Virtue

In Aristotle’s student’s lecture notes compiled, “Virtue and Character”, he aims to give his interpretation of virtue and character. Aristotle also focuses on the idea that everything aims for an end (teleology) or a feeling of completeness. His theory of how to become a better person lacks procedure, which is why it fails. Virtue ethics aims to tell us how we ought to be. Although it is nice to tell us how we ought to be, it does not tell us what we ought to do (as consequentialism and…

Machiavelli is a man of many labels, but perhaps the most accurate is that he was a main of calculation. For all the talk of evil, cruelty and virtues, he could really be seen as the father of the cost-benefit analysis. In that same light, Machiavelli’s virtù and traditional virtues should not be seen as at odds, but rather as tools that work in tandem. To view them as wholly incompatible by nature is a narrow view at best, and woefully idealistic at worst. Indeed, they appear incompatible only…

What is Virtue? It seems that we have seen variations of this question searched for down through the centuries. Plato asked about the nature of justice. Everyone from the Neo-Platonists to the Utilitarians debated the concept of goodness. We now have the postmodernists asking what exactly constitutes truth. The “what is F” question seems to be alive and well. Although I do not necessarily agree with his conclusion, I do believe that Socrates thoroughly shuts Meno down. In this paper, I will…

Virtue Ethics In this paper, I endorse virtue ethics because I find it to be the most accurate moral theory that we have considered thus far. One persuasive moral theory is utilitarianism. Philosophers who endorse this theory argue that the greatest good for utilitarian’s is pleasure. However, pleasure causes problems for utilitarian’s because it is considering the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. The main objective being considered in utilitarianism is quantity vs…

Virtue ethics influences behavior by helping individuals make informed moral decisions which will affect the way individuals relate to one another, and as a result, they will have fulfilling lives. Virtue ethics is a moral theory that is used to make moral decisions based on what a good or virtuous person would do. The decision to act does not depend on consequences, culture, religion, rules, or society like deontological or teleological ethics. Unlike the other theories, the acts rely on…

autobiography, The Autobiography and Other Writings, Franklin created a virtue experiment so that he could form a habit of being virtuous. His experiment consists of thirteen virtues, and Franklin practiced one virtue every week. Following his example, I chose to practice the virtue, industry. In his autobiography, Franklin defines industry as “lose no time. Be always employ’d in something…

Aristotle defined virtue as achieving excellence through fulfillment of a certain function. He stated that people are born with the opportunity to have virtues but they must act accordingly throughout their function. Any function that is good and well must possess some sort of end objective which is what a person is in search of, and it’s through the activity of the soul that a function may achieve what it is searching for. Aristotle believes that anything that can move has a soul, which…

Aristotle explains the concept of virtue has a concept that can be cultivated through habits. He clearly states that virtue does not come from some predetermine system in each human being, but instead an empty void that gets filled over time. He argues his understanding of a virtue of character as a medial condition between vices, which means there is a balance between two parts of a spectrum. Aristotle uses examples such as a person deciding to be harpist or a builder. He states that the person…

Virtue theory - is this the best way to think about morality? “Every action aims at some good.” (Virtue Ethics 3.a). In this paper, I will argue that virtue theory is the best way to view morality. Morality is defined as the belief about what is considered right behavior and what is considered wrong behavior, and what degree it is right and good. I will be discussing what virtue is and what makes one a virtuous person. I will also be talking about some alternate views of virtue theory and the…

a good life but it is a eudaimonia no less than any other. Eudaimonia is defined as a right action that leads to a well being of an individual. Almost all ancient philosophers agree that happiness or virtue is the ultimate state of wellbeing. Epicureanism teaches a way to achieve happiness or virtue through pleasure and if happiness can be achieved through pleasure than the person is virtuous and in a state of…