Virtue Ethics

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Virtue, when I hear that word I think of value and morality and only good people can be virtuous. When I hear the word ethics I think of good versus evil, wrong and right. Now when the two are put together you get virtue ethics. You may wonder what can virtue ethics possibly mean. It’s just two words put together to form some type of fancy theory. Well this paper will discuss virtue ethics and the philosophy behind it.
Virtue ethics is a theory that focuses on character development and what virtues one should obtain to be who they are supposed to be, as oppose to actions. An example of virtue ethics would be someone who is patient, kind, loving, generous, temperance, courage and flourishing as oppose to a person who lies, cheats, and steals. There are ways to distinguish virtue ethics from divine command, egoism, and moral relativism. In the divine command theory morality is determined by the will or command of God meaning whatever Gods says must be right at all times while the virtue ethics theory is about great attributes and character formation, not a list of dos and don’ts. In egoism, one’s self, motivations, and goals is the only thing that matters. The only duty of someone who is an egoist is to do what is best for them and what is in their best interest. Egoistical people do not mind helping or doing things for other but they first consider how it will affect them then they look at how it will affect someone else. While this may seem unethical or immoral to others, they do this to stay out of trouble by not lying, harming others, and avoiding fines and tickets they are looking out fr these because it is not in their best interest. Virtue ethics focuses on how to be a good person all around. It is more concerned with who ...

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...an and Aristotle’s virtue ethics is similar to the fruits of the sprit Christ talks about in the bible in the book of Galatians 5: 22-23 which states, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Aristotle’s means are courage, temperance, liberality, magnificence, proper ambition, friendliness, modesty and righteous indignation. These are virtues I agree can make a society virtuous.

Works Cited
"Aristotle Quote." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
MacKinnon, Barbara. "Virtues And Everyday Life." Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues. Second ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub., 1995. 64. Print.
"San Francisco Teenage Surfer Hailed As Hero For Saving 2 People At Ocean Beach - CBS San Francisco." CBS San Francisco. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

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