plato’s most important concepts was his belief in the existence of two worlds: one a world of real things that we can see and one a world of forms, or perfect representations of these things. Plato was always about duality, both in objects and forms, but also in body and soul. For example, a spoon would exist on your table, but also somewhere else as a kind of perfect spoon. The same idea would apply to things like colours or animals. Homer, too, shared this idea. He saw the world as divided between mortals and gods. But for him it was possible to cross over between the worlds. Odysseus, for example, was able to visit the Underworld; Achilles was half-god and half-man. This concept was also shared by Aquinas, but somewhat less imaginatively. He believed that God was perfect and that we are but a shadow cast by this perfection. There is so much to write about when it comes to this subject. Morality is all around us and affects everything we do, all of our actions and all of our interpersonal relationships. Our lives are also determined by our view of the division of the world and the possible existence of God. This has been a popular concept throughout history, even if it has been overcome by ideas such as moral relativism in today’s world. For those reasons, it is very important to study and think about. I personally do not