Nicomacean Virtue Ethics Essay

The way in which Aristotle begins Nicomachean Ethics is with the statement “Every craft and every line of inquiry, and likewise every action and decision seems to seek some good.” (Aristotle Bk.1, Ch.1). This is a fitting way to begin, as it addresses exactly what the entire book hopes to convey. While at this point in the novel, readers remain unaware what the good that he is referring to means, it becomes clearer and clearer as it progresses why this is such an apt beginning. The Nicomachean Ethics is devoted to the notion that all humans are attempting to seek the ultimate end, which Aristotle describes as happiness, or the Good. If, as he says, everything we do in life is to seek some good, then each action or decision we make brings us closer to the ultimate end.

As each new member of a police department officially becomes a sworn member, friends, family and other members of the public gather as they speak an oath. The oath these officers take, promises their commitment to ensure the safety of the public they serve. This means more than protecting civilians from individuals who may stray from the law, but to also ensure the protection of basic human rights. Police and other public servants are given a great deal of trust and power, what they do with it is based on the ethics they choose to uphold. In this paper we will look at why it is important for these justice professionals to study ethics.

Over the years, the nature of policing has changed and developed drastically. Their role not only entails crime fighting and emergency response, but also social enforcement and social peacekeeping. Bound by a code of ethics, this highly demanding role asks police to remain professional in their dealings with society, and ensure they uphold the law impartially and fairly. When it comes to enforcing the law, it is important to look at the methods and approaches taken by police in order to combat crime, and whether or not they meet current ethical standards. Although this may be the case, it is also important to acknowledge that aspects of police culture such as loyalty, deception and protection of colleagues will ultimately shape the nature of approach to resolving crime, gaining helpful information and protecting fellow officers. Police officers are granted large amounts of discretion within their roles, however, when officers deliberately abuse this amount of discretion and become display misconduct, it becomes challenging to limit discretionary authority of police officers because of the frequent circumstances they encounter where deception may provide highly constructive outcomes. Throughout this essay, methods used by police officers including entrapment, wiretapping and planting of evidence will be assessed for their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, the ethical standards of these methods and approaches will be assessed as to whether or not they prove as ethically

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

In Book 1 of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he argues that happiness is the best good, and the goal of an individual and of those leading and governing society. Here, happiness is understood as both living well and doing well, rather than the convention sense of happiness as an emotion. According to Aristotle, happiness is achieved though actions involving reason and in accord with virtue, or the best of the virtues of there are more than one. In this paper, I will provide a brief overview of the work and its author, then proceed to provide an overview of the ideas expressed and the argumentation supporting them, before finally performing an analysis and critique of the ideas expressed.

Law enforcement (police) subcultures have specific set of moral values and a certain mentality exhibited by those in law enforcement. It’s always the public against the police so they form an alliance for supportive reasons. However, people may believe police subculture is breaking down. Police subculture is breaking down because it is inconsistent with the formal morals and values related to the culture and that police are not the same as each other in their qualities and attributes. Examining ethics and its relation to the police subculture is important to help delineate not only the grey area of ethics but also the grey area within which the police operate (McCartney and Parent, 2015). For example, police officers are known to defend their own whether its something right or wrong. However, if another officer feels that the situation interferes with their morals, then it becomes inconsistent with the other officer’s

The passion to deliver justice in all situations is interconnected to distributive justice and corrective justice. In corrective justice, offenders are expected to be disciplined for their evil deeds and this corresponds with my value and passion for justice. The application of correction justice is also associated with morality which plays a significant role. This is because of the relationship with law and morality and the need, as a criminal justice professional, to understand how and where to draw the line between law. The challenge in correctly identifying a distinct relationship between morality and law is ignited by the observation that law does not include every moral concern. For example, while it may be agreed by a majority of citizens that lying, in most instances is immoral; there are others that may argue that specific laws barring lying do not exist, safe for laws that forbid perjury, numerous types of fraud and additional institutions. The linkage between morality and law can thus be seen as tricky because it is possible to engage in what may broadly be perceived as an immoral act, yet the act is not illegal. Thus, it can be assumed that a person may be perceived as a good person that does the right thing does not necessarily qualify being a law-abiding person. Therefore, it emerges that the issue of morality and law should be

For the public, a shocking judgement has arised from the Supreme Court of Canada on Hart’s trial—a man accused of drowning his three-year-old twin daughters. The Court ruled that videotaped confessions were inadmissible and the murder charges against Nelson Hart would be withdrawn due to insufficient evidence. For such a heartbreaking loss, the conclusion of this case seems confusing at best. However, with examination into the tactics used by undercover officers in an attempt to secure Hart’s confession, the Court uncovers injustice and emotional manipulation which disputes the legitimacy of the operation.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, ethics is defined “as the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation” (Merriam-Webster Online). This concept is prevalent in the world of police work since police officers are supposed to be the “good” in whatever is considered a “bad” situation. Many police departments offer training in ethics during the time in which a cadet is in the police academy and after officers are put on the streets, which is called in-service training. It is the hope that while this training is available to officers, that they hold a basic code of ethics within themselves which

In this essay, I will provide an ethical analysis of Phil Connors’ character through the philosophical lenses of Aristotle and Plato, by demonstrating how Phil’s sour attitude at the beginning of the film turns virtuous by the end, through a self-imposed, major character shift. During the majority of Groundhog Day, Phil’s attitude toward his seemingly hopeless situation is portrayed as very outwardly cynical and condescending, thus leading him to experience pain in many forms. Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics describes how virtue is acquired, similar to learning a craft (1103a32-33). He goes on to detail our personal interactions with others, saying that “a state of character results from the repetition of similar activities” (1103b14-22).

In the writings of Aristotle, seen in Nicomachean Ethics, it is evident that Aristotle believes that friendship is necessary for a virtuous and therefore happy life. I believe that this is accurate due to the similar conditions necessary for a complete friendship and a happy life. It is also evident that friendship is useful in achieving a happy life because friendship can make performing virtuous actions easier. His interpretation can be misunderstood and mistakes in practice can be made, so we will need to discuss these follies as well, in order to understand all the effects of friendship on achieving a happy life.

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.

I have multiple objections when it comes to Nicomachean Ethics. In my opinion, I believe that is very discouraging. Aristotle stated, “Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good” (Aristotle 624). There are multiple individuals like criminals for instance, believe that they are doing a good when they shoot a bank or rob a person on the street. They are not achieving in any action a good. But if think about on the opposite spectrum of military personnel, killing criminal at war, those criminals had a family and a home. Can you describe this situation as a thought to aim at some good?

In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states that “virtue of character is a mean” (1109a 2). This means too much or too little of a certain character is vice. To be truly virtuous, Aristotle believes an individual must find the proper amount of character. I agree with Aristotle in that a truly virtuous person has balanced characteristics and traits, because any trait in an extreme form is undesirable. In Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle talks about bravery as one of these traits, stating “For the brave person… appears rash in comparison to the coward, and cowardly in comparison to the rash person”(1108b 20). To Aristotle, the brave man would be most virtuous when compared to the rash man and the coward, because it is the mean of the traits. I agree

In the book Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle, Aristotle describes various way of living one’s life, the ultimate goal in life, and how to achieve happiness and live the best life. Aristotle describes three different kinds of lives in Nicomachean Ethics. These three lives consists of the life of honor, the life of pleasure, and the life of study. Aristotle, from the first book, insists that the life of study or contemplation is considered to be the best life. He argues that self-sufficiency is required for the life of study whereas the life of honor and pleasure are based upon a need for other people as well as a never ending cycle of pursuing higher goods.