Virtue ethics is agent-centred ethics rather than act-centred. Aristotle was an Ancient Greek philosopher and believed that everyone wants to live a full and happy life, this is known as eudaimonia. Eudaimonia is the idea of ideal happiness and it is the highest good, because we desire it for its own sake and not as a means to an end. In his book, Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle stated that we want to be good, and there is a difference to things that are good as means, and things that are good as ends. A good life is something inherently worth having, unlike justice which is worth having because it leads to a good life.
Aristotle views virtues as “traits that enable us to live well in communities(p. 389)” He holds the better good of the community higher than that of the individual. Each person has a purpose to excel in their community, while at the same time adding to the greater good of their community. “consider virtue, as this will perhaps be the best way of studying happiness(p. 396).” Virtue and happiness are directly related, for virtues are the way of achieving happiness. Aristotle defines a virtue as moral excellence, or goodness. In order to achieve this excellence the mean between two extremes must sought.
It is said that virtue ethics measures a person by his or her character and moral standing within a community in determination of his or her good. With utilitarianism, a person is a good and moral person when his actions benefit the needs of the community over personal needs. Another words, you serve everyone else around you before you even think of helping yourself. Being unselfish is being utilitarianism. The same thing can be said about deontology, a person is good and moral when his choice of action within a community is inherently moral and good or they do the right thing.
The other two of the ethical lenses are using your Sensibility (Intuition) which means using your intuition and emotions for our behavior to be ethical are : 1)Results Lens:using your sensibility to decide your decisions which will make you happy and adds more happiness to your life. 2)Reputation Lens:is to rely on your sensibility to agree upon the character traits which are needed for good living . And these four primary ethical lenses also catogorized into 2 types. 1-Ethical Lenses for Individual decision a)Rights and Responsibilities lens b)Results lens 2-Ethical lenses for Community determining a)Relationship lens b)Reputation lens My preferred lens is : Rights and Responsibility lens Relationship lens I use my critical thinking(Rational) skill to determine general rules and equality of community so that everybody gets treated fairly equal. I follow the universal rules and apply equally to everybody in the community.I look through the problem carefully and research different options
Aristotle develops this and distinguishes between things that are good as means (for the sake of something else) and things that are good as ends (for their own sake only). Aristotle believes that our end or telos is to achieve eudaimonia (flourishing in society). Aristotle discusses the traits or virtues one who achieves eudaimonia would have and that a good human life is characterised by the virtues. Central to Aristotle’s idea is that humans should live in harmony with each other, as we are not just rational beings but also social beings. Aristotle saw two types of virtues: intellectual and moral virtues.
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), an English philosopher and the most prominent name in relation of the founding of utilitarianism, described utilitarianism as “the greatest happiness for the greatest felicity of people”. Bentham believed that morality did not depend on faithfulness to abstract views derived from the teachings of Jesus. He however looked upon morality as an effort to produce as much happiness as possible in the world. Moreover utilitarianism is the ethical theory embracing that the morally right course of action is the action which results in the most happiness and maximizes the overall good in the world. This indicates that utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism as what is viewed to a morally correct action is based upon the actions outcome.
It is also referred to as the theory of utility and encourages us to behave in a way in which is useful to society. Unlike natural law which is an absolutist and deontological theory, based on religious principals, utilitarianism is a teleological, secular theory which judges morality on the consequences. Aristotle believed that good conduct promoted happiness in society and Epicurius developed Aristotle's idea by claiming that a good life consisted of the maximum amount of pleasure and the least amount of pain. Another important figure in the utilitarian development is Jeremy Bentham, he is considered to be the founder of utilitarianism and his ethical theory is said to have had a significant influence on a number of philosophers including Peter Singer. Bentham believes that humans are motivated by a desire to experience as much pleasure as possible and avoid experiences of pain.
That goal is to do what is morally right, if it be through pleasure to avoid pain. This defines utilitarianism. Specific kinds of rules that tells a person what is right and why it is right defines deontology. A good person and doing the right thing, defines virtue. Even though each theory has its own unique way of portraying the act of doing ‘the right thing’, they seem to do just that.
The manner in which a human being behaves solely depends on what he considers good. In his definition, something good is something that acclaims happiness which is a state of nature. Mainly, the subject is concerned with the human aim of having a character of virtue that brings him good and eventually happiness (Urmson, 1988, p. 564). Aristotle proposes some rules of conduct and gives an explanation of Aristotle-Ethical Analysis paper virtue and goodness that is still helpful to the modern man in attaining full and a better understanding of his responsibilities as a member of
The general idea and the foundation about utilitarianism are all about doing something to maximize the happiness and minimize the misery and pain. According to this theory, an act is moral as they tend to increase the happiness or pleasure and reduce misery or pain. This idea, is developed from the father of utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham’s axiom “it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong” (Bentham J., 1776). Utilitarianism uses the aggregation of harms and benefits to determine the right course of