Ethical Theories Of Normative Ethics

This paper is going to discuss Ethics and Ethical Theories. It will include an introduction to ethical theories, virtue ethics, and care ethics. There will be sections discussing absolutism versus relativism, consequentialism versus deontological ethics, and lastly, free will versus determinism. It will also include a discussion about the study of morality and identify which of the approaches (Scientific, Philosophical, or Theological/Religious) are closest to my own personal beliefs. There will be a discussion regarding the three sources of ethics

This paper is about ethical decision making that involved a case study in a movie based on a true story. It is about a child named Lorenzo Odone, his disease, adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) and how both his parents relentlessly pursued to find treatment for him. Aside from Mr. and Mrs. Odones’ decision making, the doctors and scientists involved in Lorenzo’s treatment were just as affected. These characters were faced with ethical issues that arose when deciding proper course in finding treatment for Lorenzo’s ALD. This paper will discuss the four ethical theories of decision making seen in the movie and the effects it had not only on Lorenzo but everyone that was involved.

Virtue ethics is a normative theory whose foundations were laid by Aristotle. This theory approaches normative ethics in substantially different ways than consequentialist and deontological theories. In this essay, I will contrast and compare virtue ethics to utilitarianism, ethical egoism, and Kantianism to demonstrate these differences. There is one fundamental aspect of virtue ethics that sets it apart from the other theories I will discuss. For the sake of brevity and to avoid redundancy, I will address it separately. This is the fundamental difference between acting ethically within utilitarianism, egoism, and Kantianism. And being ethical within virtue ethics. The other theories seek to define the ethics of actions while virtue ethics does not judge actions in any way. The other theories deal with how we should act, while virtue ethics determines how we should be.

John Tronto argues that the definition of the term “ethics of care” is confusing due in part to the lack of a central role it plays in moral. He argues that moral is engaged with human goodness, then care would appear to assume a big role in this type of way of thinking. However, this is not the case and Tronto further stresses the association between care and “naturalness”. The last thing just mentioned term refers to the socially and culturally built roles where care is mainly assumed to be the role of the woman. So, care loses the power to take a central role in moral

Ethics and virtue have been a very contentious issue facing society for centuries. Many argue over the merits of various theories, each with its own philosophies and assumptions. It is this argument that has given rise to many popular and followed theories of ethics and virtues. The theories discussed primarily in this document include the virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological theory. Each is very distinct to the others in regards to its principles and assumptions regarding human behavior. Each however, has merit in regards to question of ethics and virtue, and how it should subsequently be valued.

First and foremost, the best way to live requires one to be virtuous. Aristotle’s most notable theme in the Nicomachean Ethics is how one must be virtuous in order to live the good life. Virtue is defined by Aristotle as a disposition that aims at a mean. The key in this definition is moderation, which makes it applicable to so many virtuous. Whether you are contemplating courage, liberality, ambition, or gentleness the goal is to always be moderate and seek the mean. The one virtue that may not relate to the formal definition is justice because one can never be too just. Aristotle’s teachings on virtue provides great guidance on how to live on a daily basis.

Virtue Ethics is neither deontological nor teleological, since it is concerned with neither duty nor consequences, but rather the state of the person acting. Aristotle believed that once you are good, good actions will necessarily follow, and this belief is at the centre of Virtue Ethics. Rather than defining good actions, Virtue Ethics looks at good people and the qualities that make them good. The non-normative theory, although very effective in determining the morality of individuals, is particularly flawed when applied to whole societies. This weakness is largely due to its imprecision and abstraction; however, before these weaknesses can be considered, it is necessary to give an account of the theory itself.

In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explores virtues as necessary conditions for being happy. A virtuous person is a person with a disposition toward virtuous actions and who derives pleasure from behaving virtuously. Aristotle distinguishes between two types of human virtue: virtues of thought and virtues of character. Virtues of thought are acquired through learning and include virtues like wisdom and prudence; virtues of character include bravery and charity, which are acquired by habituation and require external goods to develop. As a consequence, not all people can acquire virtues of character because not all people have the external goods and resources required to develop that disposition.

Throughout history morality has been a topic of intense debate. Innumerable thinkers have devoted immense amounts of time and energy to the formulation of various ethical theories intended to assist humans in their daily lives. These theories set out guidelines which help to determine the rightness or wrongness of any given action and can therefore illuminate which choice would be morally beneficial. And while many of these theories differ substantially, most have at least one common underlying principle, namely that humans deserve to be treated with a certain level of respect. This idea comes from the belief that all humans have interests which are significant enough to be considered, hence no one should impede another

There are a variety of different ethical systems that have developed of the course of millennia. However, even though the subject has been covered so thoroughly, it is still heavily debated. The varieties of ethical systems that are in existence look at various ethical problems from different perspectives and can be applied differently in different circumstances. Because of the subjective aspects to applying ethics, they can be as much an art as they are a science. Ethics are something that must be practiced and really cannot be perfected. In this way, studying ethics is a continual process that does not really stop. This paper will argue that ethics are the most important subject that an individual can pursue.

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 his Nicomachean ethics Aristotle suggests that virtue is a purposive disposition, lying in a mean that is relative to us … and by that which a prudent man would use to determine it (Aristotle. et al., 2004: Book II). This in itself brings the concept of Aristotelian virtue to its most concerning trait; if doing what is virtuous is to do as a virtuous person would then we are given little direction as to what to do, especially on a circumstantial basis, beyond a difficult to define idea of ‘what a virtuous person would do’. This becomes a problem when we are faced with difficult real world scenarios and turn to ideas of virtue and

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

Aristotle believes that happiness is the ultimate goal in life. You can’t reach happiness unless you work hard and become successful. That is where virtue comes into play. A human’s function is to engage in “an activity of the soul which is in accordance with virtue” and which “is in conformity with reason” (page 76, Palmer). The two kinds of virtue are intellectual and moral. Our virtues are what make us all individual and all different. Intellectual virtues are what we are born with and what we learn. It is our nature as humans and what we have inherited that makes desire to learn. As humans, we develop wisdom to help guide us to a good life. With the intellectual virtue you develop two different kinds of wisdom: practical and

Ethics surrounds many emotions which are not accepted by morality as not important what is discussed about it at the moment. It is also regularly used in same manner as with morality. Ethical concern having largely taken place with friends, family and society as well, preparing a place for ideals such as social justice. Such Ethics able to exist or occurs together without conflict, like ancient Greek explanation of the good life as found in Aristotle and Plato.