Virtue Ethics And The Characteristics Of Aristotle's Virtue Ethics

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Virtues are both important and inherent within any engineering field. Virtues outline acceptable and unacceptable characteristics for an engineer. Moreover, virtue ethics places emphasis on character rather than rights or regulations. Character is divided into two components, one being considered morally desirable (virtue), and one being considered morally undesirable (vice). Common virtues of engineers are honesty and competence. While typical vices of engineers are arrogance and incompetence. This paper will outline Aristotle’s Virtue ethics, and to what extent virtue ethics has impacted me here at Texas A&M.
Aristotle divides ethics into four categories. The first is Eudaimonia, or “happiness”. He implies that in order to be happy one must be “doing and living well”. This is an objective position that places emphasis of a well lived life with no consideration for the emotional well-being of the person. Next, is Arête, which loosely translates to ‘”virtue” or “excellence”. Aristotle suggest something is expressing arête when it takes a form of excellence through Telos, or the end goal. For example, when an athlete performs an extraordinary feat or a craftsman creates an exemplary piece, then arête and telos are …show more content…

One is the “Virtues of Thought”, and the other is the “Virtues of Character”. Virtues of Thought are composed of the substance that makes up the mind and soul. Examples of such substances are intelligence, wisdom, and comprehension. In a similar context, Virtues of Character are earned and grown with experience. Such examples of this are values like generosity, temperance, and willpower. It is clear that Virtues of Thought are more innate to a person, while Virtues of Character are gained through life experience. In the preceding paragraphs I will state the virtues obtained and aspired for while attending Texas A&M as an electrical engineer, as well as traits common among

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