Comparing Plato And Aristotle And Kantian Ethics And Theoristian Ethics

Studying ethics today will eventually reveal 3 different ethical theories, the ancient ones of Plato and Aristotle, who vary very minimally different from each other and are largely very similar, and then the contemporary ones of Kantian Ethics and Utilitarianism, which have some similarities with each other but are very much different from the ancient ones.

The main differences start with what kind of ethics each one deals with. Aristotle and Plato’s theories fall under ethics of character or “virtue ethics,” believing that the role of one’s character the virtues they possess and employ are best for determining and evaluating ethical behavior. While Kantian ethics and Utilitarianism fall under ethics of conduct, or actions. Then they each

This is so because virtue ethics line up very closely with what Christians believe. This theory of ethics is concerned with the person behind the actions over the actions themselves. It takes into account the person’s attitude, motive, emotions, habits, and lifestyle to determine if they are ethical. This is very similar to Christianity because they do the same thing when determining the state of their hearts and their relationship with God. Also, Christianity has its own theory of ethics, dubbed “Christian Ethics” that are mostly based off of Aristotle’s work and ideas. This alone shows the value of his theory to Christians. Also, just like Aristotelian ethics, Christian ethics has a list of virtues and principles by which one should try to live by. The virtues for Christian ethics are; Prudence, which can also be described as wisdom, it’s the ability to judge between actions. Then there is justice, also can used said as fairness, it’s considered the broadest and also the most important of the virtues. Next there is temperance, also known as restraint, which is the ability to excerpt self-control, abstention and moderation in the appetites. Then courage, also considered fortitude, strength, endurance and the practice of controlling your fear and uncertainty.

Much of his teachings were this way, he urged his followers to embody certain characteristics and to be certain kind of people, not to just do a particular action. The doctrine of Christianity is similar to this, you can’t get into heaven by simply doing acts, as Jesus said in the book of Matthew: “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me…” Here Jesus is telling people that acts essentially don’t matter, but it is the heart, the character of the person that will determine their place in eternity, and I think this really echoes what Aristotle’s theory of ethics says. It’s not the actions but the person doing them that