Ethics: Examination Essay

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virtue ethics different from the other theories of ethics that you have studied so far?

Ethical theories which are founded more exclusively in virtue place less emphasis on the rules that people need to be in line with and a higher focus on allowing people to foster a more quality character, such as a character which orbits around empathy and selflessness. These character traits empower the person to make better decisions later on in life, while emphasizing the necessity for people to better understand how to eliminate certain poor traits of character, such as ones founded in greed or anger -- like vices, compulsions and addictions (Cline, 2014).

Aristotle, on the other hand, believed in laying out a clear distinction between intellectual and moral virtues. "Aristotle says that moral virtues are not innate, but that they are acquired by developing the habit of exercising them. An individual becomes truthful by acting truthfully, or becomes unselfish by acting unselfishly. Aristotle notes that it may be difficult for an individual to become virtuous if he or she has not acquired the habit of acting virtuously" (Scott, 2002). For instance, it will likely be difficult for a person to become honest, if he or she has not acquired the habit of acting with honesty.

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Likewise, it will also be hard for an individual to be selfless, if he or she has not acquired the habit of acting with selflessness. Morally virtuous action warrants that a person be able to decide how to act or respond to a situation based on his or her own thoughts and feelings: this means that the idea of moral responsibility is connected to a person who has freedom to select his or her own actions (Scott, 2002).

On the other hand, as Aristotle sees it, the intellectual virtues are generally those things which are connected to the mind: "scientific knowledge (episteme), artistic or technical knowledge (techne), intuitive reason (nous), practical wisdom (phronesis), and philosophic wisdom (sophia). Scientific knowledge is a knowledge of what is necessary and universal. Artistic or technical knowledge is a knowledge of how to make things, or of how to develop a craft. Intuitive reason is the process that establishes the first principles of knowledge" (Scott, 2002). Other pillars connected to this form of ethics revolve around things like practical wisdom, allowing one to enact with the needs of the human race, and….....

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