Ethics

• Virtue ethics- which takes the concept of character to be central to the idea of being a good person in businesses.
• Virtues are real because they figure in causal explanations of behavior. Virtues like other moral states or properties typically play a causal role in creating a human well being, and not only that of the one who is virtuous (solomon,2003 hartman, 1998)
• Virtue ethics - is a perspectives in ethics that focuses on the character of individuals as the most significant element in making moral decisions.
• 2 influential philosophers based their principles on the significance of virtues in moral disposition

  1. Aristotle
  2. St. Thomas
• Virtue ethics- is a broad term fpr theories that emphasize the role of a character and virtue in moral philosophy rather than doing one's duty or acting in order to bring about good consequences
• A virtue ethicist is likely to give you this kind of moral advice: "act as virtuous person would act in your situation"
• Aristotle- one of the famous greek philosopher who influence different fields of knowledge. He was a naturalist
• Aristotle - emphasize that we must must understand first how nature works before we begin to make theories. He stressed the importance of natural facts in his philosophy
• Most virtue ethics theories take their inspiration from aristotle who declared that a virtuous person is someone who has ideal character traits.
• Virtue ethics theories deal with wider question - "how should i live?" "What is the good life" "what are proper family and social values"?
• In moral philosophy, aristotle used his metaphysics as basis for his ethics. According to him, everything in nature aims at some end. This end is fulfillment of each things functions and anything that satisfies it is considered good
• The idea that everything aims at something that is good is known as teleology (telos)
• Teleology - explains that the world and everything in it has design or a purpose
• Aristotle- argued that the good for any thing is for it to be able to realize it's true nature. This nature is the good within it
• Aristotle further believed that happiness is the good which all humans aspire.
• If we are to achieve happiness we must fulfill our function as a person and cultivate moral virtuous. These virtues are habits which allow us to achieve happiness
• Aristotle explained that human fulfillment involves the soul. The soul, according to him has three parts (Price, 2000):

  1. Nutritive soul
  2. Sensible soul
  3. Rational soul
• The soul, according to Aristotle, is a grounding principle of sorts. It is the realization of life. The soul is the one thing that enables a body to engage in the necessary activities of life and they build upon one another. The more parts of the soul a being possesses, the more evolved and developed he is. 
• The nutritive soul is the first and most widely shared among all living things. For it can be said that anything that takes in nutrition, grows from this nutrition, and eventually decays over time has a soul.  (Plants)
• The nutritive soul is what urges any creature to protect itself whenever possible, but also to produce offspring in any form because its own life is finite.
• The sensible soul, or the soul of perception, is the part of the soul that allows us to perceive the world around us.
• Sensible soul - It encompasses the senses but also allows us to remember things that happened to us, experience pain and pleasure, and have appetites and desires. Most animals and all humans possess the sensible soul while plants to not.
• The rational soul belongs to man alone. The rational soul is that by virtue of which we possess the capacity for rational thought 
• Aristotle divides rational thought into two groups.

  1. Passive intellect
  2. Active intellect
• passive intellect - It is the part of our mind that collects information and stores it for later use. This is almost an extension of the sensible soul in that it allows us to act upon the information gathered by that part of the soul.
• The active intellect - is the part that allows us to engage in the actual process of thinking. It allows us to take our sensory input, combine it with our memories and skills and apply it to our bettermen 
• Aristotle also believed that the active intellect was responsible for our ability to consider abstract concepts that we have never perceived. Through active intellect, philosophy becomes possible and it is this ability that distinguishes humans from animals.  
• Moral choices entail actions thus, human happiness is dependent upon our rational choices and virtuous activities
• A virtue is a character trait that makes a good human being. To have virtue, unfortunately, is not automatic. No moral virtue arises in us naturally. 
• Aristotle explained that nothing that exists by nature can form habits that conflict with its nature. Having moral virtue involves developing the following habits:

  1. Right thinking
  2. Right choices
  3. Right behavior
• To be moral entails learning to be. According to Aristotle, a happy is not one who does something good only when he feels like it, but a person whose whole life is dedicated to the practice of goodness 
• Reasons - can control our feelings for us to be rational enough to choose the “middle way” for our behaviors.
• Theoretical Reasoning - This is about knowledge of universal principles. It answers the question, “what is good?” Simply knowing the facts, however, will not make us moral.  
• Practical Reasoning -This is what guides our everyday actions and morals. It answers the question, “how can I be good?” Practical reasoning actualizes the good that is potentially within us.  
• St. Thomas Aquinas - was an Italian Dominican priest who is considered as one of the most influential thinkers of the Medieval Era.  
• St. Thomas- In establishing the bases of morality, he combined the theological principles of faith and the philosophical principles of reason
• St. Thomas’ philosophy is an integration of knowledge obtained through Biblical Revelation and information gathered through human reason 
• He believed that the Revelation could guide reason and reason could clarify faith (St. Thomas Aquinas, n.d.).  
• The moral philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) involves a merger of at least two apparently disparate traditions: Aristotelian eudaimonism and Christian theology
• Aquinas believes that we can never achieve complete or final happiness in this life. For him, final happiness consists in beatitude, or supernatural union with God