Ancient Greek Ethics

 Philosophical reflection on ethical codes started with the Greek Sophists, they were teachers who traveled around teaching the art of public speaking. Protagoras denied the existence of objective moral truth and defended a version of moral relativism. Plato claimed, “whatever the city establishes as just, is just for that city as long as it judges so.” I think that for people to start saying their own opinions about different topics, especially ethics, was a great action in the world that had bigger consequences after, this was a start of a huge revolution and change of minds around all the world. 

Callicles contrasted moral laws as human conventions and laws of nature. He also argued that moral codes were inventions of a weak majority so there were few powerful people. He said that weak men promote equality since it is the best they can reach. I think these ideas are wrong because the moral laws are not about who has more power, they are about equality and how everyone should be treated equally because they have the same value, and what Callicles is saying is just contradicting this function.

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle had a question that still makes us question ourselves: Why be moral? Aristotle’s idea was that happiness depends on a creature’s perfecting its natural endowments. In a certain way, I think this is right because you do have a choice about our emotions and how will you manage each one.

I think the begging of Ethics was something that gives a turn to the world and to people´s opinions about several laws and governments, and not only that but their own lives and how are they acting.

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/History_of_Ethics