Virtue Ethics Vs Utilitarianism

· A personal experience to explain the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts as they relate to one of the three theories

What is ethics? According to Velasquez et al (2010), “ethics is a well-founded standard of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations,

Ethics is defined as moral principles that administer a person’s behaviour. It is the basic perception and essential principle of decent human conduct. Issues concerning unethical approach are known as ethical issues.

First, it is important to define ethics and how its components play an extensive role in our society. The term ethics is defined as “Moral principles that govern a person 's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.” (Oxford); ethical decisions are the ones that per se determine whether or not murder is wrong. Likewise, ethics consists of different ramifications and perspectives from many philosophers. Moreover,

Virtue Theory is one of many different moral theories that exist today. It is based off of Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics which focuses on having an ideal character. The main focus of Virtue Theory is the role of one’s character, which is closely related to its roots in Aristotle. A Virtue Theorist would do things because it is who they themselves are, not because it is good to do them or because they will get something good from doing them.

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

Ethics are defined as “a set of moral principles and perceptions about right versus wrong and the resulting philosophy of conduct that is practiced by an individual, group, profession, or culture” (Barker, 2001, p. 159). In the field

I believe virtue is anything that may be advantageous in one’s own way. It may be good, it may be bad in

Both religions follow the “Golden Rule” and enlighten their followers on the benefits of it in achieving salvation. Utilitarianism also focuses its teachings on decision’s outcome as suppose to a code of laws which gives individual ethical grounds for making decisions that reduces suffering, similar to virtue teachings. A good example is when people compliment another person about their looks despite the negative outlook in their mind.

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).

Think about your personal definition of morality. Is it a set of independent morals or are they applicable to the community as a whole? Virtue refers to high moral standards. In the pre-revolutionary American colonies, the idea of virtue was central to the idea of the “quintessential American”. Benjamin Franklin and John Winthrop created their own set of virtues to live by. Both of the prominent colonists drew from their past experiences, religious beliefs, and their beliefs about the foundation of human nature. Because he took an individualistic approach motivated by divine reward, Benjamin Franklin changed Boston’s idea of virtue from the Puritanical, community based morals set by John Winthrop decades previously.

I learned that ethics of virtue plays a huge role in moral theory. Those who are virtuous such as Ghandi has characteristic’s that resemble someone that has the ability to attracted people and leads their life to the right direction. Those characteristics of virtue gives people motivation to follow their practice. An example of the characteristic is being charismatic. One who is charismatic, attracts followers and those followers follow the practice of the virtuous figure. Because they follow them, they are inclined to believe that the virtuous figure is the correct. The question that lies is does the ethics of virtue allow people to be autonomous? I was inclined to believe that those who practice virtue are autonomous because in order to do

After filling out the Ethical Inventory again I found that Utilitarianism and Virtue Ethics are the two areas that made the most persuasive thinking for me. Utilitarianism looks at the consequences and weighs the positives to see if it is going to bring happiness to the greater number. Every situation is looked at from a pros and cons point of view and a decision is made from there. One statement that is on the inventory sheet says, “When I am trying to decide what the right thing to do is, I look at the consequences of the various alternatives open to me.” In this example for myself I usually don’t think about consequences and react on emotions. After reacting from emotions I think about the consequences and realize most of the time it wasn’t the right thing to do. There are many times that I react and then realize I could’ve done things differently in that situation. I think about my own self interest before I think about the effects of the greater number. I see myself now looking at the situation and seeing both sides of it. I look at the positives and negatives before I react on emotions. By learning more about utilitarianism and changing my thought process I see my virtue ethics in a different perspective compared to what I did before this class. All the virtues that are stated in the book are virtues I hold very deeply in myself. These virtues are courage, generosity, honesty, loyalty to friends and family. Courage was one I had a hard time with because I don’t always

Ethics is defined as moral principles of conduct, which people usually agree with. Unlike in law there is no punishment involved in ethical values, if you don't follow according with the standards. There are many things that influence ethical behaviour. These can be personal reflection, religious beliefs, culture, experiences and family influences. If broadly speaking, ethics is the science or study of the morality of how humans act through the medium of natural reason.

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the principles correlated to human behavior concerning the rightness and wrongness of specific conduct, and to the good and bad that influences and ends those actions (Ditonary.com, 2011). In other words, ethics is the choice people effect in regards to a decision they need to achieve. Without ethics directing the choice an individual makes, moral preferences of what should or should not be done becomes irrelevant. While ethical decisions are made every day there are two different regions in which these choices are made.