Utilitarianism Vs. Virtue Ethics

The ethical teachings and values of utilitarianism and Christian ethics are similar in some aspects, yet however are diverse in others. Utilitarianism is a generally teleological ethical system, where the outcome is said to justify the act. The act is considered ‘good’ if it brings about the greatest good for the greatest number. Christian Ethics, however, can be quite different. Many aspects of its ethics are deontological, for example, the Decalogue and Natural Law. There are other differences and indeed some similarities which will be considered throughout this essay.

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.

Virtue ethics sets itself apart from the other two; according to Consequentialists virtue ethics tends to promote good consequences. Virtue ethics does not benefit when it is with itself, but when it is with good standards and choices. It takes account more than just the knowledge of a human; Motivation, emotions, wisdom, moral education, and much more. It scales reason and emotions at the same level whereas consequentialism and deontology prefer reason over emotions. Virtue ethics is described as a more open topic that can be explained in multiple ways compared to consequentialism and deontology which tend to be monistic about value.

Morality is a complicated matter, one which requires rationality, but is often driven by emotions. A person’s behavior is almost completely driven by emotions and often times emotions are what tell us when something might be wrong or right. Motivation also comes from emotions, so without feelings of anger, depression, frustration and the like we would hardly ever do anything in order to change things in our lives (Shafer-Landau, 2015, p. 258). Virtue ethics then is concerned with what makes a person virtuous versus vicious when it comes to making moral decisions, with emotions playing an important role. In this paper, I support Aristotle’s emphasis on emotions as a key to being virtuous, especially since emotions tell us what is important and motivate us to act (Shafer-Landau, 2015, p. 257-258).

Luke is in charge of ABC Company’s land development project in building an adult entertainment store on the land they recently purchased. Unfortunately, his brother, Owen, happens to live in the same area. Luke remembers Owen once told him he is thinking about selling his house, since he recently received a decent offer from a real estate firm. However, he is debating whether he should sell it or waits for the real estate to rise. Luke realizes with the appearance of adult entertainment in the near future, the values of Owen’s house and other houses in neighborhood are likely to drop significantly.

Utilitarianism as an ethical theory is seen as 'an act that is morally correct if it results in the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people affected by the act'. (Crane, Matten, Chapt. 3). It is a principle that concentrates on the outcome of an act and compares the good outcome with the bad outcome and supports the outcome that brings the greatest amount of good for all stakeholders involved.

In the omission on application situation it poses the question on what Grace should do. Should she lie and possibly be fired, but take the risk and get the job? Or should she tell the truth and there is a chance she will get the job but the chance is greatly decreased? I am going to discuss which side I would take. Also what good and negative things come out of both sides and which ones outway the others. The views of the Kantian and the principle of universalizability and not ever lying are both good points that should be brought up and I will discuss both, and my view on them. Also the Utilitarian view on the happiness calculus and always choosing the act that will have the greatest overall happiness outcome is another great view that I will

This essay will provide a theoretical understanding of the four ethical frameworks: Consequentialism, Non- Consequentialism, Virtue Ethics and Care Ethics. When applied to a situation these frameworks help teachers to resolve and justify their decision making. The objective is to apply the four frameworks to the scenario Helping Molly, to establish the most ethical course of action. Finally, a recommended course of action will be justification. The overarching ethical issue present within the Helping Molly scenario is the community sponsorship and the alignment with school beliefs and initiatives.

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.

The three ethical theories I will discuss from Chapter 1 include: utilitarianism, virtue and care ethics. First, the utilitarianism is moral standard and a theory of action by humans that are morally right in action. Utilitarianism is an action that is morally right if its consequences are more favorable. One way for businesses’, as our reading suggests (Fieser & Moseley, 2012), is make a list of all the good and bad for any particular act. If the good outweighs the bad then that action should occur. If the bad outweighs the good, then the action should stop. Utilitarianism theory attempts to keep things on the positive, happier side of the spectrum. A company using this theory is probably functioning well due to their morale analysis of actions related to safe products, good quality products and customer care, a fair price, and fair and equal treatment to their employees. In addition, because utilitarianism is a morale standard, a company would be environmentally conscious and find ways to help the community and the world. A company would work at making their products in an environmentally safe way, recycle surplus and make their products within the United States to support the economy. A company would also look at balancing goods over harm produced to the environment or people. Lastly, if a company were to be very successful, they should donate some of their proceeds back into the community (environmentally or local community support) or employees (bonuses,

There are three main philosophies that can be used as ethical processing when determining whether or not to carry out an action: utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics. Each philosophy has its own set of pros and cons that set them apart from the others. Overall, utilitarianism is the most secure philosophy to use in your personal, everyday life. Utilitarianism deserves the most emphasis because it is situational, broad yet certain, and it incorporates parts of both deontology and virtue ethics.

When most think of philosophy a list of people come to mind. You have your “greats” such as Plato, Nietzsche, and of course Aristotle. However, this does not mean that their ideas cannot be challenged and questioned, as no one is above criticism. Aristotelian Virtue Ethics have a major flaw that strikes at the heart of the idea. There is a severe lack of guidance both in what a virtue is, and what happens when they conflict. The mains question is, is one virtue more important than another?

Virtue, when I hear that word I think of value and morality and only good people can be virtuous. When I hear the word ethics I think of good versus evil, wrong and right. Now when the two are put together you get virtue ethics. You may wonder what can virtue ethics possibly mean. It’s just two words put together to form some type of fancy theory. Well this paper will discuss virtue ethics and the philosophy behind it.

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

An advantage of virtue ethics is that it brings in all the qualities of being human such as reason, responsibility and emotion to influence a person’s ethical consideration. This can be applied in situations where a person asks what sort of person he or she should be. However, our text book clarifies that “determining what the specific virtues are, and what the appropriate balance among those virtues should be, can be difficult” (Mosser, 2011).