Virtue Ethics And The Moral Life

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,

Virtue ethics is a theory of ethics in moral philosophy in which it emphasizes that the notion of virtue is key to a

The Virtue Theory, also know as Virtue Ethics, refers to the character of each person. This theory states that every person should try for excellence. The characteristics of each individual are made up from their environment that they are a part of. The theory would further suggest

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 is one of the three major approaches in ethics. This approach of ethics emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to other approaches which emphasizes duties or rules. Virtue ethics has three central concepts; virtue, practical wisdom, and eudemonia, however, these are often misunderstood. The three approaches of ethics are virtue ethics, consequentialist ethics, and deontology ethics. Each approach provides a different way to understanding ethics.

Aristotle’s idea of Virtue Ethics was influenced by his belief that all things and all humans have a purpose (a telos). For him a complete explanation of something has to include its final cause or purpose which essentially is to realise its potential. Virtue Ethics itself is concerned with the characteristics of a person rather than how a person behaves and it is this he outlined in his book Nicomachean Ethics. A ‘’virtue’’ are qualities that lead to a good life e.g. courage and honesty. Aristotle explains for a person to adopt these qualities into their own lives is to maximise their potential to achieve a happy life and he goes

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

Virtue ethics is considered as one of the three major approaches in normative ethics. The founding fathers of Virtue ethics are Plato and more particularly Aristotle. “It suffered a momentary eclipse during the nineteenth century but re-emerged in the late 1950’s in Anglo-American philosophy” (Virtue Ethics , 2012). The re-emergence had an effect on the other two approaches. The consequence of this is the fact that is now necessary to distinguish “virtue ethics” from “virtue theory. Kant’s virtue theory has conveyed philosophers’ attention to Kant’s “Doctrine of Virtue” and the utilitarian’s have developed consequentialist virtue theories. “A virtue such as honesty or generosity is not just a tendency to do what is honest or generous, nor

Virtue ethics is an approach to ethics that emphasizes an individual 's character as the key element of ethical thinking. Virtue ethical theories originate to ancient Greek philosophy discussion of what were recognized as the four cardinal virtues- wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance." The roots of virtue theory lie in pre-Socratic times but commenced in earnest with Socrates’ infuriating questioning of the values and beliefs of his fellow Athenians. The theory was significantly advanced by Plato and was definitively elaborated by Aristotle himself

Virtue ethics emphasize the importance of one's character and their morals above dutiful behavior. Many virtue theories are built upon Aristotle's teachings that define a virtuous person as "someone who has ideal character traits" (Athanassoulis, 2004). Virtues can be defined as an agreement to standards of right or can refer to particular moral excellence (Merriam-Webster Online, 2013). Virtue theories hold that there are a universal set of principles and virtues that can be applied to various situations. Some virtue theories that have seen recent resurgence are Eudemonism, agent-based theories, and the ethics of care (Athanassoulis, 2004). In Eudemonism, virtues are based in flourishing with flourishing being "equated with performing one's distinctive function well" (Athanassoulis, 2004). Agent-based theories, on the other hand, contend individuals aim to mimic virtuous qualities they see in others based on common-sense concepts, and the ethics of care contends qualities like caring and nurturing should be considered to be virtuous traits as well.

There are two different types of virtues in Aristotle's Theory: Intellectual virtues and moral virtues. The intellectual virtues reflect what is unique and important about human nature across the board, but the moral virtues conduct well the normal affairs of daily life in society. In addition, Virtue Ethics has ancient roots, in both Latin and Greek culture, it means "excellence" in being a model person. Therefore, it helps you to live the good life. While, Aristotle's virtue ethics has some

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

In week four of ethics we went over chapters 8, 9 and 10. Chapter 8 was over Virtue Ethics, chapter 9 was about feminists thought and the ethics of care, and chapter 10 was about euthanasia. These three topics were very interesting to me, but one in particular topic that was interesting for me was the chapter on virtue ethics. This chapter stood out the most for me because it is so important to have good character no matter what you are personally going through or what has happened to you in your life it is always important to give others respect and treat them how you would like to be treated. Virtues are good character traits, for example courage, loyalty, self sacrifice, and patriotism. They are the traits that make a person good. According

When considering virtue ethics, the focus of an individual’s morality is based on their character rather than any one of their specific actions. When confronted with a difficult situation virtue ethicist would strive to always act virtuously, or as someone with ideal character traits would. Aristotle defined these ideal character traits as traits that are derived “from natural internal tendencies”, and that these traits “need to be nurtured; however, once established, they will become stable.” [1]

Civic virtue and its implications for individuals and society has been a subject studied and contemplated by many great philosophers. Virtue is a subject where philosophers do not absolutely agree on its meanings and implications. However, many great philosophers share similar thoughts on the subject, while others differ in aspects on their idea of virtue. Philosophers comprehension and opinions on the topic derive from their historical era, other philosophers, and the history of the Western civilization. To understand virtue one must examine virtue’s meaning, formation, types, equality, importance to society, religious implications, and the different degrees of virtue leaders and citizens must have.