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Arguments for virtue ethics
Virtue ethics and virtue approach in simple words
Arguments for virtue ethics
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Virtue Ethics
1. Define virtue ethics and explain its advantages and disadvantages. Use original examples to demonstrate your points.
Virtues are defined as positive character traits. Ethics are moral principles that govern a person 's or group 's behavior. Within normative ethics, these two ideas converge forming virtue ethics. Virtue ethics stresses the importance of an individual’s moral principles and character traits. Instead of having cultural customs or popular opinion guide and individual’s choices and actions, in virtue ethics, positive character traits govern a person 's or group 's behavior. In other words, virtue ethics focuses on an individual’s moral character as basis for his or her choices and actions, instead of good consequences.
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Encouraging people to acquire more virtues pressures their character to grow. Having no formula or theory means virtue ethics relies on self-improvement. Moreover, virtue ethics switches the focus from the act to the agent. Rather than feeding the homeless out of duty, an individual who has virtue ethics would do this because he or she is compassionate. Thus, virtue ethics emphasizes decisions and actions based on the moral agent and his or her moral well-being, not just on what is lawfully …show more content…
These virtues defined how I was and set me apart. When I look back at the person who I used to be and compare her to the person I have become, I realize I have to find these character traits in me in order to feel complete again. To start, I need to learn how to accept thigs as they are. Currently, I am not content with life because life didn’t go as planned. I made mistakes that I have to live with for the rest of my life and though these mistakes happened years ago, I haven’t forgiven myself. This transcends into other aspect of my life and how I interact with
Virtue ethics is an approach that “deemphasizes rules, consequences and particular acts and places the focus on the kind of person who is acting” (Garrett, 2005). A person’s character is the totality of his character traits. Our character traits can be goo...
On Virtue Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. http://www.oxfordscholarship.com. ———. "
According to Aristotle, a virtue is a state that makes something good, and in order for something to be good, it must fulfill its function well. The proper function of a human soul is to reason well. Aristotle says that there are two parts of the soul that correspond to different types of virtues: the appetitive part of the soul involves character virtues, while the rational part involves intellectual virtues. The character virtues allow one to deliberate and find the “golden mean” in a specific situation, while the intellectual virtues allow one to contemplate and seek the truth. A virtuous person is someone who maintains an appropriate balance of these two parts of the soul, which allows them to reason well in different types of situations.
Virtue ethics is a moral theory that was first developed by Aristotle. It suggests that humans are able to train their characters to acquire and exhibit particular virtues. As the individual has trained themselves to develop these virtues, in any given situation they are able to know the right thing to do. If everybody in society is able to do the same and develop these virtues, then a perfect community has been reached. In this essay, I shall argue that Aristotelian virtue ethics is an unsuccessful moral theory. Firstly, I shall analyse Aristotelian virtue ethics. I shall then consider various objections to Aristotle’s theory and evaluate his position by examining possible responses to these criticisms. I shall then conclude, showing why Aristotelian virtue ethics is an unpractical and thus an unsuccessful moral theory in reality.
them, it is fundamental to search for them , because virtues are voluntary acquired, we are not
Ethics are the principles that shape individual lives in modern society. It is a subjective idea that seems to have a standard in society. Ethics and morals are the major factors that guide individuals to make right and wrong choices. Something that is morally right to one person might be the very opposite of what another person would view as right. There are many factors that can trigger a change in an individual’s view of morality.
Hursthouse, R. (2003, July 18). Virtue Ethics. Stanford University. Retrieved March 6, 2014, from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/ethics-virtue
Is virtue all we need? Virtue epistemology is the theory that all of the things we believe are done so through an ethical process. They play an important role, in that our own personal experiences and intellectual facets are what drive this process. The fundamental idea of virtue epistemology is that knowledge is a form of a more general phenomenon, namely success through abilities. Which is turn means: knowledge is a cognitive achievement through cognitive abilities (perception, memory, experience, etc.). Knowledge doesn’t need to be anything beyond a justified true belief.
