Virtues, as described by Aristotle, are qualities that help an individual to flourish and reach their potential, thus living “the good life.” These qualities manifest themselves daily, throughout all of our lives, though some, especially those that are intellectually based, are ever important to those working within information technology based fields. These virtues may help guide what companies we choose to devote our skillset to, or perhaps what decisions we make when designing software. They may even guide our lifelong goals and aspirations within our field, and lack of attention to these values may hinder our, and the world’s progress. Aristotle’s form of ethics, known as virtue ethics, focus on the idea of these virtues. Happiness, …show more content…
We begin first with courage, a moral value that has growing necessity as technology continues to create new possibilities. We find ourselves in a more and more interconnected world, with our actions increasingly visible to those around us. This can be especially true with new technologies; as new creators are eager to share their artifacts with those around them. Unfortunately, many of these new technologies allow for people to take advantage of, and harm, one another, acts that should not be tolerated in society. It is up to professionals to exhibit courage, even when confronted with condemnation from peers, in order to act in the benefit of humanity by stopping these transgressions. This may come in a variety of forms, perhaps through the reporting of inappropriate activities or through the exhibition of positive work to peers. The next trait that bears importance to the computing professional is justice, also within the moral category. Justice, while slightly ambiguous, can be generally described as the desire to ensure fairness within society. While this can be interpreted in various ways, it is important to view it in the context of modern computing. With computing we see the rise of many easily accessible pieces of software, from social media to health care enrollment sites. We have a duty as professionals to ensure that our creations exist to benefit those around us, not to try and prey on those we have power over. For example,
Fractal Entertainment has requested the creation of this project in order to keep their employees informed and up to date on professional bodies relevant to them, current legislations, code of conducts and the current issue of ethics in computing. In this project I am to provide in depth insight to the topics mentioned, and to provide accurate information for the benefit of the staff at Fractal Entertainment.
Aristotle’s work, The Nicomachean Ethics, consists of numerous books pertaining to Aristotle’s Ethics—the ethics of the good life. The first book discloses Aristotle’s belief on moral philosophy and the correlation between virtue and happiness.
In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discusses about the concept of good: the existence of multiple goods rather than a single, universal good; the highest good to mankind being happiness; the varying interpretations of happiness among men; etc. In defining what happiness is not however, Aristotle discusses about the concept of honor and its inequivalence to genuine happiness, despite contrary belief. And in doing so, he establishes the motif of action versus inaction when describing the best ways to achieve happiness, heavily favoring action against inaction.
In Book I of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states that the ultimate human goal or end is happiness. Aristotle then describes steps required for humans to obtain the ultimate happiness. He also states that activity is an important requirement of happiness. A virtuous person takes pleasure in doing virtuous things. He then goes on to say that living a life of virtue is something pleasurable in itself. The role of virtue to Aristotle is an important one, with out it, it seems humans cannot obtain happiness. Virtue is the connection one has to happiness and how they should obtain it. My goal in this paper is to connect Aristotle’s book of Nicomachean Ethics to my own reasoning of self-ethics. I
1. In light of Aristotle’s analysis of virtue and/or Plato’s analysis of virtue, what would be, in your view, four core Canadian moral virtues? Give a short explanation for your choices
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is a reflection as to what virtue is. Aristotle’s definition of virtue can be described as the as the “state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean relative to us, this being determined by reason and by that reason by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it” (Nicomachean Ethics, 31). In addition to that, Aristotle illustrates two types of virtue that stem from his primary idea; moral and intellectual virtue. Aristotle expounds moral virtue as actualizing from habit, in which the virtue cannot arise naturally, for the fact that nothing can form a habitual habit that contrasts from its nature. For instance, the example of the fire; it is impossible to teach the fire to burn downwards,
In order to explain the fundamentals of Aristotle's Virtue Ethics, one must acknowledge his primary motive in this study, which is to understand what it means to live well. Unlike
Aristotle’s thoughts on ethics conclude that all humans must have a purpose in life in order to be happy. I believe that some of the basics of his ideas still hold true today. This essay points out some of those ideas.
According to Professor Koteski, “Aristotle used a “biological” model in his approach to ethics.” His search for common components in the lives of different individuals attempted to define what led to excellence in the life of those individuals and in the life of a community. This shaped Aristotle teleological worldview as he thought that determining natural purposes was the path to the most fundamental principles in governing the people or the city. Virtue is a state that decides, consisting in a mean relative to us, defined by reference to reason, it is a mean between excess and deficiency. Therefore, it is my option that Aristotle would explain to Meno that virtue could be a result of nature, practice, and could also be taught.
In Donald Gotterbarn's article, "Informatics and Professional Responsibility," he argues that "although informatics has been undergoing a rapid development, there has been no corresponding development in the concept of responsibility as it applies to computing practitioners" (107). Gotterbarn believes that computer professionals should be perfect and are responsible for any effects caused by their coding. I disagree with Gotterbarn on this matter. In this essay, I will show that Gotterbarn's thoughts and beliefs on professional responsibility in computer ethics are unreasonable and therefore should not be applied.
Aristotle describes human nature and its role in a person 's morality. It is explained that something 's nature pertains to its “performance of its particular function.”(278) Determining what makes something good or bad however is determined through virtue. To be able to even begin to understand the complexity behind human nature, one must first learn an object 's nature before learning its virtue, as what makes one thing good or bad doesn 't make another object the same way. To understand its nature we must know its function as previously stated, from there we are able to accurately describe its virtues. One example that can be used is a computer. It is
In the early years of computers and computerized technology, computer engineers had to believe that their contribution to the development of computer technology would produce positive impacts on the people that would use it. During the infancy of computer technology, ethical issues concerning computer technology were almost nonexistent because computers back then were not as multifaceted as they are today. However, ethical issues relating to computer technology and cyber technology is undeniable in today’s society. Computer technology plays a crucial role in all aspects of our daily lives. Different forms of computer technology provide unique functionalities that allow people to perform daily activities effectively and efficiently. In
Aristotle wrote the first book ever written about ethics titles “The Nicomachean Ethics,” and it is still one of the greatest and most influential. Its purpose is to teach us to be virtuous rather than to understand what virtue is. (Aristotle, 2009)
There has been a legitimate distinction between the moral and ethical views behind computer scientists being responsible for the action that they take upon the problems that they can face from the systems that they design. They must be faced with the codes of ethics and the morality issues in order to acknowledge the user about the responsibility that they must encounter in order for the use of technology. In the case of the technological society, the IT technology must include security measures to avoid hacking and to be in line with legislations since it’s an important factor towards moral responsibilities. Several issues have been identified as a result to whether computer scientists perform their job role correctly or not. The failure to not meeting the correct responsibilities of their job could result in computer scientists exposing the perception of moral and ethical principles to the audience and the society incorrectly. The lack of effective analogy forces can discover the publicizing and anticipation with negative views and so shows the immoral aspects. Whereas, other evidence could should morality since it can help the community and society into developing and taking technology positively to a further level.
SECTION II. ARISTOTLE: In Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle’s moral theory with connections resulting in responsibility, practical reasoning, and choice, are the central focuses of the opinion of ethicality. For one to live a fulfilling life is to live a good life- one full of activity- and not possessed by the worth of a person. Ones activities that are in accordance to ethical virtues are appropriate realizations to which are readily characterized towards good activities. Though the good of a person does not only reside in the behavior, but the behavior of the certain character. In Book