Aristotelnes And Virtue Ethics Essay

A married couple, both addicted to drugs, is unable to care for their infant daughter. She is taken from them by court order and placed in a foster home. The years passed. She comes to regard her foster parents as her real parents. They love her as they would their own daughter. When the child is 9 years old, the natural parents, rehabilitated from drugs, begin court action to regain custody. The case is decided in their favor. The child is returned to them, against her will. Do ethics support the law in this case? Discuss.

Aristotle believes that there are two kinds of virtue, one being intellectual and the other being moral virtue. He states that Intellectual virtue comes from being taught meaning we’re not born with it. Moral virtue on the other hand we develop as we grow and gain an understanding of life. “The stone which by nature moves downwards cannot be habituated to move upwards, not even if one tries to train it by throwing it up ten thousand times” (N.E. II.1) Right there he is talking about how if you are designed to do one thing, it is impossible to do the opposite no matter how hard you force it. He talks about how we gain our virtues by practicing them and using them on a regular basis. That is how we learn

In books one and two of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle lays a foundation for and explains reasoning behind his theory of moral virtue. Aristotle does this to give understanding of what it means to be morally virtuous, and how to achieve it. I believe Aristotle’s theory, in the face of objections regarding the relativity of virtue, is sufficient to achieve an understanding to what it means to be morally virtuous and how to act in a morally virtuous manner.

Symmetry is the backbone to the bible. It provides a comforting lull to the reader and it proves time and again to be effective at subtlety emphasizing the important motifs of the stories. The balance in the bible is found, also, in the characters. The authors of the New Testament used symmetry to their advantage and placed Mosaic motifs along with the story of Jesus of Nazareth. In doing so, the parallel between Moses and Jesus is a dominant theme that makes the New Testament both slightly predictable while also reinforcing Jesus’s role as the “lawgiver.” This archetype is interesting because religion is dominated by rules, and at the most basic level, the prophets created the rules in which followers of religion live by. The link between Moses and Jesus is inextricable and undeniable, causing the relationship to be so obvious even to the least experienced bible reader. The parallelism between the figures of Moses and Jesus is important because it emphasizes the necessity to have a leader in a religious group and illustrates the quiet difference between being the figurehead who receives the law of G-d versus the one who gives the law. In the symmetry, the figures of Moses and Jesus act as a balance where Jesus’ actions are representative, but not repetitive, of those biblical actions of Moses. Through water, numerical, and Passover motifs the story of Jesus is connected to the passages of Moses.

I examine the philosophical perspectives of Aristotle on issues of medical ethics and on his social ethics in general, including the moral issues of abortion, euthanasia, and other issues of social ethics such as the issue of cloning. I have chosen the domain of applied ethics as viewed from the Aristotelian point of view precisely because certain issues have been virtually unexamined by scholars. I shall direct attention to certain treatises of the Aristotelian corpus such as On the History of Animals, On the Generation of Animals, On the Soul, The Nicomachean Ethics and The Politics. My main objective is to provide a more systematic account of the Aristotelian perspectives on the above

In Book II of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discusses the idea of moral virtue. Aristotle emphasized the importance of developing moral virtue as the way to achieve what is finally more important, human flourishing (eudaimonia). Aristotle makes the argument in Book II that moral virtue arises from habit—equating ethical character to a skill that is acquired through practice, such as learning a musical instrument. However in Book III, Aristotle argues that a person 's moral virtue is voluntary, as it results from many individual actions which are under his own control. Thus, Aristotle confronts us with an inherently problematic account of moral virtue.

