Seven virtues

In his funeral oration, Pericles speaks of the intangible qualities that make Athens great, beyond their simple military might. He talks about how the Athenians treat other peoples and says “when we do kindnesses to others, we do not do them out of any calculations of profit or loss: we do them without afterthought, relying on our free liberality” (Thucydides 2.41). Pericles believes that every decision does not have to be made out of selfishness. According to this philosophy, one can and should…

Proctors Perfect Personality What makes a character admirable? To answer this, we must first define admirability. To be admirable, you must possess traits and qualities that earn you respect and honor in the eyes of others.The Crucible has many admirable characters, but the most admirable would have to be John Proctor. John shows many flashes of honesty, bravery, and self respect. These traits are what make John Proctor the most admirable character. Throughout The Crucible, John shows many…

Introduction: "Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness" (Mill, 1863). Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that happiness is the only thing that truly matters, or has intrinsic value to humanity. Importantly, its supporters believe that everyone's happiness matters equally, regardless of social status, wealth, or other superficial values, and in fact, people should always act to maximize overall happiness, or…

Competency 1: Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior 1. Explain how you made or would make an ethical decision by applying the standards of the NASW Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, models for ethical decision-making, ethical conduct of research, and additional codes of ethics as appropriate to context The Department of Aging and Independent Living (DAIL) handles the guardianship over individuals that have been deemed by the court to be incompetent, and unable to…

Power is a constant struggle in society, but how far will people go to claim power? Can the thirst for power led to sin? Are there any repercussions from having too much power? The celebrated playwright William Shakespeare presents his argument about power in his famous play, The Tragedy of Macbeth. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, the eponymous Scotsman receives a prophecy from three witches that he’ll become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition for the throne and provoked by his wife, Macbeth…

A hero is adequately defined as a larger than life hero who embodies the values of a particular society. Commonly, these heroes have superior strength, have strong love for their people and are fearless of death. The epic poem, Beowulf describes a hero who upholds the ethics of their society through heroic journeys to fight off the faces of evil. The Anglo-Saxons admired these epic poems and is known to be the most favored within their time. Beowulf prevails over insurmountable odds, shows…

Gilgamesh and Enkidu were a great example of what loyalty in a friendship should be. Even though the story took a turn and showed a little bit of selfishness, the love of the friendship was still there. Gilgamesh was not in a good place before Enkidu came along. Gilgamesh was this miserable mean man with strength and size that overpowered many that needed to be stopped. Enkidu was a kind-hearted person with the same strength and size that Gilgamesh had, but Enkidu did not use his size and…

In every society there is a set of rules, whether it’s written laws or a social norm. These are set to either maintain safety and regulation or prevent societal damage. Whether we choose to follow these rules or not, they are enforced by someone who should regularly choose what is best for their country or community. When someone who doesn’t have best interests in mind is in charge, negative results will surface. In the film V for Vendetta, James Mcteigue portrays the impact of a corrupt…

“Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence” (“The Marriage of Heaven and Hell”). The duality or contrary aspects of life produce a balance within human nature. These aspects are not just contradictory, they are complementary. To fully understand the dual nature of mankind, William Blake utilized his poetry to compare the divergent forces that are part of all individuals. In his poetic collection the “Songs…

Courage Paper The way I look at the definition of courage is quite simple for me. Being courageous means doing something without a direct benefit to yourself, the act of doing something while knowingly putting yourself in some form of danger of some sort. This means, the higher the chances of danger and the higher the risks, the more courage it requires. This is especially true if there is no direct reward for the person being courageous. The value of courage lies not in the act itself, but…