The purpose of this essay is to explore Virtue Ethics as an Ethical Philosophy that is more interested in virtues rather than the rules and principles of ethics. While exploring the moral character is important to this approach to normative ethics, it is worth mentioning that it is possible to boil down the two other major approaches – Deontology and Consequentialism – to Virtue Ethics. Upon further investigation, it becomes apparent that many defenses of ‘duties’ or Deontology, implicitly appeals to the consequences of our actions, even if those consequences are hidden behind a veil of mystery or authority. If this was not the case, the concept of duties would not make any sense since no matter what we do, no outcome will have a preferable …show more content…
(2015), unlike other ethical philosophies that emphasize learning and following rules, Virtue Ethics is more concerned with developing the moral character and good habits which necessitates education at an early age and lifelong learning in order to acquire virtues like courage, kindness and determination.(a.Virtue Theories).
This ethical type make sense since it takes in account reflections on human condition, what it means to be human and thrive in the long run, what sort of human being we want to be, and all the historical lessons learned from the success and failure of generations people in reaching their potential. The strength of this theory is to count in emotions, community, balance between self-interests and others’ interest and incorporate them in developing traits or virtues that make us better at making decisions that affect ours and others well-being with minimum or no infringement on the rights and well-being on other human beings. Virtue Ethics looks at the bigger picture and tries to address dilemmas from a human perspective rather than the mechanical and calculative
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I’ve seen many people that at night send money to poor children in other parts of the world, while in the day are so hateful and judgmental and make life miserable for others and when are confronted with this fact they say but we are
Can a character trait be taught? Or is Virtue something that comes from within not from the outside. The Nature of teaching is very factual its imprinting ideas on a person. In school we are taught knowledge knowledge of the world. Teaching cannot teach us Virtues.
My opposition to torture fall under the beliefs of the absolutist Kant, who states that no matter what the circumstance is, something that is wrong will always be wrong (Boothe 2006, 12). Therefore, concerning the issue of torture, in this world or any other world, torture is immoral. In this paper, I will employ the ethical frameworks of virtue, rights, and fairness to argue against torture when viewed from the perspective of the victim, the torturer, and any outside source. Furthermore, I will dismantle the ticking-bomb scenario by deducing the incapability to achieve full certainty deeming these scenarios unrealistic.
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book ll, is about his idea of how people should live a virtuous life. Throughout this book, he explains that humans learn virtue from instructions and we learn virtue from practice too. Virtue is something that is very important because it is a moral habit that results in keeping our moral values. Aristotle believed that nobody is born with virtue, everyone has to work at it daily. After reading Nicomachean ethics, Book ll, my main conclusion of it is that us as humans are better off being virtuous than simply doing what we feel like doing at any moment in time.
Aristotle describes virtue theory as an ethical theory that emphasizes an individual 's character rather than following a set of rules. Breaking it down even further to specify knowing right from wrong, being able to read an atmosphere by knowing what is right, and it is the midpoint between two extremes. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. display to be a virtue ethicists through his letter oppose to being a deontologist or utilitarian. Laws define a set of rules that the people should follow; however, there are unjust laws that are meant to be challenged.
Deontology which is derived from the Greek words Deon (meaning obligation/duty) and logia (science/study) combined to be also known as duty or rule-based ethics or the study of duties or obligations. It is a branch of ethical theories that deals with ethics of conduct, which theories are based on the sort of actions people must perform. It is based on non-consequentialism where the ends do not justify the means and thus deontology is an approach to ethics in which a sense of duty or principle prescribes the ethical decision (Preston, 2007). Deontology affirms duties must be obeyed regardless of the consequences. The theory of Deontology has its flaws as well and this essay will present three criticisms of deontology namely that deontology relies on moral absolutes, allows acts that make the world a worse place, two permissible duties that are right can conflict with each other and will demonstrate these flaws with relevant case studies and dilemmas.
