The Issue Of Morality, Virtue And Ethics

- utilitarianism: this theory asserts that the morally right action is one that produce the most favorable balance of good over evil, everyone considered: is she decides to interrupt her pregnancy, she would save her life, continue her love with her boyfriend, have baby later by delivering or adopting and be a good mother for her children

In this paper, I will explain John Stuart Mill’s moral theory of Utilitarianism, what I think it means, and how it works. I will also explain the Dax Cowart case, and determine if Dax’s choice to die was morally right or wrong. In order to fully understand the implications of Dax’s decision, and to accurately determine its affect on those his decision involves, I will break down and analyze the affect of Dax’s decision for Dax, his mother, Ada, and the Doctor. Lastly, I will gather prior evidence and form a valid conclusion of whether Dax’s choice was morally right or wrong.

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.

What exactly does the term “ethics” mean? When asking this question among several different groups of people, I’m sure all of their answers would be different in many ways, but would all draw the general theme that ethics is somewhat of a study of what is right and what is wrong. This is a mostly correct conclusion, except for the fact that it encompasses not only determining what is right and wrong, but attempting to systemize and defend those ethical positions which one holds. Almost all of the controversial headlines you see in the media today involve some sort of question of ethics. Abortion. Healthcare. (“Should we take money from the rich and give to the poor to pay for medical expenses?”) Gun laws. Euthanasia, etc. The topic I want

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.

This article identifies the then new trend of information technology also known as social networking technology. Vallor is identifying the virtue ethics of this technology first by identifying what virtue ethics is. Then Vallor views the technology through a utilitarian preconceived perspective, which is accomplished after identifying the virtue ethics of the technology. In the second part of her article, Vallor focuses on three virtues that enhance the morality of the social networking technology, including patience, honesty, and empathy.

Ethics and morality are not the same. Morality sets guidelines for people to know what is right and what is wrong. Ethics is the study of morality. Individuals who study ethics are the ones who set those guidelines for what is right and what is wrong for the rest of society. Ethics are often based off of rules and principles that guide people's lives. Many theories have been developed by people who have studied ethics to determine different types of thought processes of people when making moral decisions.

Ethics is one of the most important considerations when making a decision about end of life. It is also where the most controversy lies as arguments, using ethical theories, can be made for and against laws on end of life. “Ethics has at least two primary functions: to guide our actions, and to provide justification for the guidance given” (Schuklenk et al., 2011, p. 42). A duty-oriented ethicist would be against euthanasia and physician assisted death. They believe “we can’t stop all pain; what is crucial is that we act with dignity and respect in the face of suffering” (Edge & Groves, 2006, p.40). “Kant’s view is a person committing suicide takes the easy way out, where reason would dictate he or she face their problems” (Schuklenk et al., 2011, p.38). Virtue ethicists would also be against euthanasia and physician assisted death. Virtue ethicists hold “it is not only important to do the right thing but equally to have the right disposition, motivation, and traits for being good and doing right” (Edge & Groves, 2006, p.43). As a believer in God, a virtue ethicist would hold suicide as an unreasonable option. They would believe God to be the “sole arbiter of life and death” (Schuklenk et al., 2011, p.42) and therefore, the right thing to do would be for God to end their life as he sees fit.

“Brad is a production engineer at a bicycle company and part of his job includes inspecting broken bikes and drafting the design repairs for their repair” (Bartlett). Brad is considering replacing a broken brake cable with a more durable material, even though the customer did not request it in their order and specifically requested that “No aesthetic changes be made to the bike” (Bartlett). Brad’s manager suggests that his considered actions would go against the company’s policy of “The customer is always right.” Should Brad disobey the manager and the customer to possibly lose his job or go along with

Ethics can be defined as a set of principles which dictate what is considered as morally ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Abortion is defined as the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy through a medical procedure which results in the death of a fetus. Within ethics, there are many arguments as to whether abortion should be permitted in society as many regard it as an act of murder and others simply see it as a decision that should be given to the mother only. The issue of abortion remains to be one of the most controversial topics in society, which causes an inevitable clash of opinion. Through the exploration of philosophical principles, we are able to evaluate the origins of such opinions. In the same way, utilitarianism equates wrongness or blameworthiness of an action with its resultant pain or unhappiness. The central principle of utilitarianism expresses the belief that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. Since utilitarianism differentiates ethical and unethical actions on the basis of the outcomes of those actions, it falls into the consequentialist class. With this belief, utilitarianism challenged traditional views that abortion was an 'evil ' act, arguing instead that the end justifies the means. In contrast, the deontologist would consider the intent of the person seeking an abortion in evaluating its ethical standing. In addition to this, postmodernism argues that, since there is

Abortion is one of the most heavily debated subject matters in the United States today. Most people characterize themselves as either “pro-life” or “pro choice” depending on their position of morality. However, others can align themselves more in the middle and judge the morality as an outsider, finding it entirely possible for one to be “pro-life” but still believe that abortion is immoral. When examining this issue from a utilitarian point of view, one must consider the morality of the action based off the greatest happiness principal, which weights the action against the potential harm or happiness it can cause. By analyzing each various position on abortion through a utilitarian perspective, one can determine what position Mill would been most likely to support on the topic of abortion.

In our society, I think most people relate happiness to physical and material pleasures. Happiness fluctuates as the new thing you had to have grows old. Trying to “keep up with the Jones” does not bring happiness in life. Hursthouse (2012) noted, “Virtue ethics claims that a human life devoted to physical pleasure or the acquisition of wealth is not flourishing, happy or living well, but a wasted life” (pp. 2). Personally, someone that is deceitful, selfish, greedy, self-indulgent, and yet enjoys great pleasure and appears to be quite happy would seem to not be flourishing. Aristotle ties people who practice good deed tend to be happy and flourish in life (Aristotle, 1931). Mosser (2013) noted, “For Aristotle, the virtuous person, is someone

“I would rather be a good man than a great king” said the character Thor in Thor: The Dark World. In these words we find a frightening tension. Almost everyone agrees that it is good to be ethical; this is an easy affirmation. It is much more difficult, though, when ethics is in direct opposition to success. This dichotomy- between ethics and success- will no doubt confront an engineer during a professional career of any substantial length. Can you say that you would rather be a good man than rich? Or popular? Or a successful engineer? What should happen when an engineer faces this question? One real world example that can shed some light on this problem is what is known as bid shopping. This essay will provide a thorough definition of the problem of bid shopping and the ethical dilemma surrounding it. It will then apply the ethical theories of Duty Ethics and Virtue Ethics to the question. And seek to show that bid shopping is unethical according to both ethical theories.

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

Ethical Theory is the philosophical study of morality. (Cambridge dictionary) this is the study of people or cultures and their ethical behaviors. There are many cultures and groups of people that make up our world. Not everyone has the same ethical values and each culture is uniquely different. Ethical theory is a set of beliefs by a culture, with an ethical theory it helps people set to values and concepts of right and wrong behavior. We use ethical systems to work through our problems to find out what ought to be morally right and wrong. (Wilkens, 2011) There are three main branches of ethical theory and they are; metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Metaethics is the study of where moral principles come from. Normative ethics regulates right and wrong behavior. Applied ethics looks at the most debatable issues that are faced in the world. With these different fields of ethics, philosophers try to figure out the best way to figure out how to best approach controversial issues. For the use of this paper, I will concentrate on Metaethics and how we use it to determine moral judgments.