A person must ultimately make the decision to be “good” in the presences of negative influences, it is what we as a society have determined to be “good” that sets apart the civilized from uncivilized societies. There are several ethical philosophies that hold merit and each has its weaknesses alongside its strengths. Virtue ethics, developed in ancient Greece with proponents such as Plato and Aristotle, is probably one of the most well known of the philosophies for its long history and relatively basic structure. Several other ethical views are built upon the basics set out in virtue ethics. A person inherently has some sort of primitive worldview and code of personal ethics.
Furthermore it emphasises the need for people to break bad habits of character, as they prevent one from achieving full happiness and being a moral person. Such bad habits are greed and anger, and these are referred to as vices and in order to be a good person, we must stay away from these vices. The origins of this theory date at least back to Plato and Aristotle. Although modern virtue ethics does not have to take the form known as "neo-Aristotelian", almost any modern version still shows that its roots are in ancient Greek philosophy by the employment of three concepts derived from it. These are arete (excellence or virtue) phronesis (practical or moral wisdom) and eudaimonia (usually translated as happiness or flourishing.)
He also connected Virtue Ethics with life lived according to human reason. Aristotle upheld that the vicious or callous are characters who fail to exercise reason, the supreme human capacity. Aristotle wrote “happiness depends
Actions are then just if they sustain or are consonant with such harmony. Such a conception of individual justice is virtue ethical because it ties justice (acting justly) to an internal state of the person rather than to (adherence to) social norms or to good consequences; but Plato's view is also quite radical because it at least initially leaves it an open question whether the just individual refrains from such socially proscribed actions as lying, killing, and stealing. Plato eventually seeks to show that someone with a healthy, harmonious soul wouldn't lie, kill, or steal, but most commentators consider his argument to that effect to be highly deficient. Aristotle is generally regarded as a virtue ethicist par excellence, but his account of justice as a virtue is less purely virtue ethical than Plato's because it anchors individual justice in situational factors that are largely external to the just individual. Situations and communities are just, according to Aristotle, when individuals receive benefits according to their merits, or virtue: those most
How far is virtue ethics a satisfactory guide to moral behaviour? Virtue ethics is person rather than action based as it looks at the virtue or moral character of the person carrying out an action, rather than at ethical duties and rules, or the consequences of particular actions, unlike Utilitarianism or Situation ethics, which always look at the consequence of the action. Virtue Ethics was a theory first developed by Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC), Eudaimonia, or 'happiness', is the supreme goal of human life. Aristotle believed that everything has a purpose, Eudaimonia is the purpose for humans. 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.
“The Allegory of the Cave” and “Qualities of the Prince” (Authored by Plato and Machiavelli, respectively) have different viewpoints in contrast to one another. Looking at the texts, it seems that Machiavelli would be critical of the views Plato expressed in The Allegory of the Cave for a number of reasons. Plato states that people are inherently good, although good can be “seen only with an effort” (35). Machiavelli, on the flipped side, states that “for a man who strives after goodness in all his acts is sure to come to ruin, since there are so many men who are not good” (7), suggesting that most people are by nature not good, and that pursuing the act of being good, will only lead to disaster. Therefore, he would likely think that Plato’s ideology is too optimistic, if not ignorant, and that one must have a realist viewpoint to survive this world.
The AMA code asks members to apply the basic rule of professional ethics, which is to not knowingly do harm. It also asks members to follow all applicable laws and regulations. 2. Describe the role of the Ethics Officer in a corporation. What are the fundamental building blocks of a good, comprehensive ethics program that is created for the purpose of educating employees?
Starbucks is one of the companies that highly upholds business ethics and compliance. In our team paper, we will assess the role of ethics
This staple of his beliefs is why he doesn't fear death, but in fact looks forward to it. By escaping he is committing an unjust act against the state, and committing unjust acts ruins the soul. With a ruined soul there is no point in living life as the soul is the only important thing, not the body. Therefore the most important thing is not only living life, but living a just life. While Socrates arguments may be sound in his opinion, I'm not sure if I agree with them.
Plato lays out the foundation for a “perfect” society as he sees that it should be. Plato believed that all people who act justly do so because of their own selfish motives. People who act justly do so reluctantly, and only so that they do not face the consequences of rather unjust actions, according to Plato. He explains that if given the opportunity, any “man” would act unjustly if they believed they would not get caught committing offenses of an unjust nature. This way they could keep a “just” image among their peers, but still reap the rewards of the unjust actions.