Hursthouse might respond to this objection that moral philosophy is sufficient for a virtuous person to make a decision in any given circumstances because it guides the person to be certain not in making the correct decision but in having virtuous intention. A person’s virtuous intention is based not by what end it reaches. It is by what action is made. Hursthouse might argue in our given example that the surgeon’s action is certain because he makes a decision with the intention to save a life of a patient instead of losing two. In addition, Hursthouse might claim that this act of virtuous intention is reasoned in terms of what a virtuous person would do. However, this response fails to recognize that certainty is not just

Aristotle outlined his theory of Virtue Ethics in his book Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle focused his idea of ethics on agents rather than acts. His main idea is focused on the idea of human character- how can you be a better person? In fact, Aristotle once said: “For we are enquiring not in order to know what virtue is, but in order to become good, since otherwise our enquiry would be of no use.” Aristotle is given the credit for developing the idea of virtue ethics, but many of Plato's cardinal values influenced his ideas. Virtue Ethics is focused on the person's actions, not the consequences of that action. Aristotle believed if you had good moral values, then your actions would be "good" in theory. Rather than defining good actions,

you ask what the virtues are, it is likely you would be told that we

Aristotle found that there are two kinds of virtues of the soul. First, there are virtues of thought, such as wisdom. Next, there are virtues of character, such as generosity. The main focus of his virtue ethics lies in the virtues of character. Aristotle assumed that these virtues are learned through habit. For example, whereas intellectual virtue may arise from reading a book, the adoption of virtuous character is inherited solely by practice. Therefore, it is through a person's upbringing that moral virtues are cultivated, and it is through the habit of thinking virtuously that one can excel towards happiness.

Aristotle’s thoughts on ethics conclude that all humans must have a purpose in life in order to be happy. I believe that some of the basics of his ideas still hold true today. This essay points out some of those ideas.

Socrates’ sense of virtue, as established in Plato’s Apology of Socrates, Crito, and Symposium collectively, revolves around the pursuit of wisdom, knowledge, and justice, all in an effort to benefit the soul rather than the physical body. Given that this oftentimes contradicts standard values of honor and beauty, Socrates is targeted by many of those around him who oppose his ideas and ways of thinking, especially since the youth begin to criticize the elders’ concern for the trappings of honor and beauty rather than for interior virtues. Unlike Socrates’ case, Aeneas’ sense of virtue complies with the standard societal definition, emphasizing pietas, or respect for the gods and dedication to family and community. In his efforts to

Five years ago, I was a corporate trainer with plans to continue to my career in that area for the foreseeable future. I could not have envisioned the path that I am on back today in those days and my only goals were to be the best trainer I could be and perhaps move into training management. That all changed for me when I received a less-than-stellar mid-year review for reasons that felt very arbitrary and petty to me and still do today. That review changed my focus in almost a single instant. I suddenly knew I needed to leave training behind after eight years in the field. All of this set me on a path toward a communication degree and a new career.

Virtue ethics was written by a Greek philosopher names Aristotle. Aristotle believed that every human’s goal was happiness. Some philosophers argued that happiness only came from following a set of rules, while Aristotle argued that the best way to have happiness is to cultivate a virtuous character. The two kinds of virtues he recognized were moral virtue and intellectual virtue. The virtue that should be focused on to develop a virtuous character is moral virtue. According to Aristotle, while we are born with a capacity to be virtuous, being virtuous is like a skill that we need to learn and practice to be good at. The key element to being virtuous is being able to find the mean or right amount of our various emotions, dispositions, and actions. Aristotle wrote: “Anybody can become angry- that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for

Mimesis: The basic theoretical principle in the creation of art (Encyclopedia Brittanica). Mimesis was a term and principle used by both Plato and Aristotle. According to Plato, art is an “imitation of and imitation” when compared to the forms. What he means by this is that an art creation is an imitation of something physical, which in itself is an imitation of a form. Aristotle believes artist creations are an “imitation of an action”. This is interpreted as art is the imitation of the action of life. Together they both agree that artistic creations are imitations of the truth or imitations of the forms. Rather than seeing artistic creations as imitations, I argue that art is an individuals perception of the forms, as well as it is the closest an individual can come to comprehending the forms. The supporting reasons for this argument include proving that the sensible are in fact artworks in their own way, that everyones perception of the forms are different, and that art is the closest way of portraying our versions of the forms.