Perhaps more so than Emotivists, Prescriptivists see ethical language as fairly meaningful. They believe that the terms used are able to create absolute rules that everyone ought to follow. It would seem that ethical language is seen by many as very meaningful, although for varying reasons. However agent centred theories such as Virtue Ethics would argue that our main focus of morality should be on becoming as virtuous as possible, rather than deciding what is meant by ethical language. Therefore it would seem that perhaps morality should be more focussed on individuals’ actions rather then defining what is meant by ‘good’ and
The overall direction of each of these philosophers, however, was quite similar, and all three are generally referred to as "Socratic". Aristotle's ethics is built around the premise that people should achieve an excellent character as a pre-condition for attaining happiness or well-being. It is sometimes referred to in comparison to later ethical theories as a "character based ethics". Like Plato and Socrates, he emphasized the importance of reason for human happiness, and that there were logical and natural reasons for humans to behave virtuously, and try to become virtuous. Aristotle focuses on courage and temperance as the two typical moral virtues which can be described as a mean, then discusses a whole range of minor virtues and vices which can be described as a mean, and only then discusses justice and the intellectual virtues.
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.
Therefore, deontologists follow the belief that certain actions are inherently good if they follow the stated rules even if the action has bad consequences, it can still be defined as moral. In contrast, teleological ethical systems focus completely on the outcomes and consequences of an act. Teleology is a theory of ethics according to which the rightness of an act is determined by it's end. Also known as consequentialism, actions that result in what can be considered as a good consequence must be good and so the end result will justify the reason that the act was committed in the first place. Both deontological and teleological ethical systems use opposing ethical guides yet they both have the same aim, to help people make moral decisions.
“What is the highest of all goods? It is happiness.” The great Greek philosopher Aristotle developed the normative ethical theory of Virtue Ethics and here argues that happiness is the highest good and what we should all strive to achieve. This theory focuses on the kind of person we should become rather than the actions we should do or avoid and is therefore aretaic. Aretai’ from the Greek essentially means virtue, and this is the heart of Virtue Ethics; that people should concentrate on practicing excellence and being virtuous in order to reach happiness, which is the highest goodness according to Aristotle. Morality is not simply about avoiding the wrong, but is also about doing what is virtuous.
Virtue ethics comes from the Greek word of excellence, which concentrates on the moral agent performing the actions and not on the actions itself. Whereas in other theories its aim is to make people do good and avoid doing wrong. For example Utilitarianism’s “greatest good for the greatest number” and Kant’s theory on duty. Through the work of Aristotle’s table of the vice of excess and deficiency you are able to weigh up the character and focus on just the actions in order to reach the Golden mean. Consequently there are many weaknesses of virtue ethics that do not outweigh its strengths.
Aristotle argues that material is what an object consist of and this matter we could not live without. He feels that education is the key and having the experience is good for happiness. Aristotle states that it is important to consider our ethical first principle not merely as a conclusion drawn from certain premises, but also in its relation to the popular opinion (Aristotle, 701). He says how it is important to follow what we believe and because
This same idea was one of the main Greek principles in life. They strived for progress, knowledge and harmony among their citizens. Plato’s writings examined justice, beauty, and equality. Only a moral person can be truly happy, when a certain level of inner harmony is reached, the soul fulfills its proper functions. But what does that exactly mean?
'The weaknesses of Virtue Ethics outweigh its strengths.' Discuss. Virtue ethics derives from Plato and Aristotle and does not focus on actions being right or wrong, but instead of how to be a good person and the character of a person. It looks at what makes a person good and the qualities (or virtues) that make a person good. Virtue ethics is agent-centred ethics rather than act-centred; it asks ‘What sort of person ought I to be?’ rather than ‘How ought I to act?’ The Aristotelian approach shows to give an account of the structure of morality and explained that the point of enrolling in ethics is to become good: ‘For we are enquiring not in order to know what virtue is but in order to become good since otherwise our enquiry would be of no use.’ (Nichomachean Ethics, Book 1, ch.
I am a little unsure about the responsibility part, It is about doing my job and following the rules. Next my Definition of Ethical Behavior: Creating the greatest good by living out the role of responsibilities. I define an ethical person as someone that makes good responsible choices. I feel