Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics and Virtue Ethics Essay

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Unlike either deontological or utilitarian ethics, virtue ethics focuses on character. Because virtue ethics are not consequentialist, overall virtue ethical frameworks are more akin to deontological analysis of moral right and wrong. One’s intentions are as important as one’s actions; the consequences of one’s actions are important but not as much as remaining honest, compassionate, and willing to learn. At the same time, Aristotle and other proponents of virtue ethics believed that it is most important to be a good person, and to live a good life, than it is to ascribe to some external moral code.



Two virtues that are important to living a flourishing or successful life, in Aristotle’s sense, include magnanimity and temperance (“Traditional Theories of Ethics,” n.d.). Magnanimity is best understood as understated confidence, evident in behaviors like good sportsmanship whether one wins or loses. Temperance is moderation in all areas of life: not going to any extreme.

In fact, Sandel (2004) addresses both of these virtues in “The Case Against Perfection.” Sandel (2004) talks about all the “enhancements,” from drugs and surgery to genetic modification, that are available to achieve desirable goals such as improved performance on academic of athletic tests (p. 1). While it is understandable that these types of enhancements reflect the overall competitiveness of the society and the striving for perfection in all areas of life, over-reliance on enhancements is not virtuous for one main reason: it “represents an anxious excess of mastery and dominion that misses the sense of life as a gift,” (Sandel, 2004, p. 1). Sandel 92004) does not come out against any and all enhancements, though, because a virtuous person is one who is temperate—or moderate in the use of enhancements.

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Thus, a person can use enhancements selectively but only to improve one’s overall sense of wellbeing or to accommodate for a problem like depression or anxiety or a physical disability. A disabled person who uses prosthetics and then becomes a paralympic athlete uses “enhancements,” but is still a virtuous person.



However, another ethical virtue is magnanimity. To be magnanimous means different things in different situations, but is most easily understood as good sportsmanship. An athlete who desires to truly be great, a role model and example for the next generation who inspires others, is a virtuous athlete. Enhancements are acceptable only when they enhance “solidarity,” as Sandel (2004) point out….....

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References

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. Roger Crisp. http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam032/99036947.pdf

Sandel, M.J. (2004). The case against perfection. The Atlantic. April 2004. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/04/the-case-against-perfection/302927/

“Traditional Theories of Ethics,” (n.d.).
 

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