Philosophy of Ethics Essay

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,

Morality, distinctly defines what is right and what is wrong, but theory of virtue ethics is the mechanism an individual uses to make those moral decisions. Virtue is essentially having a good moral character. And ethics are a set of rules that influence an individual’s behavior, but are subjective; because in part, these rules are developed by the individual’s perception for what is morally good or bad. One aspect of virtue ethics is that, the decisions are not as important as the process an individual uses to develop of one’s moral character over time. Comprehension of this concept is important, as it will allow an individual to achieve the ultimate goal of happiness. As there was no economics concepts in the thirteenth century, moral philosophies such as the theory of virtue ethics heavily determined how individuals behave and engage in the

This paper will discuss the ethical question, "if you had the choice of stealing food to give to a starving child, would you?" The question will be discussed from the perspective of three ethical philosophers, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and Nietzsche. Aristotle Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher of the 4th century BCE (Anonymous, n.d.). As explained by Sachs (n.d.), Aristotle believed "moral virtue is the only practical road to effective action." Practicing ethics, for Aristotle, is an active, conscious decision.

Virtue ethics does not deal with which action is wrong or which action is right. It deals with the character of person. Virtue ethics promotes the idea of a person bettering themselves by striving to be a good person. . Virtue ethics deals with happiness by proposing that a certain character would bring that person the most happiness. Virtue ethics is when a person knowing what the right thing is and having the want to do that right action. Aristotle used virtue ethics to try to reach Eudemonia. Eudemonia is when a person strives to reach or reaches the highest level of happiness a certain charter can reach. When a person is trying to reach this state of happiness or Eudemonia, that person does actions that help develop his/her character. An example of this is a person with no need to study for test other than the fact that doing well on the test would bring personal happiness.

Before this essay progresses further, it is essential that both virtue and the philosophers be put into perspective. Apparently, Aristotle hailed from Greece, more specifically, Macedon. He had great ideologies on logic, science, and virtue, which influenced the philosophy of the world. Confucius hailed from China and was a politician, a teacher and a philosopher at the same time. As great philosophers, both Aristotle and Confucius have addressed the subject of moral thinking and have similar opinions with regards to the concept of virtue. Talking about morality, Confucius uses the word “Jen” (Angle, Slote & Chen, 2013) to mean virtue while Aristotle uses the word “arête” also to mean virtue. Apparently, the essence of these two philosophers coming up with their philosophies regarding morality was to guide their followers and countrymen and women on the aspect of individual behavior. That

Virtue Ethics - This approach is considered "ancient" according to our readings. Virtue is defined as "behavior showing high moral standards." Virtue ethics explains that our actions should be parallel with our ideals (University, S. C., n.d). Our own virtues are developed over time and become habits. They allow us to act accordingly based on our beliefs, such as truth, beauty, honesty, and courage to name a few (University, S. C., n.d). It is believed that if someone is a good person, with good character, they would also attain high virtues and moral beliefs. Virtue ethics basically looks at a person's life in its entirety, and emphasizes on the idea of looking up to someone that attains these attributes as a role model, which ultimately helps

This approach takes into consideration an individual’s character as the main point behind ethical thinking. Instead of just evaluating whether or not a person followed the right rules (Deontology) or obtained the right results (Consequentialism), the Virtue Theory maintains that the their individual character plays into the actions. Aristotle was a supporter of this theory and believed that people’s characteristics are individual and therefore, they cannot be understood as a larger community. With the idea of Virtue Theory, Aristotle developed the Golden Mean which explains that one should have the desirable middle between two extremes of moral virtues. The Virtue Theory focuses on an individual’s character which serves as the key difference between this theory and the

Which differed from the view towards moral virtues which according to Aristotle are about doing the greater good and being a better person by learning from mistakes and doing what feels right naturally. (http://www.angelfire.com/md2/timewarp/ethics.html)

The two different types of Virtue ethics are Aristotle’s Virtue ethics, and Aquinas’ Virtue ethics. Aristotle takes virtue ethics in a more broad statement, and thinks that a good person is someone who does good things. A pro to this belief is that one with this view would have a desire to be a good person. One con to Aristotle’s Virtue ethics is that it does not recognize the results of situations, so even if intentions are good, the results can have a negative impact. Aquinas thinks that a good person pursues to do good things by abiding God’s natural law.

