Their intention is all that matters. Kant focuses on what should be done, rather than doing things for their outcome. This means that even if something terrible happens as the result of a morally good action, it is still morally right. Kant had an absolute view that the right moral action must always be done. Kant tried to make moral ethics scientific through universalisation.
“Outline Aristotle’s theory of Virtue Ethics” Virtue Ethics originates from the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle who focused not on deontological values of actions being intrinsically right or wrong based on their intention, but on how to develop one’s character to meet the demands of what one would describe as virtuous. Central to the theory is the idea of practising qualities and virtues that are established as ‘good’. Virtue ethics is agent-centred as opposed to act-centred and Aristotle maintains that our final aim, as human beings, is to achieve ultimate happiness, which he calls eudaimonia and describes as human flourishing. The Greek word for virtue, arête, means excellence, and so a virtuous character is one with excellent qualities who continually and undeniably continue to make perfect moral decisions. A virtue is defined as a perfect quality that is habitually carried out by an individual which requires practise and dedication so that one may blossom into a virtuous character, “excellence is not an act but a habit.” For Aristotle, something is ‘good’ if it fulfils its purpose: a good knife is one this is sharps and cuts well.
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. 2) Quite importantly, Aristotle’s distinguishes between things which are good as means (for the sake of something else) and things which are good as ends (for their own sake only), Aristotle seeks for one final and overriding end of human action, one final good – eudaimonia (or final happiness). Philosophers of the 20th century brought about a revival of virtue ethics as many were concerned with the act-centered ethical theories. Virtue ethics is able to do something very different to other ethical theories – rather than focus on the act of a person, virtue ethics will focus on the person itself. The modern development of virtue ethics is often linked back to a paper by G. E. M. Anscombe entitled ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’.
He does, however, agree to the idea that rhetoric is a form of persuasion in which it is broken down into three modes: ethos - the speaker, pathos – the audience, and logos – the speech. He insinuates the idea of one’s failing of unjust is equal to the idea of failing as a speaker, and believes rhetoricians must know how to argument in both ways to be a strong persuader. Socrates and Gorgias believe that human’s have a natural need to instruct and deceive disciplines, while Aristotle defines humans as good-natured whom have no need to convince others through persuasion. Aristotle also disagrees to Socrates’ definition that rhetoric is to soul as cookery is to body. Instead, he views rhetoric as the method of creating the truth without deception and creating truth with people’s own view.
For utilitarian school of thought, an individual strives to do the most good, even at the expense of the minority. Utilitarianism and Kantianism find the basis of their differences in the idea that the ends justify the means. Utilitarian beliefs support this idea while Kantian philosophy rejects this. Modern ethics were devised from these two basic ethical beliefs in an attempt to combine the best aspects. Generally, the morally “right” action benefits the majority while affecting the fewest amount in a negative way.
There are a few things that can be done to bring about a greater level of credibility of the justice system. For instance, stricter sentencing for the rich would help a lot. Those who are wealthy don’t even fear the law because they know that no matter the crime, they can get off easy with the right amount of money. Also, we need to get better qualified public defenders. Either raise the qualifications to become one, or provide some kind of incentive to make them do a better job at representing a case.
The first way is the realization of justice. The ancient Greeks generally regarded the justice as the highest goal which is all the countries' pursuit. what is 'justice' ? Aristole thought that justice should be in the public interest and its real meaning mainly lies in 'equality'. We summarized Aristole's view of the justice as that 'Give the right people the appropriate treatment.'
Kumar Bhattacharyya The Paradox of the Philosopher-King In this paper I shall delve into Plato’s The Republic and analyze his Just state, with particular interest in his assertion that the most ideal ruler would be a ‘Philosopher-King’. Plato hints at the impossibility of this Philosopher-King, yet sets strong arguments as to why a Philosopher King is the most appropriate ruler. He does this through his definitions of what it means to be a ‘Just’ state, and how a philosopher best embodies those qualities that would maintain the Justice, and prevent any Injustice from seeping in. Plato also supports his assertion through his epistemology and metaphysics, which serve to further strengthen his argument. I will begin by recounting the demographic structures that are present in Plato’s “Just” state, and by exploring his epistemological and metaphysical claims, highlight the impossibility of such a ruler.
Obtaining Eudaemonia Through Arete: Aristotle’s Account on the Virtue of Character In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle determines that happiness is the ultimate human good. Defined as excellence in rational activity, happiness is “a certain sort of activity of the soul in accord with complete virtue” (1102a5). Because he asserts that virtues control happiness, Aristotle provides a thorough account of virtue in order to understand how one must secure happiness. While virtues of thought are important, virtues of character are of significant value for they are the states of human beings that ultimately allow for the attainment of happiness. In his presentation of virtue of character, Aristotle illustrates how they’re acquired, what they consist in and considers whether they are voluntary.
In schools cheating has become so socially acceptable that students think that it is okay to cheat. Schools lack a strong moral code that makes the student’s feel that they need to abide by it. With more people doing it, more people think it might be justified to cheat because others are doing it. Students “cheat because they see others who cheat and they think that they will be unfairly disadvantaged. The cheaters are getting 100 on the exam, while non-cheaters may only get 90’s”.