Ethics of Virtue
Virtue ethics differs from both ethics of utility and duty because it focuses on the character traits of the person acting, not just the action or reason for the operation. Aristotle states that it is essential to not only do the right thing but to have the proper motivations and emotions in being good and doing right. A strong point of this view is that it takes into account a person's character, emotion, and motivation to do well. On the other hand, Aristotle ties happiness and virtue together in a way that leaves non-virtuous people unhappy; this isn’t always the case.
Aristotle‘s view on ethics points to virtues of character. He believes that our character traits are more important than the action, emphasizing being …show more content…
Aristotle defines human excellence as one who performs life activity expressing intelligence. He then goes on to say that having human excellence is synonymous with having virtue and virtue is an ingredient in happiness, there is no happy life without morality. Aristotle did not take into account that there may be people in the world that are happy without having an end goal or expressing their intelligence. Some people are even happy because they don't have to be virtuous and are just living their life as they see fit. Just because people have a fundamental skill set, doesn't mean they want to enhance it to be virtuous, they only focus on doing what they want, and that will make them happy. I believe that he is too narrow with his definition of happiness because he excludes anyone who doesn't have good character traits. There are plenty of rotten people in the world who exhibit either excess or deficiencies that would still consider themselves happy. Happiness is subjective to individuals, everyone’s reason for being happy or happiness level is dependent on what they value. They may not have goals and satisfaction may not be their ultimate goal, so everyone is different. It is tough to say that one reason, human excellence/virtue, is an ingredient in happiness and without it, there is no happiness. There are so many factors that contribute to happiness that for each …show more content…
By emphasizing the importance of character traits, Aristotle gives humans credit that they can be good people performing activities because of their character not just because of rules they ought to follow. The only weak point in the theory is the reliance on virtue being essential to happiness. It fails to consider that everyone is different, unlike character traits/moral virtues which can vary from person to person or culture to culture. If the ethics of virtue applied all of its components more universally, realizing that everyone is different and that some virtuous people are not happy and some non-virtuous people are, it would make a more sound
Virtue ethics differs from both ethics of utility and duty because it focuses on the character traits of the person acting, not just the action or reason for the operation. Aristotle states that it is essential to not only do the right thing but to have the proper motivations and emotions in being good and doing right. A strong point of this view is that it takes into account a person's character, emotion, and motivation to do well. On the other hand, Aristotle ties happiness and virtue together in a way that leaves non-virtuous people unhappy; this isn’t always the case.
Aristotle‘s view on ethics points to virtues of character. He believes that our character traits are more important than the action, emphasizing being …show more content…
Aristotle defines human excellence as one who performs life activity expressing intelligence. He then goes on to say that having human excellence is synonymous with having virtue and virtue is an ingredient in happiness, there is no happy life without morality. Aristotle did not take into account that there may be people in the world that are happy without having an end goal or expressing their intelligence. Some people are even happy because they don't have to be virtuous and are just living their life as they see fit. Just because people have a fundamental skill set, doesn't mean they want to enhance it to be virtuous, they only focus on doing what they want, and that will make them happy. I believe that he is too narrow with his definition of happiness because he excludes anyone who doesn't have good character traits. There are plenty of rotten people in the world who exhibit either excess or deficiencies that would still consider themselves happy. Happiness is subjective to individuals, everyone’s reason for being happy or happiness level is dependent on what they value. They may not have goals and satisfaction may not be their ultimate goal, so everyone is different. It is tough to say that one reason, human excellence/virtue, is an ingredient in happiness and without it, there is no happiness. There are so many factors that contribute to happiness that for each …show more content…
By emphasizing the importance of character traits, Aristotle gives humans credit that they can be good people performing activities because of their character not just because of rules they ought to follow. The only weak point in the theory is the reliance on virtue being essential to happiness. It fails to consider that everyone is different, unlike character traits/moral virtues which can vary from person to person or culture to culture. If the ethics of virtue applied all of its components more universally, realizing that everyone is different and that some virtuous people are not happy and some non-virtuous people are, it would make a more sound