Virtue Ethics In Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone primarily follows Utilitarianism Ethics, with some Virtue Ethics aspects. Albus Dumbledore’s actions towards Harry and later Harry’s actions show this. Utilitarianism focuses on maximizing the good of everyone, and everyone’s happiness is equal (Sinnott-Armstrong, 2003). In the opening scene Hagrid brings baby Harry to Albus who is dropping him off at his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon’s, he is talking to Professor McGonagall who states that he should be brought up in the wizarding world as “everyone will know his name.” “Exactly he’s far better off growing up away from all that” Albus responds to her (Heyman & Columbus, 2001). He is more concerned with Harry’s happiness than he is of his own or hers. Harry also develops this same way of behaving. The …show more content…

Sean McAleer states in “For Aristotle, ethics is not a matter of duty or promoting good outcomes, it’s about being a certain sort of person- the sort of person who lives a life expressive of the virtues.” (Irwin & Johnson, 2010). Aristotle’s believed that virtues such as courage, wisdom, temperance, honesty, generosity, kindness to be morally necessary (Irwin & Johnson, 2010). This can be seen with the houses for Hogwarts, Gryffindor is brave, Hufflepuff is loyal, Ravenclaw is wise and Slytherin ambitious (Heyman & Columbus, 2001). The students are sorted into houses based on their likeness to these virtues. In contrast, the ethical thought of Deontology would not fit into this movie. Deontology says that specific acts are wrong no matter the reason for them (Alexander & Moore, 2007). This type of ethical theory is based on moral duties rather than overall happiness (Alexander & Moore, 2007). This would mean that instead of Harry and Ron traveling to the bathroom to help Hermione they would have listened to Albus when he ordered students to their common rooms as this was their

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