Virtue ethics focuses on the moral character of an individual. It is said that by practicing virtuousness one can achieve arete, or human excellence, and eudaimonia, or true human flourishing. By bettering one 's humanity and living their life purposefully and meaningfully one can live the “good life”. Whereas consequentialism focuses on the consequences of acts being good or bad and deontology focuses on rules about the acts themselves, virtue theory brings the individual 's personal character and morality into question as to whether that person is acting out of goodness or badness. It would seem that consequentialism and deontology would be better used for broad and complex situations and virtue theory for more personal and simpler ones.
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Of course, becoming virtuous takes time and experience. One must habitually practice balance in thought and action to be able to to perfect a virtuous humanity. The balance being between too little and too much. As Aristotle states in Nicomachean Ethics, “First, then, one must recognize this, that things such as virtues are of such a nature as to be destroyed by deficiency and by excess...” (Aristotle 23). He calls this virtue the “mean” between two extremes. For example, as in the virtue of generosity, stinginess would be a deficiency and wastefulness an excess. Overall, virtue ethics suggest how one should live as an exemplar rational human being who can be looked upon for guidance from …show more content…
The fact that the almost unanimous majority of rape occurrences are perpetrated by men makes it clear that there is something to be done by men to prevent and control these actions. Finding a resolution should be taken on by the group because “virtue is never solitary: it always has neighbors” (Kongzi 4.25). If the bravado of men in groups were decreased and respect towards women increased, and both practiced habitually, these practices would become more the norm and possibly reduce what the current norms condone. Since socialization is a factor in inducing theses acts it would be a responsibility of the group to change this in order to reverse the harmful effects. These heinous acts are indicative of the whole 's word not matching up to the actions. As virtue must be acted upon to be fully realized, Kongzi describes in The Analects virtuous people of ancient times, “People in ancient times were not eager to speak, because they would be ashamed if their actions did not measure up to their words” (Kongzi
Of course, becoming virtuous takes time and experience. One must habitually practice balance in thought and action to be able to to perfect a virtuous humanity. The balance being between too little and too much. As Aristotle states in Nicomachean Ethics, “First, then, one must recognize this, that things such as virtues are of such a nature as to be destroyed by deficiency and by excess...” (Aristotle 23). He calls this virtue the “mean” between two extremes. For example, as in the virtue of generosity, stinginess would be a deficiency and wastefulness an excess. Overall, virtue ethics suggest how one should live as an exemplar rational human being who can be looked upon for guidance from …show more content…
The fact that the almost unanimous majority of rape occurrences are perpetrated by men makes it clear that there is something to be done by men to prevent and control these actions. Finding a resolution should be taken on by the group because “virtue is never solitary: it always has neighbors” (Kongzi 4.25). If the bravado of men in groups were decreased and respect towards women increased, and both practiced habitually, these practices would become more the norm and possibly reduce what the current norms condone. Since socialization is a factor in inducing theses acts it would be a responsibility of the group to change this in order to reverse the harmful effects. These heinous acts are indicative of the whole 's word not matching up to the actions. As virtue must be acted upon to be fully realized, Kongzi describes in The Analects virtuous people of ancient times, “People in ancient times were not eager to speak, because they would be ashamed if their actions did not measure up to their words” (Kongzi