Virtue theory is the best ethical theory because it emphasizes the morality of an individual in which their act is upon pure goodness and presents as a model to motivate others. Aristotle was a classical proponent of virtue theory who illustrates the development habitual acts out of moral goodness. Plato renders a brief list of cardinal virtues consisting of wisdom, temperance, courage, and justice. This ethical theory prominently contradicts and links to other theories that personifies the ideal being. However, virtue theorists differ from their own expression of these qualities yet it sets a tone that reflects on the desire to express kindness toward others.
Aristotle, argued that he could not judge a person on the basis of one example and wanted to look at the whole over time. Additionally he argued virtue was found between the extremes of each characteristic. Balance between the extremes of emotion was his main concern (Manning and Stroud 59). Virtue ethics requires one to strive for excellence, a process that happens over a long period of time. It includes learning about ethics, struggling with them, and eventually living ethically (Class
Ethics are moral principles that can be used to help guide peoples decisions. We are all different and therefore our beliefs and opinions differ. There are many ethical theories, and according to Panza and Potthast (n.d.) the following are some that are widely used. Virtue ethics is one theory which states that personality is the most important thing. Living an ethical life, acting right, requires that one develops and demonstrates the quality of courage, compassion, wisdom, and temperance. It also requires that greed, jealousy, and selfishness is avoided. Utilitarianism states that the amount of happiness and suffering created by a person’s actions is what matters the most. As a result, acting rightly includes maximizing the amount of happiness and minimizing the amount of suffering around you. At times you may need to break some of the traditional moral rules to achieve such an outcome. Kantianism is another theory which highlights the principles behind actions rather than an actions results. It states that it requires to be motivated by good principles that treats everyone with respect. If you’re motivated by good principles, you overcome your animal instinct and act ethically. Another ethical theory is the Contract theory, which suggest that ethics should be thought of as terms of agreements between people. It suggests that doing the right thing means obeying agreements set by members rather than those of society. For this theory ethics isn’t necessarily about character, consequences, or principles. The last theory I’m going to mention is Care ethics. Care ethics focuses on ethical attention on relationships before other factors. As a result, acting rightly involves building, strengthening, and maintaining strong relationship...
Acquiring virtues takes place throughout a person’s whole life so it states there is a need to show that good actions are rewarding and that virtue is learnt through doing and following the example of virtuous role models, e.g. Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela. Whilst this is a strength in itself, what further makes the theory more favourable is the psychological context that can be given to this way of learning virtues. One psychologist Alfred Bandura put forward social learning theory in 1977 as a possible explanation of how we learn from our environment through observation and reinforcement. This can be linked to virtue ethics because it shows that we will watch role models and their behaviour and imitate it, developing a system of virtues that are rewarding which will ultimately lead us to eudaimonia. This gives some form of theoretical evidence to virtue ethics which makes it seem a more realistic way of thinking about goodness and how we must achieve
Virtue Ethics Virtue ethics is a theory used to make moral decisions. It does not rely on religion, society or culture; it only depends on the individuals themselves. The main philosopher of Virtue Ethics is Aristotle. The. His theory was originally introduced in ancient Greek.
When the theory is compared with the deontological or consequential theories, it is evident that the aim of virtue ethics is not to primarily make identification of universal principles that can only be applied in certain moral situations. On the other hand virtue ethics theories mostly deal with wider questions like, which is the best way to live?" or even "What is the meaning of good life?" and others like "What are some of the regularly considered proper family or social
This theory involves evaluating the individual making the decision rather than the actions or consequences themselves. Aristotle defined “virtue as a character trait that manifests itself in habitual actions.” (Boatright, 2012) This means that you are not considered virtuous because you did the right thing one time, you must be consistent. Virtue character traits include: compassion, courage, courtesy, etc. these traits not only allow for ethical decision making but they also provide happiness to the individual possessing the traits. When a person has virtue as a part of their character their actions will be moral and ethical without having to choose between what they want to do and what they should do – the decision would be the same. Their actions and feelings would coincide with the moral rationale of the virtue theory. Advantages of the virtue theory are instilling good moral character traits into individuals allowing for more ethical decision making based on personal character. Also, the virtue theory promotes happiness through good moral character which encourages people to make ethical business decisions but also ethical personal decisions – leading to a more fulfilling life. A disadvantage is virtue ethics is trying to determine a list of virtues that people should possess, each trait needs to be carefully