Can We Teach Character? An Aristotelian Answer Essay

In Rosalind Hursthouse’s essay on Virtue Ethics, she aims to create a new type of ethics that is classified as Aristotelian in nature. Hursthouse’s model is more agent-based rather than action-based, which implies that it is based on the individual’s characteristics rather than the type of action implemented. Husrthouse believes that the agent’s thought process, beliefs, and personal view of moral values are ultimately what shapes virtue ethics. Although her discussion on virtue ethics is both intriguing and important, Hursthouse's model falls short of being a viable ethical theory for several reasons. Firstly, the idea of agent-based ethics is a nice one in theory, but is not easily employable because of the individual standard of ethics that would be required to take ethical action. It is important to present a model that can actually be applied in practice in order to achieve actual results. Virtue ethics cannot be considered as a real alternative to any other code of ethics because it is not employable in the real world, and is therefore not worthy of serious consideration. This underlying reason will be thoroughly discussed in order to refute the arguments that Rosalind Hursthouse provides on Virtue Ethics in her essay.

Society has not changed much in the thousands of years since Aristotle first addressed ethics in Athens, Greece. Everyday situations and problems he discusses all relate to everyone in the present day. The rules of demeanor and clarifications on virtue that he suggests can all help people today attain a complete and satisfying realization of their duties as an equal member in society and ultimately discover the purpose of life.

“ His Expression remained the same- cynical, defiant, painful” (Gaines 84). Miss Emma did not think that Jefferson knew he was going to be put in the chair, which kind of furthers this whole idea that everyone has that’s he’s incompetent. Even his own aunt without realizing has degraded him. I think that maybe Jefferson can’t read or write but he’s a human who understands laws. At the beginning of the book I was feeding into the notion that he was mentally challenged, but I think now that he just grew up in the uneducated black stigma put on him by white people not letting black school have the same education. And so he knows he is going to die, he doesn’t fight he doesn’t resist he faces the unjust punishment with grace and is going o let

• Aristotle then says in his descriptions, “Thirdly, character must be true to life: for this is a distinct thing from goodness and propriety, as here described.”

Character Values are an important subject that must be taught to children or else they may never learn them. Thomas J. Lasley the author of “Character Will Likely Fail,” is against character education because he believes that character values are observed at home, and cannot be taught. While Kathleen Townsend the author of “Not Just Read and Write, But Right and Wrong,” believes that it is our duty as a community to teach our children values. Townsend clearly has a stronger argument because the only defense Lasley has to support his opinion is that it doesn’t matter whether or not we teach children values they are still going to act like the people around them. While Townsend has numerous facts and subject matter experts to support her theory that if teachers do not teach values then some children

Mentioning about business classes, students may think about finance, marketing, accounting, management and so on. However, ethics class is designed for all business students to understand about ethics and how to do moral business. The article Can We Teach Character? An Aristotelian Answer by Edwin M. Hartman explains the principle of ethics and how the schools can teach their business students good characters. The author emphasizes on the Aristotle’s principles of well-being and ethics and how to apply these principles to real life.

There are many character traits that make someone successful in life. Some traits you are born with, other traits are mindsets. There are a few character traits that coaches, teachers, bosses, or any other significant figure looks for in particular. One of the most important character traits is a hard-working attitude. You aren’t born with a hard-working attitude. It is a mindset. You may not be the best employee, but an employer will be more willing to work with someone that works hard than someone that can do the job but is lazy. Although I am not the best at everything, I give 100% effort in everything that I do and believe that working hard is the most important trait a person can possess.

346). Morality is the central theme of his defense, and he seeks to interrogate the teachers of Athens. He considers education as being central to character formation and he is relentless in his scrutiny of the claims made by the wise men of Athens. He claims that the pursuit of wisdom and truth is more important than the pursuit of honors, wealth, and reputation. He interrogates, whenever possible, each citizen he encounters about their opinion on virtue.

Why is character important? Why is it important to be a person of good morals, ethics, and character? Can that make you more productive in life, family, school, business, work, etc. ?

To me, ethics cannot really be taught though it can be initiated. People who do not have some ethics in them can be helped to incorporate it in their daily activities. This can be

Aristotle wrote the first book ever written about ethics titles “The Nicomachean Ethics,” and it is still one of the greatest and most influential. Its purpose is to teach us to be virtuous rather than to understand what virtue is. (Aristotle, 2009)

In our society today, we are mostly challenged by two questions: ‘is it right to do this or that? And ‘how should I be living in society?’(Bessant, 2009). Similar questions were greatly discussed in the history by our ancestors in their philosophical discussions. The most ancient and long-lasting literature on moral principles and ethics were described by Greek philosopher Aristotle. He had an excellent command on various subjects ranging from sciences to mathematics and philosophy. He was also a student of a famous philosopher. His most important study on ethics, personal morality and virtues is ‘The Nicomachean Ethics’, which has been greatly influencing works of literature in ethics and heavily read for centuries, is believed to be

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.

What does education mean if ethics is sacrificed for academic gains? As Aristotle once said, “educating the mind without the heart is no education at all”. Not to mention, ethics is the key in shaping moral identities in people, especially students. This essay examines the importance of teaching ethics to students and the challenges that come with it. Educating students on ethics can minimize academic misconducts, guide students to become self-reliant in decision-making and attain wisdom. Yet, less experienced teachers, ignorance towards the importance of ethics and the increasing pressure on teachers regarding students’ academic standards have become inevitable challenges in the implementation of ethics in education.

I read five articles on character education. These articles helped me to better understand the importance of character education and useful techniques and methods to teach children values and morals.