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 on to explain Eudaimonia as being a quality of this happiness.…
The virtue ethics approach focuses more on the integrity of the moral actor more than on the moral act itself.…
Virtue theory, also known as virtue ethics, focuses more so on the character of a person rather than the rules and consequences of specific acts. What this essentially means is that the primary focus is whether or not the person acting ethically is a person who upholds high morals and virtues, in turn expressing “good character” (Garrett, 2005). Rules, intent, consequences and outcome are not necessarily irrelevant; however, the emphasis of virtue theory is primarily on a person’s character, their virtues, and their expression of good intentions (Garrett, 2005).…
"Virtue Ethics is a classification within Normative Ethics that attempts to discover and classify what might be deemed of moral character, and to apply the moral character as a base for one's choices and actions." (Gowdy, 2011).…
In this essay it is required to compare and contrast the similarities and the differences between three major ethical viewpoints or theories. The three that will be explained are virtue theory, utilitarianism and deontological ethics. Since its revival in the twentieth century, virtue ethics have been broadly termed for a theory that focuses on the role of character and virtue in moral judgment. Most virtue ethics theories take their inspiration from Aristotle who said that a virtuous person is anyone who has ideal or good character traits. This theory judges a person on their character rather than an action that at some times maybe different from their normal behavior.…
Virtue ethics is the view that you should try cultivate excellence in all that you do and all that others do. Physicians’ continuing education on the latest procedures in order to best serve their patients would be an example of virtue ethics. Virtue ethics is a way to look at someone’s character development over a period of time a project, career or perhaps a lifetime (Boylan, 2009).…
Virtue ethics is based on the person moral characteristics rather than the actions. Utilitarianism goes by the consequences of actions for the overall right or wrong, not intent of the person. Utilitarianism uses the pleasure principle that “pleasure is a clearly identifiable end to which all humans strive” (Boylan, 2009, p.155). This principle can result in pleasure pain or neither. Deontology moral theory focuses on independent moral duties or rules. Action is recommended based on the principle of deontology. “Principle is justified through an understanding of the structure of action, the nature of reason, and the operation of the wall” (Boylan, 2009, p.171). The decisions, duties and rules of the deontological system determined by God. These theories all cater to ethics in their own way. They all have different qualities that stress the reason why certain actions are…
The virtue theory deals with the individual, the expectation is to “cultivate excellence in all that you do and all that others do (Boylan, 2009).” It deals with the character of an individual. Qualities of a virtuous person would be considered an upstanding, trustworthy, dependable, and honest. In contrast an unethical person would be selfish, unreliable, devious, or careless.…
Virtue ethics is a theory used to make moral decisions. It does not rely on religion, society or culture; it only depends on the individuals themselves. Aristotle is the main philosopher of Virtue Ethic. Aristotle’s writings have been read more or less continuously since ancient times, and his ethical treatises continue to influence philosophers working today.…
Virtue Ethics as a “different approach to morality” (MacKinnon, 2012, p. 124), was distinguished from the other ethical theories as one that “is concerned with those traits of character that make one a good person” (MacKinnon, 2012, p. 125). In contrast with the other ethical theories that “are concerned with how we determined what is the right things to do” (MacKinnon, 2012, p. 124), “virtue ethics asks how we ought to be” (MacKinnon, 2012, p. 125).…
I believe that virtue ethics is the most plausible ethical theory. It is the only theory that requires us to work better ourselves by cultivating virtues instead of giving a law to follow or because we value the outcomes. In addition, with today’s society being self-centered it is the theory that has the best chances of being accepted. A virtue is defined as the mean between the extremely good and extremely bad and arriving to that just middle take time, dedication, and patience. One does not own a virtue but a virtue defines who one is. Dedicating a lifetime to become better versions of ourselves is what we are already doing and virtue ethics is the theory with the path towards it.…
Virtue Ethics is not focused on the final outcome like Consequentialism, but rather on…
Unlike deontology or utilitarianism which are action-based moral theory, virtue ethics is a character-centric moral theory. Deontology and utilitarianism give absolute rule as to how agent ought to act in any situations - deontology argues that actions should be driven by duty and utilitarians put the maximization of utility above all else. Virtue ethics, due to its focus on the agent rather than the actions, allows for more flexibility as to how an individual ought to act. The main value of virtue ethics is its focus on the aim towards the self-improvement of the agent. Aristotle states that individuals become virtuous by committing virtuous actions - virtue ethics therefore purports to letting individuals improve on themselves. Virtue ethics allows individuals to make decisions based on their own character rather than on clearly defined rules. Unlike utilitarianism, where the actions one ought to do are routinized and almost machinelike, virtue ethics provides a more diverse course of action to…
My decision not to use virtue ethics is because of the argument that most of those virtues named by Aristotle does not fit to everybody, like it is said in the text, most of them only apply to rich and high class…
Virtue is a broad term used in ethics, it identifies with the moral character of a person where some other ethic theories focus on duties and roles or the consequences of an action. Virtue ethics has been broken down into three main theories: eudaimonism, agent-based theories, and the ethics of care. Eudaimonism is based on human flourishing or a person achieving their purpose well. An agent-based theory are based on what other people think are admirable traits in people that are thought to be common-sense intuitions. The third type is ethics of care which came from the feminist thinkers, it challenged the “idea that ethics should focus solely on justice and autonomy; it argues that more feminine traits, such as caring and nurturing, should also be considered” (Athanassoulis, N. (n.d.). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.).…