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Aristotle's Theory Of Virtue Ethics

Decent Essays
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,
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