Nicomachean Ethics And Aristotle's Theory Of Virtue Ethics

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Virtues are desirable tendencies that illustrate high moral standards. These tendencies are directly related to engineering and define if an engineer is considered virtuous. Aristotle, the founder of virtue ethics, defined how an individual is considered virtuous based on the concepts of eudaimonia, arête, and telos. Secondly, Aristotle explained that virtues can be broken into character and thought virtues. These two categories of virtues help organize the different types of virtue characteristics. For example, some virtues of engineering that will help flourish an engineer in their career are honesty, creativity, and determination. One of Aristotle’s best-known works was Nicomachean ethics, or better known as virtue ethics. Aristotle explained if an individual were to live a virtuous life, then that individual is living a happy life. Therefore, virtue ethics focuses on happiness and the way to reach the highest level of happiness for an individual. Within Aristotle’s ethical theory, he focuses on three key terms: eudaimonia, arête, and telos. Eudaimonia refers to the highest level of good or happiness an individual can be reached. Additionally, Aristotle states that eudaimonia is acquired through moral goodness as well as reached through the practice of virtue or …show more content…

Aristotle 's two theories are the stance between two different vices, which he refers to as the excess or deficiency. This virtue scale is Aristotle’s way to explain the definition and to gauge the importance of the virtue. Virtues of thought are virtues that arise from teaching an individual. For example, wisdom, comprehension, or intelligence are types of virtues of thought because this characteristic is gained through time. In contrast, virtues of character are gained by through habits. Some examples of virtues of character are generosity and temperance. These two categories distinguish what type of virtues a person

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