For the West, Aristotle and Plato are said to be the founders of Virtue Ethics. Plato’s cardinal virtues are: the courage (the heart, the soldier) is the virtue of the spirited or passionate or emotional aspect of humans, sensuous (the body, the worker) appetite the virtue is temperance, and reason (the mind, the philosopher king) is the great virtue that makes us dignified and distinctively human. If all these virtues are well developed and balanced, we have a just human being and justice in society or the republic. (McKinney, pg.93). Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics offer insightful perspectives on proper action and virtue that is rooted in ancient Greek philosophy and remains relevant in our modern world.

What is virtue? The philosophies of Aristotle and Confucius establish virtue as a moral trait that encompasses love, courage, good manners, and happiness. To achieve virtue, one must display qualities of altruism and promote benevolence in every action. The virtuous person lives by a high moral standard that is achieved through the habitual conditioning of disposition. Temperament is trained by recurrently choosing the best course of action or the one that causes the least amount of pain or suffering towards others. The virtuous person, in Confucian principles, performs in accordance to ren to achieve the dao. According to Aristotle, the pinnacle of virtue is happiness. Therefore, the philosophies of Aristotle and Confucius can be used to

Confucius and Aristotle are some of the greatest thinkers in the history of mankind. While Confucius was born in China and spearheaded a new way of perceiving morality, Aristotle was born in Macedon/Greece and also immersed his philosophical work to addressing moral thinking.Both philosophers have addressed similar subjects with major points of divergence and convergence. On virtue, these two authors have almost similar opinions. However, it is their points of convergence or agreement that have had a huge impact on the modern world’s thinking and understanding of virtue and moral behavior.

Virtues are gained through nurture, and backing his thought, he explained that if we are born virtuously then we could not become bad. Yet, there are a number of bad people in the world. Aristotle saw that virtue and duty had a strong connection. This is because duty is an act in accordance with law, which enforces perfections. Since laws keep us in line, and our duty is to follow these laws, virtues come if you commit your duty. It is a cycle that repeats itself in the positive and the negative depending how we act. Because Aristotle was a Christian, he saw God as everlasting, and overall, see’s god as an important figure to live up to. Aristotle laid the framework to what would be the future of ethics. Although what he had reported would be found eventually, his views are what most believed as the golden rule, and future philosophers would just string off his ideas.

Virtue Ethics is defined as “any character-based approach to normative ethics that emphasizes some conception virtues and vices; often including a universal conception of human flourishing” (Blakley, Christopher). Aristotle and David Hume developed accounts of ethics that remained true to their own empirical philosophies; both of which stray away from the more traditional accounts. Their opposing theories contain the overall theme of how a virtuous person would live their life. In contrast, David Hue developed his own account of sentimentalist virtue ethics that challenges, or pushes back on, the virtue ethics Aristotle.

Aristotle’s virtue ethics attempt to answer the question of how to live a good life. Three key concepts of Aristotle’s virtue ethics are Eudaimonia, arête, and telos. Eudaimonia is described as happiness or flourishing. Aristotle believed that humans have the unique ability to govern their action with reason. The ideal practice of reason is exemplified through one’s work. People are able to experience the good life through excelling in fulfilling work. The idea of excelling is described by Aristotle’s concept of arête. Arête is best defined as virtue or being an outstanding example of its kind. It is the idea of achieving excellence based on your end purpose or telos. Aristotle believed that virtues become perfected as our potential of reaching our unique telos are actualized.