1
Ethics and Values
1.1 Ethics and Moral Conscience
For the Greek philosophers, wisdom was the search for knowledge. They reflected on the causes of things to explain the different phenomena of reality, such as the origin of the universe, the meaning of life, and the pursuit of truth.*
* The word philosophy comes from Greek and is composed of the words filos (love) and sophia (wisdom). Philosophy means “love of wisdom” and the invention of the term is attributed to the Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras (569–475 BC) around the year 530 BC. Pythagoras was considered wise but replied that he was not wise, but rather someone who aspired to be wise.
In the West, Thales of Miletus (625–547 BC) was the first philosopher. Thales is recognized ...