History and literary virtue system
Virtue is considered as one of the most important trait in human beings. By definition, virtue is a sense of having moral excellence, adopting a form of goodness and righteousness. It involves depicting a behavior that shows a high level of moral standard. Literary virtue system in the society has come a long way. Different cultures in the entire human history have developed different views and perspectives in trying to understand the virtue system.
Literary virtue is passed from one generation to another through various ways that are associated with literary works or other ways such as formal writing. .Embracing virtue does not necessarily mean that everyone has the same idea of it. Study shows that literary virtue tends to be dynamic across the globe. Many communities have different beliefs of with regards to virtue. For example what may seem right according to a particular culture may in contrary be a wrong thing in a different culture even to an extent that one is punished.
The historical development of literary virtue system is a concept that deeply emphasizes on how rules and consequences of certain acts have led to people to be able to differentiate between what is right and wrong in the society. A perfect example of how virtue is an important tool in society is seen in various works by some authors. Basing on the text by Virgil, the Aneid is basically more about virtue. Aenias is a hero who captures the audience as being too good to be true. He has all the virtues that are mostly treasured by the romans at that particular time. Aeneas is seen to be brave, kind, multi-talented, respectful of the elders, gods and even to the ancestors (Virgil 28). He is a mot...
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...irtue. With this concept, it would eventually be easier for one to get to know the ways of how to solve contemporary issues that may arise due to this differences.
Works Cited
Aquinas, St. Thomas. The Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. New York: Hackett Publishing, 2005.
Crossin, John W. Everyday Virtues. New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2002.
Foot, Philippa. Virtues and Vices and Other Essays in Moral Philosophy. carlifornia: University of California Press, 1978.
Geach, Peter Thomas. The Virtues Stanton lectures. Cambridge: CUP Archive, 1977.
McCloskey, Deirdre N. The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.
Peterson, Christopher. Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. london: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Virgil. The Aeneid. New york: Hackett Publishing, 2005.
Cahn, Steven M. and Peter Markie, Ethics: History, Theory and Contemporary Issues. 4th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Virtue ethics is an approach that “deemphasizes rules, consequences and particular acts and places the focus on the kind of person who is acting” (Garrett, 2005). A person’s character is the totality of his character traits. Our character traits can be goo...
Ogien defines “character broadly speaking, [as] a certain way of acting or feeling that is consistent, that is, stable over time and unvarying from one situation to the next” (Ogien 123). For Aristotle, “virtue, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean…relative to us, this being determined by…that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine…and acquired by repetition” (Aristotle 124, 129). Mark Timmons, a moral philosopher, also makes a slight distinction between character and virtue by defining virtue as “(1) a relatively fixed trait of character (2) typically involving dispositions to think, feel, and act in certain ways in certain circumstance, and (3) is a primary basis for judging the overall moral goodness or worth of persons” (Timmons 212). Additionally, bioethicists Tom Beauchamp and James Childress define virtue in terms of “a trait of character that is socially valuable and a moral virtue [as] a trait of character that is morally valuable” (Beauchamp 31). My reason for going through the ways in which different philosophers have defined virtue is to (1) show that Ogien critiques virtue ethics without correctly representing the term virtue in the theory or defining virtue at all and (2) to show that among moral philosophers (at least read for this week) there is commonality in defining virtue in some way or another as a fixed character. (3) Just because a person possesses a certain character trait that does not mean that that person is virtuous and (4) in regard to the Milgram experiments, there is no way to determine the virtuous character of the subjects involved based solely on this one experiment alone. Virtuous character requires consistency of a particular character trait. Virtue is not a one-time act or an act on occasion. From the point-of-view of virtue ethics, we can only “take as a sign of states of character the pleasure or
Its primary aim is to praise and blame and it deals with excellence, goodness, shame, nobility, honor and matters of vice and virtue. According to Aristotle, virtue comprises courage, justice, magnificence, liberality, self-control, magnanimity, gentleness and wisdom that is speculative.
Rachels, James, and Stuart Rachels. "7,8,9,10." In The elements of moral philosophy. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2010. 97-145.
Louden, Robert B. "On Some Vices of Virtue Ethics." American Philosophical Quarterly 21, no. 3 (1984): 227-36.
The virtue ethics approach is a theory that suggests that people are judged via their character, not specific actions. An individual who has developed good character traits (virtues) is judged as a morally good person. An individual who has developed bad character traits (vices) is judged as a morally bad person. Most of us have a mixture or virtues and vices. There are many pros and cons linked to this approach. The pros include
person of the novel, different traits that can lead us to talk about virtue, and one of them is
Hursthouse, R. (2003, July 18). Virtue Ethics. Stanford University. Retrieved March 6, 2014, from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/ethics-virtue
Contrary to Aristotle’s view that supreme happiness is related to earthly living, Augustine argues that supreme happiness is not truly found until one seeks eternal life with God. While both mostly agree on the definitions of the virtues, differences arise when one looks at their views on the ends that those virtues should be directed towards. In this essay, I will discuss both Aristotle and Augustine’s ideas of virtues and what each thinks humans should do in order to truly find and achieve the supreme good of happiness.
Virtue, then deals with those feelings and actions in which it is wrong to go too far and wrong to fall too short but in which hitting the mean is praiseworthy and good….
Virtue ethics is a moral theory that was first developed by Aristotle. It suggests that humans are able to train their characters to acquire and exhibit particular virtues. As the individual has trained themselves to develop these virtues, in any given situation they are able to know the right thing to do. If everybody in society is able to do the same and develop these virtues, then a perfect community has been reached. In this essay, I shall argue that Aristotelian virtue ethics is an unsuccessful moral theory. Firstly, I shall analyse Aristotelian virtue ethics. I shall then consider various objections to Aristotle’s theory and evaluate his position by examining possible responses to these criticisms. I shall then conclude, showing why Aristotelian virtue ethics is an unpractical and thus an unsuccessful moral theory in reality.
Mappes, Thomas A., and Jane S. Zambaty, eds. Social Ethics: Morality and Social Policy. United
Pinckaers, Servais. The Source of Christian Ethics. Translated by Sr. Mary Thomas Noble. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1995.
When considering morality, worthy to note first is that similar to Christian ethics, morality also embodies a specifically Christian distinction. Studying a master theologian such as St. Thomas Aquinas and gathering modern perspectives from James Keenan, S. J. and David Cloutier serve to build a foundation of the high goal of Christian morality. Morality is a primary goal of the faith community, because it is the vehicle for reaching human fulfillment and happiness. Therefore, great value can be placed on foundations of Christian morality such as the breakdown of law from Aquinas, the cultivation of virtues, the role of conscience in achieving morality, and the subject of sin described by Keenan.