Aristotle's Comptiveness

The culture at Georgetown has one major issue that needs to fixed because it poses a moral problem. This problem is the competiveness of students at Georgetown. Most students feel pressured into getting the best grades or being included in the best clubs. If they are not apart of these clubs, then they feel left out or have hard times finding friends. Students will spend hours in the library in order to study for a test because they feel that they must be better than other students. Georgetown students often complain of how tired they are or how busy they are; however, they are busy because they try to be better than others. Student will try anything to receive a better grade including; excessively going to office hours or studying for hours …show more content…
There is virtue in finding the middle ground between the two extremes for a virtue. This method can be extended to a number of actions and trait in order to determine if they are actually virtuous. We can extend Aristotle’s virtuous definition to the competitiveness of Georgetown to illustrate how harmful it really is. The actions of Georgetown students are on the extreme end of the competitive scale. While it is beneficial to be competitive in order to produce better results or to work harder, the extend to which Georgetown students are competitive is excessive. Students here are not lazy and complacent, the other end of the spectrum; however, they are too competitive. Students push themselves too hard to be the best and that is harmful to their health. The competitive trait the Georgetown student’s poses would only be virtuous if the students realized what was too competitive. Since most students do not see this limit, the competitive spirt at Georgetown is not a virtuous trait; therefore, this presents a moral …show more content…
She argues that while it is important to give aid to those in need, sacrificing our happiness to do so wrong just like not giving any aid. She points out that if we must ignore our happiness, then we must also ignore the poor people’s happiness as well. If we were to do this, then it would not necessarily be important to save poor people’s happiness because it would not matter either. Badhwar also points out that that for a person to have self-esteem and happiness, they must feel that their goals are justified and worthwhile. Her rejection of utilitarian views can be used to examine the Georgetown competitive spirit. By giving so much to clubs and academics, we are giving up our own happiness. We give so much to clubs, and while these clubs might interest us, we end up giving up our free time. Often, students give up sleep for these clubs and academics which is detrimental to their health. Georgetown has this culture engrained in the campus that people will feel worthless if they are not part of the best clubs or have the best grades. The people that students help in their clubs are not giving up their happiness like the students are. Georgetown students must think of their own happiness, as well as the happiness of others, in order to maximize the total happiness. Badhwar provides an excellent point as to why the competitive culture of Georgetown is an ethical