Decisions about right and wrong fill each and every day. Turmoil exists due to deciding if Deontology, where one acts based on the right motives, or if Utilitarianism, where one should act in a way that would produce the best results and consequences, should govern decisions and their morality. However, I believe Deontology, which is reason and duty based, serves as the superior way to dictate morality. In this paper, I will explain both the principles of Deontology and Utilitarianism, discuss the superior aspects of Deontology as compared to Utilitarianism, as well as grapple with objections to Deontology. While both ethical frameworks contain parts of ideologies that could be seen as valid, Kant’s theory on Deontology holistically remains
Rosalind Hursthouse brings up the concept of the virtue theory in her argument. Hursthouse argues that virtue theory determines what is good and what is bad by having a set of rules in place that force us to lean towards the good in life. The set of rules will be a set of virtues that are essential for humans to thrive and flourish. Hursthouse suggests virtue theory as a way to determine whether abortion is okay or not. The status of the fetus is one of the major keys determining whether the abortion is appropriate or not appropriate, but according to Hursthouse the status of the fetus does not apply into the virtue theory.
The divine command theory, utilitarianism, Kant’s duty defined morality, natural law theory, and Aristotle’s virtue ethics are the five types of ethical theories. The divine command theory states that what is morally right and wrong will be decided by God. Utilitarianism states that “Action “A” is morally right if and only if it produces the greatest amount of overall happiness. Kant’s duty defined morality states that what is important is acting for the sake of producing good consequences, no matter what the act is. Natural law theory states that people should focus on the good and avoid any evil.
The concept of ethics entails systemizing, justifying, and recommending right and wrong conduct. It involves in practical reasoning: good, right, duty, obligation, virtue, freedom, rationality, and choice. Humanity has questioned this concept of ethics and ‘good’ for as long as it has survived, as it deals with real-life issues such as “what is morally right and wrong?” and “how do people ought to act?”
Aristotle’s virtue ethics differs from other moral theories. Unlike deontology and consequentialism, virtue ethics emphasizes and describes moral characters (virtues). In my paper, I am going to explore the objection to virtue ethics from a relativist point of view and the responses to this objection that were presented in Nussbaum’s paper “A non-relative approach to virtue ethics.” Furthermore, I am going to present two out of three relativist objections to her responses that she anticipated, and her responses to them.
The idea of virtue ethics was first introduced to the world by Aristotle over 2,300 years ago in 325 BC (Rachels 173). Virtue ethics operate on the belief that people develop good character by looking at the virtues they admire in other people and emulating them. In order to do this, a person must ask themselves what kind of person they want to be and focus on choosing characteristics not specific people to emulate. Unfortunately, virtue ethics were quickly overshadowed by other perspectives on ethical theory as Christianity gained popularity and values changed. As time went on people stopped asking themselves, “What traits make a good person?”
Throughout history many great philosophers have attempted to unravel the origins of virtues by developing moral theories of their own. This document is designed to provide the reader with an overview of some of the more popular theories concerning morals. Three of the most popular moral theories are… Utilitarianism, Kantianism, and Aristotelianism. Though Utilitarianism, Kantianism, and Aristotelianism differ in many ways, they also share similar fundamentals. Utilitarianism is a highly acclaimed theory that is morally based on consequentialism.
In today’s world, many people tend to have a set of ethical principles which is one of the guidelines for them to follow on. The question is how he or she defines ethics? To answer, Ethics is best defined as knowing what is right or wrong in the action based on the moral principles. Moreover, it is also known as the branch of knowledge that deals with ethical issues. In relation, there are some ethical theories which deal with the ethical issues.
Virtue theory is more comprehensive and practical than traditional approaches to business ethics because it is about the type of person. Virtue theory is concerned with the cultivation of character and it provides happy life. Moral growth comes from choice rather than rules. Virtue ethics emphasizes the process of individual moral character development. Virtue theory helps to develop principles, tactics and procedures of business.
As children, we were taught by our parents that it is wrong to lie, cheat, and steal. As we grow up and enter into the real world with some knowledge of right and wrong, we see, first hand, the importance of ethics as well as its complexity. The role of ethics in our society and in an individual’s life is very necessary because it has a large influence on today, as well as the future. We need to learn about good ethics because they guide our decisions, make us who we are, and determine our future.