Exploring Aristotle's Theory of Virtue Ethics

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Life as we know it is full of wonder and mystery. Questions are essential in order for us to discover the world around us and especially understand where we stand in the world. Many philosophers find their inspiration in Aristotle’s work. His work is legendary and his name is known throughout the world. As a philosopher, Aristotle questioned life around him in order to better understand the world and how humans work. One of those various questions included, “What makes a good person?” This question resolves around the theory of virtue ethics. This theory stresses how character and virtue play a major part in moral philosophy. According to Aristotle, someone who has excellent attributes is defined as being virtuous. Both Plato and Aristotle are known as the founding fathers of this theory of virtue. Aristotle is credited more with this theory than Plato. Around the 19th century virtue ethics declined, but resurfaced in the late 1950’s in Anglo-American philosophy. Virtue ethics has risen to prominence once again because of its focus on the virtuous character traits of individuals that help one choose to live virtuously. Aristotle lived between 384-322 B.C.E. He is still considered one of the greatest philosophers of all time. One reason These two theories are concerned about actions of an individual. How should I act in this particular situation? This question has more to do with right and wrong behaviors. For virtue ethics, they tie in questions that concern an entire person’s life rather than the actions they partake in at a current point in time. Virtue ethics touches on how a person should live and what type of person should we strive to be in life. With virtue ethics a person should strive to be someone with a good character. According to this theory we must be virtuous in character. Character is key for an individual to live the right

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