Virtue Ethics: Doing The Right Way Of Life

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.

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.

As various ethical theories continue to be debated, it can be difficult to determine which model provides the best criteria. However, two theories in particular—virtue ethics and care ethics, have continued to catch much attention since the mid-twentieth century. Although each of these theories are often associated with one another, they both contain their own distinct philosophies. As a result, it is important to clearly understand what each theory entails before concluding that one is derived from the other.

Virtue Ethics is neither deontological nor teleological, since it is concerned with neither duty nor consequences, but rather the state of the person acting. Aristotle believed that once you are good, good actions will necessarily follow, and this belief is at the centre of Virtue Ethics. Rather than defining good actions, Virtue Ethics looks at good people and the qualities that make them good. The non-normative theory, although very effective in determining the morality of individuals, is particularly flawed when applied to whole societies. This weakness is largely due to its imprecision and abstraction; however, before these weaknesses can be considered, it is necessary to give an account of the theory itself.

that are admired. Virtues are very important these day. In order to have more productivity and be better than competitors leaders started to debunk rules and play fair in marketplace. Virtues are becoming things of past and because of that American people have to deal with leaders who are cheaters and liars. Virtues saves us living the life that is socially unaccepted. They also make us better person and those people who are around us. Virtues are better for society. Society without good morals fails. Owners and executives of large business corporation have been in trouble because of the lack of moral excellence. Many

A strength virtue ethics has is a person’s character traits. People use these innate traits to act morally. This allows other traits such as love, respect, and compassion to be brought to the surface. It also allows a person to want to do good things for other people. As these good traits continue to grow and develop, people act/behave better. The more we do good for someone else, the more we want to do good for other people. This goes back to the Bible verse (Acts, 2017), “It always better to give than receive.” These values are learned from one generation to another and can be shared and learned by others.

AVirtue ethics or the virtue theory, is an ethical theory that examines the character of a human for morality (Dreisbach, 2013). When discussing the ethical and moral reasoning behind the racial divide of incarceration rates, virtue ethics requires us to evaluate the morality of the person doing a given act, rather than the act itself (Dreisbach, 2013). Using virtue ethics, you can look at the racial disparity from two perspectives that of the offender and that of the people enforcing the laws. From the offender’s perspective you have to look at the values of each individual offender who breaks the law, you have to dissect their upbringing to determine their moral compass. As far as the government officials whether local, state, or federal each individual person’s morals have to be looked at, whether they are the person who drafts a law or bill to help or further harm the issue of racial disparity in incarceration rates.

For the purposes of this week’s assignment I will be maintaining a focus on The Nature of Virtue and The Ethic of Care. Below, I have highlighted key features of each theory, and summarized how each agrees are disagrees with my personal philosophy. Thank you in advance for your questions or critiques.

Murdoch is a novelist and philosopher who is best known for writing about good and evil, and morality. In her text, she explains how both sides of morality and religion are related, then has the reader decide. Virtuous behavior is someone who practices good conduct, knows the difference between right from wrong, and lives life with high moral standards. For example, when you use virtuous described in action, such as, “your decision to cancel vacation plans because your mother is sick,” you have a choice to make. If you chose to go on vacation, you will feel guilty for leaving her behind; but if you stay, you will also feel disappointed because all you thought about was the vacation – so what do you do? What is the right thing to do? With that

Often times we are in the middle of making a moral decision that will affect either you or me. Especially during a moral dilemmas, we are forced to response with either immediate reaction or logical thinking. Making a moral decision might be hard, and can be explained, however what is right and wrong when making a moral decision that is still a question today. This essay outlines how virtue ethics is not helpful as we hope when making a moral decision.

Esteemed philosopher and writer G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “virtue is not the absence of vices or the avoidance of moral dangers; virtue is a vivid and separate thing, like pain or a particular smell.”

the virtues are that the good man can tell what to do in a morally

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).

The next important virtue within the realm of virtue ethics is the ethics of care “which implies that there is moral significance in the fundamental elements of relationships and dependencies in human life. ” A good way to explain the ethics of care is that they are putting moral ideals into action. The foundations in the ethics of care are developed through childhood when we are being raised in a nurturing environment by our parents when we are young and then later in life reviving that feeling as we care for those around us that aren’t capable of caring for themselves. The ethics of care is also a profound system used by people in all fields of mental wellbeing and counseling. “Critics fault care ethics