ethics midterm

• Virtue ethics


  Normative ethical theories that emphasize virtues of mind and moral character over duties or rules that govern ones acts and those that are emphasized the consequences of action
• Strands of virtue ethics


  • Eudaimonism
  • Care ethics
  • Agent-based approach
• Eudaimonism


  • Focuses on the purpose or meaning of human life. The ultimate goal of an individual is eudaimonia, which refers to happiness, well-being, or the good life
• Care ethics


  • Normative ethics theory that believes moral actions are centered on the virtue of care and benevolence. It is a feminist philosophical perspective that views morality and decision making as relational and context bound
• Agent-based approach


  • Understands rightness in terms of good motives and wrongness in terms of having bad motives. If an agent's motives are good then his or her actions are good and vice versa
• Aristotle was an Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, one of the greatest thinkers in philosophy, politics, psychology, and ethics
• Nicomachean Ethics


  The book was named after Aristotle's son Nicomachus or his father Nicomachus
• Kinds of good


  • Instrumental good
  • Intrinsic good
• Instrumental good


  The good that is never valued or desired for its own sake and only for the sake of something else
• Intrinsic good


  The good which is valued for its own sake and never for the sake of something else. According to Aristotle, the only one that qualifies as such a good that is desired for the sake of itself is happiness
• Kinds of virtue


  • Intellectual virtue
  • Moral virtue
• Intellectual virtue


  Excellence in performing one's function acquired by learning and requiring experience and time
• Moral virtue


  The result of good habit or practice. Aristotle warned that if virtues are acquired by the constant practice of good habits, it can also be destroyed by the practice of bad habits
• Theory of the golden mean


  Virtue is found as the mean (middle) between two extremes, the balance between excess (too much) and deficiency (too little). Both extremes are considered as vices. Discerning a virtue requires practical wisdom to choose and decide what is good and virtuous according to the dictate of reason
• Aristotle's concept of the golden mean


  • Cowardice - Courage - Rashness
  • Stinginess/Miserliness - Generosity - Extravagance
  • Sloth - Ambition - Greed
  • Humility - Modesty - Pride
  • Secrecy - Honesty - Loquacity
  • Moroseness - Good humor - Absurdity
  • Quarrelsomeness - Friendship - Flattery
  • Self-indulgence - Temperance - Insensibility
  • Apathy - Composure - Irritability
  • Indecision - Self-control - Impulsiveness
• Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican priest who was considered a great philosopher and classical proponent of natural theology during the period of scholasticism
• Natural law


  Law is an ordinance of reason for the common good made to regulate the actions of the community. Law is a certain rule and measure of acts whereby man is induced to act or is restrained from acting
• Main functions of law


  • It is directed towards specific ends
  • It induces man to act in a certain way
  • It restrains man from acting in certain ways
• Basic elements of law


  • A law is an order of practical reason that binds or obligates a person to a particular behavior
  • The law is meant to further the interests of the entire community, and not just of a few individuals
  • The people can enact their laws, or laws can be made through a genuine representative who works on behalf of the common good
  • The people are expected to be properly oriented and informed about the law. The law must be communicated clearly, publicized, or made publicly known
• Happiness (eudaimonia)


  The ultimate purpose of human existence. To be an ultimate end, an act must be self-sufficient and final - it must always be desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else
• Scholars say that eudaimonia means something more than flourishing or thriving, as the word happiness could have various subjective implications for different people
• Moral courage


  One of the most desirable character traits in an individual
• Moral courage


  • Encourages individuals to make a stand for a just cause and take action for moral reasons
  • Ensures strength and firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good
• Courage


  The ability to do something that one is fearful of
• Ordinary courage is "to speak one's mind by telling all one's heart"
• When a person lives course of life, the nature of courage seems ordinary
• Theological virtues


  Examples of how virtues shape an individual's moral courage
• Theological virtues


  • Faith
  • Hope
  • Charity
• Faith


  The theological virtue by which an individual believes in the divine and in all that a higher being has said and revealed to humankind
• Hope


  The theological virtue by which an individual desires the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as his or her source of happiness, and maintains trust and reliance on God's promises and help
• Charity


  The greatest law is the law of love or charity, which helps in fostering one's relationship with God and his or her neighbors
• The Ten Commandments can serve as an excellent guide in the understanding of moral courage
• The Ten Commandments


  • I am the Lord thy God, you shall not have any other gods before me
  • You shall not use the name of the Lord thy God in vain
  • Remember to keep holy the Sabbath Day
  • Honor your father and your mother
  • You shall not kill
  • You shall not commit adultery
  • You shall not steal
  • You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
  • You shall not covet your neighbor's wife
  • You shall not covet your neighbor's goods
• Lack of courage


  A coward person who shrinks from fear, pain, humiliation, danger, difficulties, and sufferings
• Courage that is immoral


  A person who fights for revenge, not for the sake of a noble cause
• Moral courage is a firm disposition to do good and avoid evil
• An act is only morally courageous if it has noble ends
• Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato


  • Regarded courage as one of the most desirable human character traits
  • Aristotle believed the epitome of courage is facing noble death at the hands of the enemy during an offensive attack in a just war for the people
• Courage (or fortitude)


  The moral virtue that ensures strength and firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good, and fortifies the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life
• Impartiality


  The principle of fairness or objectivity. One is impartial if he or she is free from any biases or favoritism.