Yueyuan Jin
10/07/2016
Section 912
Short Paper 2
Virtue ethics by Aristotle’s theory
The development of ethical theory in Western civilization has been gradually established. Virtue ethics possesses a deep historical importance and can be traced to the great ancient historians such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. It is a broad term for theories and emphasize the role of character and virtue in moral philosophy.
Most virtue ethics theories take inspiration from Aristotle. Aristotle discussed the nature of the virtues and vices involved in moral evaluation. The central issue for Aristotelianism is the question of character and personality- what is the good life and what does it take for an individual to contribute to this good life? What are …show more content…
Telos represents end, purpose, aim and goal. Eudaimonia represents happiness and flourishing. Arete represents virtue, whatever makes a thing an ‘outstanding specimen of its kind’.
In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle maintains that virtue is divided into virtues of thought and virtues of character. He defined virtues of thought wisdom, comprehension and intelligence. On the other hand, he defined virtues of character as generosity, temperance. Intellectual virtues arise and grows mostly from teaching and ethical virtues result from habit. For example, refraining from pleasure makes people become temperate. When people have become temperate, they are most able to refrain from …show more content…
The Gulf oil spill is recognized as the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Within days of April 20, 2020, the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico ended in eleven deaths and an estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil leaked in the Gulf. Eight catastrophic failures led to this tragedy such as the cement at the bottom of the borehole did not create a seal; pressure test was misinterpreted; leak did not spot soon enough; no gas alarm nor battery for BOP and etc. The engineer design of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig was a failure without professional responsibility. The engineers did not apply the right knowledge in the ways that benefit the society but destroyed environment, even death. In this case, from Aristotle’s point of view, the U.S. government, must act in accordance to what a virtuous government would act. The best option to solve the damage based on virtues ethics is the cooperation strategy. Government could raise a voluntary fund that go for the recovery of the environmental catastrophe in order to mintage the oil spill. At the same time this helped the company from internal crises. In this way, the U.S. government could show the responsibility and trustworthiness to both the citizens and the corporations. What’s more, BP identified lack of safety as a primary concern and integrated safety as one of core values after the disaster. BP declared
10/07/2016
Section 912
Short Paper 2
Virtue ethics by Aristotle’s theory
The development of ethical theory in Western civilization has been gradually established. Virtue ethics possesses a deep historical importance and can be traced to the great ancient historians such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. It is a broad term for theories and emphasize the role of character and virtue in moral philosophy.
Most virtue ethics theories take inspiration from Aristotle. Aristotle discussed the nature of the virtues and vices involved in moral evaluation. The central issue for Aristotelianism is the question of character and personality- what is the good life and what does it take for an individual to contribute to this good life? What are …show more content…
Telos represents end, purpose, aim and goal. Eudaimonia represents happiness and flourishing. Arete represents virtue, whatever makes a thing an ‘outstanding specimen of its kind’.
In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle maintains that virtue is divided into virtues of thought and virtues of character. He defined virtues of thought wisdom, comprehension and intelligence. On the other hand, he defined virtues of character as generosity, temperance. Intellectual virtues arise and grows mostly from teaching and ethical virtues result from habit. For example, refraining from pleasure makes people become temperate. When people have become temperate, they are most able to refrain from …show more content…
The Gulf oil spill is recognized as the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Within days of April 20, 2020, the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico ended in eleven deaths and an estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil leaked in the Gulf. Eight catastrophic failures led to this tragedy such as the cement at the bottom of the borehole did not create a seal; pressure test was misinterpreted; leak did not spot soon enough; no gas alarm nor battery for BOP and etc. The engineer design of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig was a failure without professional responsibility. The engineers did not apply the right knowledge in the ways that benefit the society but destroyed environment, even death. In this case, from Aristotle’s point of view, the U.S. government, must act in accordance to what a virtuous government would act. The best option to solve the damage based on virtues ethics is the cooperation strategy. Government could raise a voluntary fund that go for the recovery of the environmental catastrophe in order to mintage the oil spill. At the same time this helped the company from internal crises. In this way, the U.S. government could show the responsibility and trustworthiness to both the citizens and the corporations. What’s more, BP identified lack of safety as a primary concern and integrated safety as one of core values after the disaster. BP declared