By practising we improve our virtues and so become happy and live good lives. It is of intrinsic value, not a means to an end, and should be desired for its own sake, not only for the individual but for the society of which they are a member. Once eudemonia is achieved a person will act virtuously in any situation without thinking about it, they will and want to act morally. A virtue is a moral excellence. Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting individual and collective well-being.
‘the good life’. Whether an action is deemed to be right or otherwise depends on its net contribution to the attainment of this state of being. The processes in question here include being a just person and fulfilling obligations to those we have relationships with, where doing actions of justice as well as fulfilling one’s obligations to others may or may not lead one closer to the ideal human state depending on the teachings of each philosopher. The three philosophers have different interpretations and different values they place on these virtues. For Socrates, upholding justice leads to this state, while for Epictetus, it is about being in accord with nature.
Aristotle believes we practice good virtues for a greater reason, the superior aim in life is to achieve the supreme good, which is happiness. For Aristotle, happiness or fulfilment was the goal and purpose of life. In this understanding he meant more than just pleasure, he understood this in three different ways. First being happiness as a life of enjoyment of pleasure, second happiness as a free member of society, and last happiness as a philosopher. In order to achieve the eudaimonia, Aristotle believed that you had to practise skills or virtues to achieve happiness and live good lives.
Motivation, what drove human beings. The principle of utility, which was his moral rule and the hedonic calculus which was a system used to measure how good or a bad a consequence was. Bentham established that pleasure and pain were the important qualities for determining what was moral, he developed the utility principle. The rightness and wrongness of an action is detrimned by its ‘utility’ or usefulness. Usefulness refers to the amount of pleasure or happiness caused by an action-hence its theological ethical theory which determines a good act by the ends it brings about.
The theory’s central question is: how we ought to act. Through a cost-benefit analysis, impartial decisions on actions should be made as long as the end result measures an increase of happiness for the majority. To the contrary, Kantian ethics focus on the intrinsic value and moral standing of human beings as rational agents with autonomy; therefore, they must be treated equally and with dignity. An action is not made right according to its consequences but on the consistency of one’s ethical course of action by means of reasoning to attain the right behavior. The main concepts behind Kantian theory are generated from the Categorical Imperative, used as an ethical rule for decision-making to determine the right action.
With a good upbringing and a base value system, most individuals will exude good values and ethics. A description of the differences in how each theory addresses ethics and morality Virtue ethics centralizes around characteristics, such as moral character or the virtue of an individual. A proponent of virtue ethics would define helping someone in need as a benevolent or charitable action (Stanford, 2007). Virtue ethics also places more emphasis on helping individuals expand his or her character that in turn extends to individuals better decision-making later in life. These theorists believe erasing vices builds good moral character (Cline, 2012).
He is saying that human beings try and steer away from pain and drive toward getting as much pleasure as possible. Bentham saw this as a moral fact. The word utilitarianism comes from the word utility meaning usefulness. Bentham theory of utilitarianism may have been influenced by this as he believes in the greatest happiness for the greatest number. This theory is related to utility as he is saying that if more people are happier this will be more useful across the world.
a) Explain what is meant by ‘ACT’ and ‘RULE’ utilitarianism Both act and rule utilitarianism is based on the principle of utility; which is the very basis of Utilitarianism. It states that something is morally right if it produces more pleasure than pain, and morally wrong if it produces more pain than pleasure. This sort of thinking is devised using the hedonic calculus (P.R.I.C.E.D.F). As you can see this is the basis of both Act and Rule Utilitarianism: the maximisation of pleasure and the minimisation of pain; the difference is the way in which they go about achieving this. Act utilitarianism is the theory where the principle of utility is applied only to every individual situation.
The divine intercessions are graces, and Odysseus realizes this. Knowing that humility is a grace, Odysseus displays it. Knowing that patience is a grace, Odysseus treasures it. Odysseus’ humility creates his fate; his patience leads him to his
Aristotle draws a distinction between superior and subordinate aims, believing Eudaimonia' is the end goal or purpose behind everything we do as people, and is desired for its own sake and therefore a superior aim. Aristotle also developed the idea of moral and intellectual virtues. The moral values are; courage, temperance, big-heartedness, generosity, high-mindedness, right ambition, patience, truthfulness, wittiness, friendliness, modesty, righteous indignation. The intellectual virtues are; practical skill, knowledge, common sense, intuition, wisdom; resourcefulness, understanding, judgement, cleverness. Aristotle then chose the four cardinal values from these lists, which are; temperance, courage, wisdom and justice.